(ConservativeStar.com) – In early April 2021, the Senate parliamentarian — the person who interprets the extraordinarily complex rules of the chamber — ruled that spending bills may use a process called “reconciliation” for passage. That means only a simple majority is needed rather than the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster on an issue.
The Democrats and Republicans each control 50 seats in the Senate, so a straight party-line vote would create a tie, and the Constitution grants Vice President Kamala Harris the right to break the deadlock. Buoyed by this interpretation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and the rest of his cohorts envisioned an easier road to spending some unbelievably large amounts of taxpayer cash. But things don’t always go as one hopes — and now special interest groups and corporations are adding their two cents in the form of advertising dollars.
Not Quite Heaven, West Virginia
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) may technically show as a blue seat on a schematic of the Senate, but he represents a red state, which means he cannot be seen as being too far left. When it comes to the massive $3.5-trillion socialist wish list from President Joe Biden — the so-called reconciliation bill or partisan infrastructure proposal — he’s adamant he cannot support that price tag. In fact, Politico obtained a memo dated July 28 between him and Senator Schumer stating his topline limit at $1.5 trillion along with conditions on how and where the money could be spent. The memo also includes a proviso that he’s not obligated to vote for a final bill that doesn’t meet all points.
Delay Fallout
One side effect of the time it’s taking the Democrats to push the bill through is the opportunity it’s giving for special interest groups and corporations that oppose the legislation (in large part because of income tax increases) to make appeals to the public. A very diverse coalition covering many industries is trying to convince voters the bill is a very bad idea. Some of the major players include:
- Exxon Mobil investing $275,000 in Facebook ads.
- Lobbying group, The Business Roundtable, spending more than $166,000 in the same place.
- The American Petroleum Institute adding another $420,000+ into Mark Zuckerberg’s coffers.
On an international level, the Left hoped the president would be able to present a signed law to show America’s commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in November. Now,it appears President Biden is likely to lose face in front of the rest of the world powers when he heads to Glasgow next month.
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