House update: everything I don’t like is racist, everything I like is infrastructure

The U.S. House was in session on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, they were scheduled to vote on a rule providing for floor consideration of the $1.2 trillion “bipartisan” infrastructure bill and H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The rule also said that its passage would “deem passed” the Senate’s $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” budget outline. This allows the “human infrastructure” bill to pass the Senate with a filibuster-proof 50 votes. The vote was delayed because of objections from a group of so-called “moderate” Democrats. These “moderates” objected to the plan to hold off on a House vote on the traditional infrastructure bill until the Senate passes the larger “human infrastructure” bill. The “moderates” dropped their objections when House leadership promised to vote on the traditional infrastructure bill by the end of September. You can see the vote here. You can read more about the budget and reconciliation here. The House then voted on H.R. 4. This bill further centralizes control of elections and overrides state laws. It even requires states to get permission from the federal government before it can make any new election laws. The bill relies on the Fifteenth Amendment’s prohibition on state’s denying individual voting rights based on race to justify the federal takeover. But it stretches logic to claim that the state laws the bill is aimed at nullifying—such as the requirement that people show a valid ID before voting—are motivated by racial animus. The modus operandi of the modern Democrat party seems to be “everything I disagree with is racist; everything I agree with is infrastructure.” The bill passed on a party-line vote of 219-212. You can see the vote here. The Senate will began drafting the “human infrastructure” bill this month and will vote on it in mid-September.