Biden Backs Compromise to Achieve His Vast Social Agenda

But he suggested to lawmakers on Tuesday that the price tag for his agenda could drop by 50 percent, to $1.75 trillion. And speaking at the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton, Pa., on Wednesday afternoon, he tacitly acknowledged how far his ambitions have been scaled back.

“We’re going to make investments in education beyond high school that includes increasing Pell Grants,” he told the audience in the town where he grew up. He did not mention free community college.

After months of plodding discussions, there is a new sense of urgency and optimism at the White House and among Democrats on Capitol Hill. Drawing on decades of experience as a senator, Mr. Biden has maintained disciplined patience with members of his own party, according to people familiar with the talks. He has not expressed deeply held views on the details or drawn many red lines.

A final framework for the legislation has yet to emerge, even as discussions accelerate. But the negotiations over Mr. Biden’s social policy agenda, known as Build Back Better, are revealing him to be the flexible dealmaker that some hoped for — and others dreaded.

Details of legislation that would spend roughly $2 trillion over 10 years remained in flux on Wednesday, as lawmakers huddled across Capitol Hill to iron out the details of the plan. An agreement on that bill could in turn bring progressives in the House to vote for a separate bill to invest in roads, bridges, broadband, water pipes and other physical infrastructure, which has already cleared the Senate with bipartisan support.

But compromise has its costs, especially for a politician eager to talk about revolutionary change, but perfectly willing to accept incremental progress.

For environmental activists, immigration advocates, proponents of expanded access to college and others, Mr. Biden’s search for middle ground is likely to mean giving up on some of the sweeping proposals they hoped would finally pass in a government controlled by Democrats. That has left many of them angry and frustrated.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/business/biden-scranton-agenda.html