Tilli$$$, Burr vote FOR something that DOESN’T EXIST

 

Usually, in legislatures,  honorables submit written proposals (bills or laws) that they and their colleagues read then debate.  At the end of debate, there is typically a vote on what to do with the written proposal. The US Senate just passed an “infrastructure” bill.  Thom & Dick voted with the Dems on advancing the bill — along with 16 other Republicans.  But there was a catch:

Eighteen Senate Republicans sold out to Senate Democrats, with 17 of them voting Wednesday night to advance a $1.2 trillion Democrat “infrastructure” bill and another signaling he would.

The Senate voted to invoke cloture, or advance, H.R. 3684, the legislative vehicle for the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. The vote featured Republican and Democrat support for the bill. The Senate voted 67-32 to invoke cloture on the bill, with seventeen Republicans in favor of invoking cloture on the bill.

All of them voted for this procedural vote without reading the bill—because it would have been impossible for them to read a bill that does not yet exist. The bill has still not been written despite months of negotiations.

The Senate Republicans who voted for the Democrat $1.2 trillion bill include:

  1. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
  2. Richard Burr (R-NC)
  3. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
  4. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
  5. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
  6. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
  7. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
  8. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
  9. Rob Portman (R-OH)
  10. Jim Risch (R-ID)
  11. Mitt Romney (R-UT)
  12. Thom Tillis (R-NC)
  13. Todd Young (R-IN)
  14. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
  15. John Hoeven (R-ND)
  16. Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
  17. Susan Collins (R-ME)

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) was absent but signaled that he would have voted yes to advance the legislation

These Senate Republicans voted to advance the bill even though lawmakers have not yet drafted a physical bill.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), who is up for reelection in Kansas, voted against the legislation

Senate Republicans blocked the legislation last week because lawmakers did not yet have a draft or an agreement on the legislation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced Wednesday morning that the chamber could vote on the bill after the bipartisan group made significant progress on the bill.

Nine Senate Republicans have continued to negotiate with Senate Democrats and President Joe Biden’s administration on a $1.2 trillion bill that would grant Biden his second significant legislative victory after he passed his $1.9 trillion coronavirus package. The legislation could also likely lead to the passage of the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, which includes climate change carveouts, boosted welfare benefits, and tax cuts for wealthy, mostly Democrat states.

Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Mike Braun (R-IN) said they could not vote to advance the bill, believing that they could not add more debt the nation’s $30 trillion deficit. The Senate conservatives said:

Congress can’t keep spending trillions of dollars we don’t have. The infrastructure package announced today continues the trend in Congress of insane deficit spending. Let’s not forget, this is just the first step in the Democrats’ plan to pass their $5.5 trillion tax and spend liberal wish list. Our nation is facing a nearly $30 TRILLION federal debt crisis. There are real infrastructure needs across the country. But, with growing inflation and many families struggling to financially recover from the events of the last year, it is not wise to throw fuel on the fire that is the raging inflation crisis and labor shortage we are seeing across America.

Needless to say, we will not support this legislation.

Although the $1.2 trillion bill contains provisions that would revitalize America’s roads and bridges, it also contains line items that serve as leftist victories, including

  • $73 billion for clean energy transmission. The Biden administration lauded this as the “single latest investment” in American history.
  • $21 billion to invest in “environmental remediation,” to address racial alleged disparities in environmental pollution.
  • $50 billion in western water infrastructure revitalization; the Biden administration said that “people of color are more likely to live in areas most vulnerable to flooding and other climate change-related weather events.
  • $2.5 billion to develop zero-emission buses, $2.5 billion for low emission buses, $2.5 billion for ferries.
  • $7.5 billion to help develop plug-in electric vehicles.
  • $66 billion to invest to address Amtrak’s maintenance backlog; Amtrak has a history of being unprofitable.

Biden’s White House claimed that the bill would help tackle “the climate crisis, and growing the economy sustainably and equitably for decades to come.”

The nine Senate Republicans that served on the bipartisan infrastructure working group, spending endless days and nights working with Senate Democrats and Biden to pass the bill include:

  1. Richard Burr (R-NC)
  2. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
  3. Susan Collins (R-ME)
  4. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
  5. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
  6. Rob Portman (R-OH)
  7. Mitt Romney (R-UT
  8. Mike Rounds (R-SD)
  9. Thom Tillis (R-NC)

Johnson told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview last week that Senate Republicans that cooperated with Democrats on infrastructure would only be “complicit” in enabling the Democrats’ leftist agenda.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) said he had to vote no on advancing the bill because lawmakers have yet to draft legislative text.[…]

Maya MacGuineas, the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in a statement Wednesday that they are “deeply concerned” that the legislation is not fully paid for and contains many budget “gimmicks” to make it appear less expensive.

“It also relies on several phony offsets that will save little or no money. This includes taking credit for savings that have already occurred and reviving budget gimmicks like pension smoothing,” MacGuineas said.
Former President Donald Trump trashed Senate Republicans for dealing with the “so-called bipartisan” bill. He said:

Hard to believe our Senate Republicans are dealing with the Radical Left Democrats in making a so-called bipartisan bill on “infrastructure,” with our negotiators headed up by SUPER RINO Mitt Romney. This will be a victory for the Biden Administration and Democrats, and will be heavily used in the 2022 election. It is a loser for the USA, a terrible deal, and makes the Republicans look weak, foolish, and dumb. It shouldn’t be done. It sets an easy glidepath for Dems to then get beyond what anyone thought was possible in future legislation. It will be a continued destruction of our Country. Our Borders are horrible, crime is at an all time high, taxes and inflation are going way up, the economy is going way down, and now this.

He added, “Don’t do it Republicans—Patriots will never forget! If this deal happens, lots of primaries will be coming your way!”

*Yeah.  This is what we voted for.  Republicans working with Democrats to pass an open-ended orgy of spending fueled by money we DON’T HAVE. *