Hi, welcome to Full Frontal, I'm Samantha Bee.
It's rare that I celebrate happy things on this show.
Last week we did an eight minute act
on why it was actually bad, and wrong, for that Blue's
Clues guy to come back.
Look, I can't explain it again, just find it on Roku.
But occasionally, surprisingly, good things do happen.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill, a key part
of President Biden's legislative agenda,
passed Congress late last week.
REPORTER: The $1 trillion package
is estimated to create 500,000 jobs over the next few years.
$110 billion for highways, roads, and bridges.
$65 billion to upgrade the nation's power grid.
$39 billion in public transit.
$65 billion to expand internet. $55 billion investment
in clean water, with money funneled to replace lead pipes
and address water contamination.
Woo, infrastructure!
I celebrated the passage of the bill
like I do most things, by drinking my booze alone.
But I tied it into infrastructure
by doing it under a bridge.
Biden's infrastructure bill is a major victory.
It's the largest public works bill since Eisenhower
created the interstate system.
Incredibly, he built it all on his own.
That man could not delegate.
The bipartisan bill will positively
impact so many people.
It addresses hugely pressing problems that we've
been trying to fix for years.
From protecting our water infrastructure,
from the effects of climate change and cyber attacks,
to removing pollution from water and soil.
It will also help repair or replace our nation's bridges,
45,000 of which are in such poor condition,
they even got into comedy.
The bill also provides funding to put zero-emission buses
on the road.
So we'll finally have environmentally friendly Bang
Buses that we can all feel good about.
Yes, I'm Samantha Bee.
And yes, I know about the Bang Bus.
I was the Bang Bus driver.
The benefits of the infrastructure bill
will be felt all over the country.
From Alaska, where it will help fund a ferry system
for rural communities, to West Virginia, which plans to clean
up abandoned coal mines, to Rhode Island, which wants
to build electrified trains to quickly get
residents to Boston, and more importantly,
get them away from Boston.
While it's not perfect, this bill
is a big victory for Biden.
It's also a victory for the Democrats, who sealed the deal
thanks largely to the Congressional Black
Caucus, which brokered the compromise between the party's
moderate and progressive factions, and Nancy Pelosi,
who wrangled progressive members support by barraging
them with voicemail messages.
I feel like maybe half of them signed on
to avoid getting more voicemails from Nancy Pelosi,
but still, it worked!
Democrats should be celebrating this win.
Trump had 208 weeks of infrastructure,
we can never manage to pass shit.
But Biden embraced the spirit of compromise,
and passed his bill with bipartisan support in both
the House, where 13 Republicans voted for it,
and in the Senate, where 19 Republicans
boosted it to 69 'Yes' votes.
And if that number doesn't say mutually beneficial,
I don't know what does.
Unsurprisingly, Right-wing Republicans
don't see it that way.
REPORTER: Congressman Madison Cawthorn tweeting,
"vote for this infrastructure bill,
and I will primary the hell out of you."
We had 13 Republicans that decided to step
up, and help her in this way.
I think what they did was put themselves
on a path to early retirement.
REPORTER: Republican Congressman Marjorie
Taylor Greene lashing out at her colleagues on Twitter.
She writes, "Republicans who hand over their voting
card to Nancy Pelosi to pass Biden's
communist takeover of America will feel
the anger of the GOP voter"
I mean, first vaccine mandates, and now
Americans don't even have the right
to die in a bridge collapse?
Oh-- this isn't the country my grandfather
died for in a bridge collapse.
The bill Democrats passed last week is massive,
but it's just half of the puzzle.
There's another major spending bill Democrats
still need to pass this year.
There is more to come, as Democrats
work to finalize part two of the president's
Build Back Better agenda.
Paid family and medical leave, that
is something that all other developed countries do,
but we don't.
That's in the Build Back Better Act.
REPORTER: The sprawling social safety net bill
will expand many government programs,
including the child tax credit, universal pre-K, and more.
Pre-K?
Look, we all know Republicans only care about pre, pre,
pre-K. The current version of the social spending bill,
also known as Build Back Better, has expanded care subsidies,
affordable housing, immigration reform,
and includes four weeks of paid family and sick leave.
But that is just the start of what Americans need.
Unlike the bipartisan infrastructure bill,
this one has no Republican support.
So Democrats will have to pass it through budget
reconciliation, meaning 50 members
of the Democratic caucus will have to support
it in order for it to pass.
So I'm not saying we should bribe Kyrsten Sinema,
but if a box of new jean jacket vests
just happen to fall off a truck and into her office,
it wouldn't be the end of the world.
While we wait to see what happens with Build Back Better,
we should celebrate the fact that last week's bill is
a critical, life saving victory that maybe
Democrats greatest achievement of the last 10 years.
Well, second best.
(SINGING) This is our fight song, take back our life song.
Full disclosure, I have very little fight left in me.
Democrats should be touting this victory far and wide,
because not enough Americans understand the positive impact
this bill will have on them.
Voters need to hear about Democrats successes, especially
ahead of the midterms.
As the hottest, and wisest, person on Earth
once said, let's get loud!
We'll be right back.
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