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Biden touts passage of $1.2 trillion bill: 'So happy ... it’s infrastructure week': LIVE UPDATES

Democrats passed the massive infrastructure bill late Friday, with the help of 13 Republicans who voted "yes" and without the help of six progressives who voted against it. It comes after a weeks-long delay caused by Democratic infighting over the bill

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MSNBC hosts react to Congress passing infrastructure bill: ‘It was messy but they did it’

Multiple MSNBC hosts took to Twitter to celebrate Congress’ passing of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and shame the Republicans who voted against it.

“If you want to criticize the bipartisan infrastructure bill - go for it,” Stephanie Ruhle tweeted Saturday. “But calling it welfare or socialism is just silly. It's a plan to fix our crumbling public infrastructure.”

“It was messy but they did it: Pelosi led House passes the bipartisan infrastructure bill it can finally go to the President to be signed,” Andrea Mitchell tweeted.

“Liz Cheney voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill,” Mehdi Hasan tweeted plainly, later adding, “I’m suggesting liberals shouldn’t deify her and not forget that she holds awful rightwing views across the board with the exception of her admirable if belated anti-Trumpism.”

“To be fair, anti-Trumpism is not even really the right description for her,” Ayman Mohyeldin responded to Hasan. “She is anti-the-big-lie and anti-insurrection day. But she voted for/with trumps policies 92.9% of the time. So she is hardly anti-Trumpism.”

Joy Reid, however, tweeted support for the six “Squad” progressives who voted against the bill, arguing that they have been “fighting, compromising and putting it all on the line for Biden’s OTHER signature bill: the one that will help women & POC.”

Reid was referring to the Democrats’ $1.75 trillion social and climate spending package, the Build Back Better Act, which is still being negotiated.

“Joe Manchin driving a Maserati to and from his ‘negotiations’ over how best to kill the bill that will help women and minorities and save the planet from extinction while flacking for coal, oil and dude jobs is actually the perfect symbol for this era,” Reid tweeted.

Posted by Jessica Chasmar

Sanders rips 'conservative Democrats' as inconsistent

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ripped moderate Democrats in a tweet Saturday afternoon after the House passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill after months of party infighting.

"Interesting," Sanders wrote. "Conservative Dems want to make sure that Build Back Better is fully paid for at exactly the same time that they voted for an infrastructure bill that, according to the CBO, increases the federal deficit by $256 billion. 

"Not very consistent!" he added.

Democrats are still trying to iron out the crucial spending and tax provisions of their $1.75 trillion social and climate spending package, called the Build Back Better Act, which progressives unsuccessfully tried to tie to the infrastructure bill that passed the House late Friday.

Posted by Jessica Chasmar

Clyburn defends Biden’s performance, laments it is 'a real tough time' to be president

House Majority Whip Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said Sunday that President Biden’s plummeting approval ratings have little to do with his performance and more to do with the country being "in a bad place," largely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

During a bipartisan sit-down interview on "Fox News Sunday" with Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Clyburn was asked by host Chris Wallace to weigh in on what’s gone "wrong" with Biden, citing his poor approval ratings, which are the lowest of his presidency at 43%.

"I don't know that anything is going wrong," Clyburn explained. "The country's in a bad place. We have a pandemic. I happen to chair the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus [Crisis], and I can tell you you'd be surprised at how much went wrong with trying to combat this virus. And that put everybody in a pretty bad way. 

"Education is being called into question because kids were out of school and couldn’t go to school, people were out of work," he continued. "And now we're trying to bring the economy back, and you've got all of these other things happening. So the country's in a bad place. It was a real tough time to become president of the United States. It's just that simple."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Posted by Jessica Chasmar

AOC’s ‘no’ vote on infrastructure bill is slammed in New York: report

Voters in New York City didn’t hold back their criticism of far-left U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this weekend after she joined five other progressive Dems in opposing the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that the House approved late Friday.

"I don’t know why she voted against it," Michael Goodman, a retired college professor, told the New York Post. "For decades, New York has given more money than they’ve gotten back. Politics is the art of compromise. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

"New York needs this money," Sidibe Ibrahima, another city resident who said she was a Democrat, told the newspaper. "The fact that [AOC] had her own community impacted by the floods, how are you going to go against an infrastructure bill? She should think about the people who voted for her."

Ibrahima was referring to the impact of Hurricane Ida last September on much of the Northeast, including Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional district, which includes parts of the Bronx and Queens boroughs of New York City. The bill, which passed on a 228-206 vote late Friday – with 13 Republicans supporting the measure – includes funding for sewer and drainage upgrades to help prevent flooding, the Post reported.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Posted by Jessica Chasmar

AOC blasts Carville for using term 'wokeness,' says mostly 'older people' use the word

Posted by Brie Stimson

Many Republicans were frustrated with their 13 GOP colleagues who voted for the Democrats' bill

Posted by Brie Stimson

'SNL' Weekend Update makes fun of infrastructure bill, last week's elections

"Saturday Night Live" took political aim at last week’s elections and the infrastructure bill on this weekend’s show. 

"Our top story tonight – like it’s been for as long as I can remember – infrastructure," Weekend Update co-anchor Colin Jost opened the fake news segment. 

By passing the bill, House Democrats agreed Friday to spend $1.2 trillion, "which should be enough to clean as many as two of LaGuardia’s toilets," Jost joked, referring to a New York City airport that's not known for upkeep.

Click here to read more on Fox News.

Posted by Brie Stimson

President Biden celebrates House passing infrastructure bill

President Biden on Saturday celebrated the House passing the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, a signature item of his agenda.

"Finally, infrastructure week," Biden joked on Saturday, refencing the bill that seemed to elude both former President's Trump term and the first year of his own presidency amid Democratic infighting. "I'm so happy to say that - infrastructure week!"

Posted by Brie Stimson

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