Democrats in the House approved the most massive increase in social spending in the nation’s history, passing a bill that may cost as much as $2 trillion dollars.
House Republicans were able to delay the vote, which had originally been scheduled for Thursday. Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy took the floor and spoke for more than eight hours on Thursday night and into Friday morning. It was the longest floor speech in the history of the House of Representatives.
The vote was close — 220-213 with a lone Democrat, Jared Golden of Maine, voting against the bill, along with all Republicans present.
Related: In the Longest House Floor Speech in History, Rep. McCarthy Condemns Build Back Better Bill
The Washington Post accurately summed up the disaster.
The measure adopted Friday amounts to a dramatic re-envisioning of the role of government in Americans’ daily lives. It sets aside in some cases historic sums to aid workers, families and businesses, seeking to rewire the very fabric of an economy still recovering from the financial devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
In bearing the name of the president’s 2020 campaign slogan, the successful 220 to 213 House vote on the Build Back Better Act marks the second legislative milestone for Democrats this month. It comes about two weeks after they joined with Republicans to finalize a separate, sweeping bill to improve the nation’s roads, bridges, pipes, ports and Internet connections, delivering long-sought infrastructure investments that Biden signed into law Monday.
The Post downplayed the worst of it. In fact, the bill is a radical departure from the norm. It will forever alter the relationship between the American people and their government, allowing Washington to be more intrusive, more dominating, more obvious in the daily lives of the nation’s citizens.
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