No wonder the GOP color is red. They should be red with embarrassment over their hypocrisy on affirmative action and infrastructure spending. Supreme Clarence Thomas, a product of educational affirmative action, voted to shot such programs down at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. (See separate post -- https://www.northshoredemocrats.org/post/welcome-to-the-new-jim-crow-supreme-court-kills-affirmative-action-in-education )
Meanwhile, Texas’s own John Cornyn, one of 30 senators who voted against the otherwise-bipartisan Biden-led infrastructure bill, now boasts about the $3.3 billion for broadband slated for Texas. Ditto Alabama’s Tommy Tuberville
The long-overdue infrastructure law is one of President Biden’s many hallmark achievements to date. Remember how during Trump, every week seemed to be “Infrastructure Week.” It became a running joke, and nothing ever passed.
Most Republicans in the House and Senate voted against it. And now these characters are trying to claim credit for the benefits to their districts and states from the landmark $1.2 billion law.
Biden’s law is distributing upward of $42 billion across America to expand internet access and help bring rural and isolated communities into the increasingly digital world. The White House on Monday released estimates of what that means for each state—and Republicans who voted against the bill were quick to claim the victory.
One of President Biden’s hallmark achievements thus far is his $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law. Even though Biden compromised with Republicans, and even though the law was so beneficial for their constituencies, a majority of Senate and House Republicans still voted against it in 2021. And now these same Republicans are suddenly trying to take credit for the historic investment they actively tried to stop.
As part of the law, more than $42 billion will be distributed to expand national internet access, notably in rural areas, which often have poor connectivity.
And, boy are anti-bill Republicans quick to claim credit.
John Cornyn announced on Twitter that Texas would benefit from the $3.3 billion allocated for broadband expansion. He didn’t explicitly claim credit for the law, but he sure made it sound like a great idea. John, take a victory lap without telling us you are taking a victory lap.
"You left out, 'in spite of my no vote,’ " Hollywood Reporter Editor at Large Kim Masters retorted.
Cornyn pushed back, claiming he voted against the bill because it would fuel the debt and fuel inflation. This only prompted further ridicule for Cornyn’s support for the unpaid-for Trump tax cuts and his lack of specificity on alternatives.
Then there’s Alabama’s Tommy Tuberville. Tuberville tweeted that “broadband is vital for the success of our rural communities and for our entire economy.” He added that it was “great to see Alabama receive crucial funds to boost ongoing broadband efforts.”
“See you at the groundbreaking,” Biden tweeted dryly.
Alabama gets $1.4 billion, placing it among the 10 states receiving the greatest funding. At the time of passage, though, Tuberville said the bill “fails to give Alabama a fair slice of the pie, while also saddling Alabama taxpayers with even more debt.”
More than the unfunded Trump tax giveaways? Doubtful. WP
And in the House, numerous anti-bill Republicans have made a “timely conversion,” as the White House put it. These include Reps Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash), who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Robert E Latta (R-Ohio), chair of that panel’s communications and technology subcommittee.
The sweeping infrastructure law contains other popular measures, as well. These measures also drew praise today from those who opposed the law yesterday. For instance Rep Nancy Mace on Wednesday actually held a press conference celebrating the law’s allocation of nearly $26 million to a Charleston, South Carolina, regional bus hub featuring electric buses.
Back in the day, Mace called the bipartisan infrastructure law “absurd” and a “fiasco.” She specifically derided funding electric mass transportation as “socialism,” the height of irony considering her current position.
Thirty senators and 300 representatives, all GOP, opposed the bill.
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