The 13 Republicans Who Saved Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Aren’t Martyrs
Giving Democrats an undeserved win wasn’t just bad politics. It was an example of old-time corrupt deal-making. Yet the 13’s critics are being portrayed as violent ‘insurrectionists.’
By Jonathan S. Tobin
November 18, 2021
When the House passed President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill on Nov. 5, Democrats got a new group of Republicans to lionize. The 13 GOP members of the House who bucked their party to vote in favor of the bill and enable it to pass by a 228-206 margin were elevated that day from the status of anti-democratic “insurrectionists” — as Democrats term virtually all Republicans these days — to that of heroes and martyrs.
In addition to the 18 Senate Republicans who voted likewise, the 13 in the House who voted for the $1 trillion bill, which Biden signed this week, gave the Democrats their first victory after a string of policy failures and the red wave in the off-year elections in Virginia and New Jersey. In doing so, they have now joined the 10 GOP members who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump in January as belonging to the category of people that leftist corporate media considers good Republicans.
Much like the “Profiles in Courage” treatment received by the 10 who backed the impeachment of a president after he had already left office, the 13 are now enjoying the kind of coverage in outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and MSNBC that they could never hope to get if they voted their voters’ principles. But as with the impeachment supporters, the 13 aren’t really being celebrated for who they are.
Most of those who crossed the aisle on the bill did so not out of some high-minded belief in bipartisanship and civic duty, but because they think their districts will benefit from some of the expensive projects being funded and that this will feather their own political nests. In that sense, the 13 were acting like throwbacks to a bygone era of congressional dealmaking. They traded favors regardless of how it affected the country in order to profit politically by playing the heroes bringing home the bacon to their districts.
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https://thefederalist.com/2021/11/18/the-13-republicans-who-saved-bidens-infrastructure-bill-arent-martyrs/
