Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Advances, Democratic Trillion-Dollar 'Build Back Better' Plan Ignites Controversy

During the third quarter of 2021, fierce partisan battles erupted in the U.S. Congress over massive fiscal spending. In August, the Senate successfully advanced the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, focused on repairing roads, bridges, public transit, and expanding broadband, securing support from both parties. Concurrently, however, Democrats sought to pass a multi-trillion-dollar "Build Back Better" social spending and climate package using the budget reconciliation process.

This ambitious proposal was viewed by conservatives as a sweeping social engineering experiment, funding vast social programs through aggressive tax hikes (including increased taxes on corporations and wealthy families). Charlie Kirk and other conservative commentators warned that this scale of spending would further spike inflation and push the U.S. toward a socialist fiscal cliff.