On Tuesday, many Senate Republicans seemingly conceded to the Democrats by helping them pass a deceptively titled infrastructure bill. H.R. 3684 provides minimal funding for actual infrastructure- roads, bridges, and highways, and instead is heavily weighted with a full range of unrelated- environmental and other subsidies and polices that were slipped into the bill by Joe Biden and Democrat lawmakers. The bill passed on Monday by a margin of 69-30, with 19 Republican senators voting with the Democrats. The bill is more than double the length of the Bible and includes the leftist fantasies of higher taxes, increased regulation, and more.
Firstly, H.R. 3684 continues Biden’s assault on biology by defining “gender identity” as a protected class. To quote the legislation, “No individual in the United States may, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity that is funded in whole or in part with funds 16 made available to carry out this title.” According to a recent Gallup poll, the majority of Americans believe that “changing one’s gender” is “morally wrong.” Despite this, Democrats have decided to force this concept upon America and legally label anyone that questions the concept as “discriminatory.”
Next, H.R. 3684 would require that auto manufacturers place “advanced alcohol monitoring systems” in all new cars within three years. According to the mandate, the system would need to “passively and accurately detect whether the blood alcohol concentration of a driver of a motor vehicle is equal to or greater than the blood alcohol concentration of 0.08%.” If the system detects that a driver exceeds the legal alcohol limit, it must “prevent or limit motor vehicle operation.” Like all dystopian monitoring systems, this system would supposedly exist to benefit society. However, there is no way to enforce this regulation without further surveillance, such as cameras or even more sensors. This is due to the fact that the vehicle does not know who blows into the breathalyzer, meaning a non-impaired individual could blow into the device before an impaired driver enters and drives the vehicle. This policy is an alarming first step for the federal government to monitor Americans within their vehicles.
In another form of increased surveillance of American drivers, the bill would create a pilot program to tax drivers per mile that they drive. H.R. 3684 directs Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to “Establish, on an annual basis, per-mile user fees for passenger motor vehicles, light trucks, and medium- and heavy-duty trucks, which amount may vary between vehicle types and weight classes to reflect estimated impacts on infrastructure, safety, congestion, the environment, or other related social impacts” within 90 days. This tax would only further complicate America’s already convoluted tax system. A per-mile tax is a tax to drive on the roads that American tax dollars have already paid for, in addition to the tax that Americans pay for gasoline to power their vehicles. Notably, a new federal per-mile tax goes against Biden’s pledge to not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 annually.
Lastly, H.R. 3684 threatens to outsource those in the cryptocurrency industry. As a result of H.R. 3684, cryptocurrency brokers will be required to pay at least $28 billion in new taxes over the next 10 years. While further taxes on cryptocurrency will likely be necessary in the near future, cryptocurrency has nothing to do with infrastructure, and there is no reason for such a provision to be included in an infrastructure bill. It is irrational to see so many non-infrastructure-related policies placed into a supposed infrastructure bill.
One would think that an infrastructure bill with a price tag of over $1 trillion would create subsequent economic growth, but according to a recent analysis, H.R. 3684 creates “no significant impact” on economic growth. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office, H.R. 3684 will add $256 billion to the deficit over the next ten years. This means that, despite what Democrats continue to falsely claim, the bill does not pay for itself.
In addition to H.R. 3684, The Senate approved a resolution for a massive $3.5 trillion budget among party lines by a margin of 50-49 on Wednesday. The package provides over $100 billion to make community colleges tuition-free, expands Obamacare, and provides a rapid path to citizenship to nearly 1 million non-citizens. The package now sits in the House of Representatives, where it is expected to be voted on in the Fall after Congress returns from their August recess, and House Democrats presumably further pack the bill with even more radical proposals.
While Senate Republicans surrender to the left, former President Trump is speaking out about this insanity. To quote Trump, “This is a 2,700 page bill that no one could have possibly read—they would have needed to take speed reading courses. It is a gift to the Democrat Party, compliments of Mitch McConnell and some RINOs, who have no idea what they are doing. There is very little on infrastructure in all of those pages. Instead, they track your driving so they can tax you. It is Joe Biden’s form of a gas tax but far bigger, far higher and, mark my words, far worse.”
Americans overwhelmingly agree that America’s infrastructure needs extensive repair. However, the bill is nowhere near sufficient at solving America’s infrastructure crisis. According to estimates, approximately $4.6 trillion is needed over the next ten years to fix America’s critical infrastructure, with an additional $5 trillion being required to fix America’s electrical grid. This means that the $550 billion allocated for infrastructure projects in H.R. 3684 is only enough to fund less than 6% of America’s necessary repairs. This is akin to putting a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.
The so-called infrastructure bill is a deceitfully labeled scam. H.R. 3684 includes a small and insufficient amount of funding for infrastructure and instead includes many radical policies that are hidden in over 2,700 pages. The 19 Senate Republicans that aided in the passage of the disastrous bill should be ashamed of themselves as they are complicit in the deception of the American people and their conservative constituents that elected them.
Know of 19 republican’s who will be voted out at their next election cycle
All of this information was well known by the Republican members of the Senate BEFORE they voted FOR the bill. Yet 19 of them still voted for it anyway, because it was standing in the way of their summer vacation plans or frankly they didn’t care one way or the other.
For those out there that still are operating under the delusion that today’s Republican members of Congress are all deeply concerned about the direction of the country that the Democrats are pushing us towards or the exploding deficit spending that is completely unsustainable, this is hopefully a wake up call to you. The professional political class, of both parties, has a whole set of values that don’t align with the people they supposedly represent. Most career politicians care about a constituency of one…themselves. As long as it doesn’t adversely impact them personally or their immediate family’s financial interests, they pretty much “go along to get along”.
The upcoming “human infrastructure” bill will be even worse for all of us than this so-called real infrastructure bill, that mostly has little to do with actual real infrastructure.
These 19 idiots MUST go. They are no more conservative Republicans than Pelosi. They are a disgrace to this country and why I’m now a Trump independent. I wouldn’t give a penny to GOP, only individual conservative candidates.
Everyone know the Demonrats are not serious about making America, better we all know that the short time in office (hopefully a very short time) they will do as much damage as they can to the country and then lie and cheat and and get right back at the destruction of America time is on their side.
The Republican Party needs to get their act together pretty darn soon!
I guess folk that live on the country and travel to the closest town for groceries, supplies etc are doomed with taxes on how far they drive. I drive 25 minutes to my job now so I would get it too. However, I am quitting. I am not supporting all these idiot ideas the Democrats have or all their illegals with their hands out.
The electric infrastructure is (mostly)owned and operated by private or public utilities most of whom pay for investments out of their rate base. TVA Tenn Valley -etc are the exceptions.
Who is getting $550 Billion of our fed tax dollars? Something is very…..unique about this small “investment”. Our tax dollars don’t go to pay for private or public utility infrastructure. This smells of Biden genius.
We are so screwed. And we’re all just standing around watching it happen!
It sounds like they have once again used “creative” wording to put forth an illusion of help for us little people of America, while actually putting up an “illusion of money projects”. What is so dangerously deceptive is that they actually believe they will have a 500% increase in funding based on those “illusionary non-evasive taxes”. Exactly where is that taxation on miles going to be ccllected. Do they actually believe that if they add a single line to 1040 form ( miles drive yearly) that everyone will honestly post their true mileage. In that case, I would luck out since I don’t driive and I use public transit. Or is this another push to force the Green New Deal on everyone and expect everyone to use public transit? But Wait,they are not giving enoug money to get public transit to run more effectively only enough to pay adminstration costs not to improve service. Someone needs to force these politicans to ride daily (not occasionally for show in an empty bus or train car). Let’s volunteer AOC to ride the bus services (every route in her district) all day for a week, with no security. Then she can use her social influence to post the ride experience in real time while dodging the criminal elements waiting at the bus stops. Then she can show us how safe the streets are (for a lone woman) and how easy it is to get around by public transit. In other words, show us the “practicality” of the progressive movement in real time
we as a country , are done. Thank the 19 so called republicans for selling us out. We will become the shithole all the illegals are racing to get into. mandated shots for us, while the border is wide open and all kinds of sickness is being spread all over the country. Good by America, was great while it lasted.
Republicans did it again. Betrayal. If we split the party, the democrats win. If we don’t, the democrats wins. The elections are fixed; the president is hog tied; the conservative party has no true conservative politicians except a hand full that cannot combat Congress.
need to pass a regualtion limiting the lengh of any bills to 20 pages- what needs to be said should be adequate and get ride of the blathering lies and subversion.
I wrote both of my Senators here in North Carolina, Burr and Tillis, a week before they were to vote on the bill. Burr I do not expect to hear from since he is a lame duck senator. I got an email from Tillis today, and I thought it was coming from a Democrat. In his letter, he goes out of his way to argue for the merits of this bill. He says it contains nothing related to the New Green Deal, which is BS. He also brushes off the mileage tax “as a way in the future to even out the taxes drivers pay because electric vehicles will pay no federal taxes on gasoline”. You know they are going to tax the electric use in some way also. He says in no way will this help the Democrats get their $3.5 trillion plan through. What an idiot….He includes a “fact sheet” which says this bill is only $550 billion. Where did the other $460 billion go? He only got re-elected because his opponent admitted to an affair with a former soldier buddie’s wife. Cal Cunningham would have beat him if not for that. I help him in his campaign, but after seeing this, no way in the future. Same goes for Lindsay Graham.
Thank you, for this article! For weeks I have been saying, it is not just about the Cost of this Bill, it is also the Marxist ideology that this Bill will impose on our Country! The Demise of America!! Please Stop this madness and Save America!
It goes to show you that we can’t count on the RINOs, Joe Manchin or any other “moderates” to stop the woke socialism train from running us all over. I hope against hope that some of them will wake up long enough to help us stop this 3 trillion dollar night mare about to hit us or we are all doomed.
Nothing for Energy production anyplace, No energy No EVs for 2030 mandate
the republicans have been spineless for years!
“This is a 2,700 page bill that no one could have possibly read—they would have needed to take speed reading courses. It is a gift to the Democrat Party, compliments of Mitch McConnell and some RINOs, who have no idea what they are doing. There is very little on infrastructure in all of those pages. Instead, they track your driving so they can tax you. It is Joe Biden’s form of a gas tax but far bigger, far higher and, mark my words, far worse.” The republicans who voted for this are insane, and betray the people of the United States. They should be ashamed!
So!!! Glad Blunt will be gone!! Now we need to find and elect one of the same cut as Senator Josh Hawley.
Our government is corrupt to the core from the Supremes down to the individual departments like FBI, CIA, NSA, TSA Homeland and all of them. It is usurping and needs to be replaced from the top to the bottom with a government that is really for We The People. January 6 was nothing …. these communists and corrupt aholes will see at some time in the future what I am saying. These communists have cheated, lied and screwed the people for a long time. If God can set Californication on fire and send a lightning bolt to remove a picture of George Floyd from a brick building….just wait. Continue to pray …. these commies and criminals only think that they are in charge….there is one who is and he is much bigger
19 Republican senators voting with the Democrats. The 19 Republicans that voted for H.R. 3684 are Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Mike Crapo of Idaho, Jim Risch of Idaho, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mitt Romney of Utah, and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Mike Crapo, Chuck Grassley, and John Hoeven are up for re-election in 2022 and are expected to face serious primary challengers.
I guess I’ll have to vote for a challenger to Llindsey this go around. Not sure what his thoughts were to justify voting for this piece of crap. Doesn’t matter his reasoning. He’d done this before. This is the last time. I won’t vote for him again.
Never forget or forgive the 19 Back Stabbers…Mitch McConnell , Lindsay Graham and the rest of the traitors.
Somebody take the knife out of my back…oh
I hate your forcing a comment when I’m trying to read the article. What are you doing? I hate the changes you’re making!
I’m really disgusted and disappointed at the Republicans. I can’t imagine any good reason why they think it’s a good idea to enable the dumbocrats to destroy our country. I don’t look to the Republicans to save our country any more.
Some of the items are much needed, yet a lot of pork has been buried into an excessive spending policy. Typical slick Democratic thinking.
I promise this I will do everything in my power to make sure Roger wicker of Mississippi will not get voted in again. The republicans that voted for this bill are traders to the people and this country. They are not real republicans.I ask the American people to pray with me and ask GOD to remove this evil from our government.
I hope the Fox Channel (Sean Hannity & Laura Ingraham in particular) doesn’t have that deceitful
Lindsay Graham on their program anymore.
The GOP has become the enabling handmaiden for the radical Democrat Party. That has become more and more apparent during the past 50 years and is the primary reason I became an Independent after 30+ years of supporting the GOP and waiting for results that rarely came. Reagan and Trump were the two refreshing breaths of constitutional conservatism that somehow evaded the Beltway Establishment “good old boy” filters.
Since 1964, the incumbent re-election rate in Congress has been 82% for the House and 96% for the Senate. That is elitist feudalism pure and simple. The Founders never envision the advent of career political parasite holding office for decades. They envisioned citizen statesmen who would serve for a limited time and return to private life to live and work under the laws they had helped promulgate.
It is little wonder that the nation that was founded as a constitutional republic has been morphed by enemies within the gates into a corrupt country club of Beltway insiders and the parasite special interests all of whom are protected by a pack of gullible media enablers.
The Republicans who voted for this so-called “infrastructure bill” reinforce my belief that when it comes to political party corruption, it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other. They do not represent the constituents who elected them in good faith. I’m disillusioned by the whole system. Common sense is totally missing!
One would think that we would be gagging and overdosing on all the pork that is being jammed, rammed, and scammed into the mouths of the citizens of this nation, by an insane congress. When does the insanity end? When do the republicans who claim to be “for the people” grow some gonads and do what is right? When shall we see reasonable laws, common sense application and straight talk and thinking? At this point, I would have to say, NEVER. Get that list of names of republicans who turned their backs on their duty and fill their mailboxes, e-mails, phone lines and tweets and other accounts they use with your opinions……rack them with shame, cajole them without letting up. Push and push and push again…..I have expanded my mailing list….and they are on it…..if we don’t respond we are joining their party of insanity. My own state’s congressional representatives are not on this list, but they could be,if they walk that same path when the next load of pork gets set in their laps after they have enjoyed their break…………..by the way, their break is your opportunity to get in their face too. Don’t let up just because they are “on break”…..give them the works now!
Maybe republicans should start acting like democrats and bomb there houses and beat them up when they are out in the public. Like the republicans that voted on that pork bill we could make examples of them. The democrats are making hard to be nice in this country.
The last major infrastructure work on a national basis was done under Eisenhower and the top tax rate was 90%. Everything takes maintenance or you get to where we are on infrastructure – bridges and highways and water supplies are unsafe in many parts of the country. We really need continuous funding for infrastructure. Like the Golden Gate Bridge – they paint every year and when they are done they start over again.
DEMONS FROM HELL. We will come after each one of your seats, UNLESS you have the corrupt and fraudulent votes to keep your seats. We better start fighting back. A REVOLUTION IS COMING TO THESE ANIMALS!
It’s all about the swamp and they have to be stopped..
Wow! Lets roll!
Schumer should have two broken arms when he waves them like that. For what it is worth I believe that jews who favor gun control are way down on the wrong side of the bell curve that has 100 at top dead center.
No wonder people are fleeing this country by the droves
If a bill can’t stand on it’s own it shouldn’t be included in anything else. No more piling things into other bills. We can’t afford more pork!
A regulation on Congress that is needed is the restriction on subject matter of bills. A bill can only have one subject and nothing else can be added to it. It is called the “One Subject At A time Act”. It has been proposed but never passed. It needs to be reintroduced.
This bill is just another tool for the Commie DemocRats to implement their Communistic governance schemes and controls. It will hurt the economy and many, many Americans financially and harm the quality of their living standards.
The destruction of the USA as we know it is at hand. I’m willing to sacrifice everything that I have to stop it.
The Federal Government should not be spending money on any type of social issue and should not be involved in any sort of social issues such as medical. Because of government being aligned with the insurance industry, all medical care is dictated by insurance companies, not by medical professionals.
We need to stop letting government spend our tax dollars on claims they can control nature; they cannot! Yes, the world is warming. This is more of a benefit to most flora and fauna, especially to mankind, than it is a detriment. Most of the world’s fresh water is locked up in polar ice. As that ice evaporates and sublimates into the atmosphere, more fresh water falls from the sky to fill aquafers that provide water for more vegetation, less arid land and more fresh water for all of planet Earth’s inhabitants. Populated areas on shorelines? Move or follow the building techniques of Amsterdam and/or Venice.
I still haven’t forgiven Mitch for not putting a stop to the electoral vote in 2020 in the face of obvious election integrity issues. Mitch should have never been re-elected. This vote is just another nail in his Rhino coffin.
I hope Murkowski loses big time but I have a feeling that won’t happen. I know I will not be voting for her as I have not for the past 2 elections. Reason? She runs as a Republican and votes as a Democrat. Also I supported Sullivan in the last election but no more. The reason is the same. By the way I no longer am associated with the Republican Party. It left me.
More government control required. This just the appetizer. Wait until it gets worked over in the house. Happy Halloween. Social Engineering. Fix the grid with solar panels that don’t work a night. Blow into a tube so that you are checked before you enter your vehicle for alcohol use. Tax the miles you drive just like trucking companies get taxed. The federal tax on fuel and the excise taxes that you pay for products like tires for your vehicle aren’t enough. Oh I forgot electric cars won’t pay gas taxes. Free college,Obama Care,and a direct shot to citizenship for millions of illegals will be available. 2700 pages of this garbage. What’s not to like about it. EVERYTHING! THANK YOU RINOS. PIGS AT THE TROUGH AND SOME ELECTIONEERING TO DO.
I may be a bit slow on the pickup, but I thought “infrastructure” concerned bridges, roadways, waterways, the power grid, etc., NOT a liberal wish list for all that ails society.
Mr. Biden, Mr. Schumer, Ms Pelosi, if you want to add trillions then earmark it for completion of a sturdy border wall.
Gender equality? Fine, but for complete equality you must extend your hare brained ideas to ALL life: apple trees and aardvarks, giraffes and geese, lobsters and lions.
I like the idea of equipping cars with a breathalyzer device that can discriminate between Liberals and Conservatives and will reject the wrong driver.
I leave it up to Amac members to decide how to calibrate this device.
I have said for many years that the people in our country will never wake up to the fact that our country is going down hill every day. When the stupid people that voted for Biden realize that we are losing our great country it will be to late.
It’s shocking to see this bill advance with 19 republican senators. You expect it from the lefties. I’d wager no one has read this bloated pos either. The word stupid comes to mind.
The RHINO’s who voted for this pork filled bill should be ashamed of themselves but in traditional political b.s. they’ll make some ridiculous claim that the bill was actually a good one for all Americans. These RHINO’s need to be voted out of office especially those running in the midterm elections and replaced with fiscal conservatives who will actually read a bill and know what’s in between the pages before conceding to the demoncrats on every issue otherwise the demise of America will happen faster than you can say, O’Biden!
I hope that Shelly Moore Capito, senator from West Virginia, for whom I actively campaigned to get her elected as well as donating to her campaign, is totally proud of herself for helping Biden get this monstrous spending bill passed. I wish I could get back the money I sent her. It would help pay the inflation and raised taxes I am facing.
The Senate did not vote to pass HR 3684 as that is a House of Rep. Bill number. They might have approved some legislative gimmick that looked like the house bill…but it was not the house bill you state!