Lindsey Graham is making headlines today by promising to be the latest Senator to support a “bipartisan” infrastructure deal in the Senate.
There is no reason to believe he–or any other Republicans involved in these supposed “negotiations”–is acting in good faith.
The current proposal from Sinema and Portman is so radically unacceptable as public policy that Democrats should laugh it out of the park at a single glance.
An infrastructure bill that does not squarely address the climate crisis and devote massive resources toward energy efficiency and expanded clean-energy electrification is not really a infrastructure.
From a pure actuarial perspective, the climate-related damage to the economy from failing to address these needs will be far greater than the cost of implementing them.
The moderates want to downsize the president’s ambitions, and render it maximally palatable to their friends at the Chamber of Commerce.
But let’s not pretend that Republicans are offering anything more than poison pills designed to sabotage the eventual outcome. »