Milling & Baking News - July 27, 2021 - 31

TUES | 07 27 2021
The challenge of bipartisanship:
Who will lead?
BY ROBBIN JOHNSON
A
fter months of negotiating and at
least one failed attempt, a $600 billion
physical infrastructure deal
emerged with announced support from
President Joe Biden and members of both
parties in the House and Senate. Shortly
after that, Senate Democrats announced
a $3.5 trillion budget outline that includes
many " social infrastructure " ideas supported
by President Biden, including
expanded health care coverage, child care
supports, post-secondary education and climate
change measures. It would be financed
by taxes on corporations, high incomes
and greenhouse gas emissions while also
deploying the budget gimmick of authorizing
many of the programs only temporarily.
All of this creates a delicate political
dynamic. Will Republicans stay on board
the physical infrastructure deal if it is
tied to the social measures? Can Democrats
hold all 50 of their senators to the
social budget? And what will party leaders
do when the hard choices arise?
The physical infrastructure framework
that emerged several weeks ago has broad
support. Various opinion polls and attitude
surveys point to support from three of
every four voters. An unusual coalition of
advocacy groups support it, including the
US Chamber of Commerce, the Business
Roundtable and the National Retail Federation
on the business side and the AFL-CIO
and other unions on the labor side. Most
farmers and their farm organizations also
support it, as do many rural communities.
Support goes well beyond these grassroots.
President Biden stood with a group
of senators in announcing the agreement,
which concentrates on so-called hard or
traditional infrastructure, like roads,
bridges, waterways, transit and broadband.
In addition, the 58 members of the
equally bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus
in the House and a bipartisan group of
22 senators endorse the framework.
The " social infrastructure " framework
has less broad-based support, reflecting an
30 MILLING & BAKING NEWS
agenda President Biden campaigned on and
the priorities of the liberal wing of his party.
It also needs much work to fill in the details,
both on its programs and on how to pay for
it. How all of this plays out may dominate
Washington politics in coming months.
The need to upgrade America's physical
infrastructure has been recognized for
more than a decade. Past attempts to pass
such legislation have foundered. Now that
a framework is agreed, however, no one
is stepping up to give the deal the push
needed to turn it into law.
President Biden's attention has been
deflected by overseas trips, cyber attacks,
withdrawal from Afghanistan and other
foreign diversions. His support also has
wavered from unconditional to linking it
to progress on the social infrastructure
proposals, which can only pass under
budget reconciliation rules that bypass
the Senate's 60-vote filibuster rule.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, apparently
at the urging of progressives in
the House, has said, rather colloquially,
" There ain't gonna be no bipartisan bill
unless we are going to have a reconciliation
bill. " The latter measure presumably
would resemble the Senate Democrats'
proposal on a broad collection of social
measures that would not command any
Republican support. The 95 members of
the House Progressive Caucus represent
a large voting bloc in the 435-member
House of Representatives, but their views
are often far from the mainstream.
Conservatives have been no more helpful.
Groups including Heritage Action,
Freedom Works and Club for Growth all
oppose the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Their opposition, joined by comments
from former President Donald Trump
that disparaged the deal in provocative
terms, will peel away substantial Republican
support. In the face of this resistance,
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy
has been virtually silent on the bill, while
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
has given the deal " a decent chance " without
doing much to improve its odds.
The physical infrastructure deal may be
the best vehicle for re-starting bipartisan
governance that is likely to come along. It is
a long overdue investment in measures to
enhance America's global competitiveness
and quality of life. If it comes to pass, it
could be a start for other efforts from members
of both parties to work together and
compromise in order to get things done.
The social infrastructure measure, by
contrast, is already a partisan initiative,
with some aspects reflecting priorities
of Democrats' most liberal members. An
attempt to force it through under budget
reconciliation rules could easily jeopardize
the bipartisan physical infrastructure
deal and any chance for bipartisan
governance more generally. It also could
fail to pass a tightly balanced House or
Senate, undoing any Democratic party
unity and foreshadowing partisan sniping
ahead of the 2022 mid-term elections.
There also is a philosophical issue in
the background: China's successes and
rising strength explicitly are challenging
Western democracies generally and
America's democracy specifically as a
model for other countries to consider.
America is still struggling to find the right
way forward in meeting this challenge.
Historically, the middle ground has been
where American democracy has lived, and
lived successfully. While a small group of
centrist politicians from both parties is trying
to make this ground fertile again, it is
far from clear that their efforts can triumph
over the louder voices of the extremes. It is
safe to say, however, that a great deal rests
on the outcome of this struggle. MBN
Robbin S. Johnson, a fellow
with the Hubert H. Humphrey
Institute of Public Affairs, is a
contributing editor at Sosland
Publishing Company.
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Milling & Baking News - July 27, 2021

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