Politics — and Washington — can be bewildering.
And maddening.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill President Joe Biden just signed is cause for celebration. But the big one-party Build Back Better bill coming in right behind it is a huge disappointment and a missed opportunity.
This is a classic split-screen moment.
On one side, Democrats and Republicans worked across the aisle to pass a much-needed infrastructure bill that will improve the lives of literally every American. Many House members cast their ballots in favor of the measure despite the extreme and loud voices in their party demanding they vote no.
But on the other side of the screen, we see President Biden continuing to work only with his own party to ram through a wholly partisan bill, which includes both spending and taxing provisions that no Republican has been consulted on and that none will vote for.
It’s the same thing President Donald Trump did when he rammed through tax cuts in 2017 with just Republican votes. President Biden promised to upend this vicious cycle of partisan one-party rule when he was running for president. It’s a major reason why he won.
His work on the bipartisan infrastructure bill — with a big assist from No Labels’ House and Senate allies — is a fulfillment of that promise. The partisan process that has created BBB is a violation of it.
There are a lot of lessons to learn from the success on the infrastructure bill, and over the coming weeks and months, we will be reinforcing the positives and building on what we know works. That starts with supporting the amazing women and men of both parties who made it happen.
But we also know there is a lot more to do to change the incentives in the system.
Instead of building on the bipartisan momentum from the infrastructure bill, President Biden and Democratic congressional leaders may squander it by passing a partisan bill that could make it much harder for them to do meaningful bipartisan outreach on anything significant again soon.
For their part, far-right Republicans and far too many Republican leaders have lobbed shameful and shameless attacks at the 13 House Republicans who had the courage to vote for the infrastructure bill. It would be funny if it weren’t so outrageous. Demanding punishment for another congressperson of your own party because they voted for something they believed was in the best interest of their constituents and the nation? That is seriously messed up.
As we move forward, with determination and optimism, we need to continue to call out those on both sides who are for two-party solutions only when it is easy. And we need to continue to add to the ranks of those in the White House and Congress who will fight for bipartisan agreements, even when it means standing up to members of their own blue or red tribe.
Margaret White is co-executive director of No Labels, a national movement of Democrats, Republicans and independents working to bring our leaders together to solve America’s toughest problems. First published by No Labels.
