Build Back Better or boondoggle? Why Biden’s bill is so divisive.
After months of negotiations and a record-long GOP speech that went until 5 a.m., House Democrats narrowly passed the largest spending bill in history this morning.
President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act is twice as big in real dollars as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, according to the White House. Democrats are proud of that. Republicans are horrified.
Democrats say the bill – which still faces an uncertain fate in the Senate – promises historic investments in climate initiatives, health care, universal pre-K, and child care subsidies. It also brings changes in taxation and enforcement that they say will address inequities and enable more citizens to flourish. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the reforms will cost $1.7 trillion, all but $160 billion of which it expects to be offset by tax revenues and other measures.
“Over the past two decades, we have spent $6 trillion in three Middle East
