* Flashback to July 12th…

18th District Congressman Darin LaHood said he was pleased with the recent bi-partisan compromise struck by the Biden Administration with Senators last week: “I’m optimistic that the Senate will take up action this week and next week. They are going to be the drivers of this initially. I give the Biden Administration and the bi-partisan group of Senators a lot of credit. They keep working at this and working on it, and they have made a lot of progress. It’s about a trillion dollar bill – doesn’t raise significant taxes. It has some user fees on airports and the rail system. It gives back a lot of COVID money to help pay for infrastructure, but it’s a significant amount of money. It would be about a trillion dollars that would fund roads and bridges, and our locks and dams, and traditional infrastructure. We’ll see if it passes the Senate next week. If it does, I think it’ll pick up some momentum and it’ll come over to the House. I’m going to give it strong consideration if that happens. I’m looking forward to seeing this new progress that’s being made.”

* August 12th…

The Senate voted 69-30 Tuesday to approve a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, a historic piece of legislation that could reshape American lives for decades.

The measure fulfills a call from President Biden for the two major parties to work together to deliver one of his top priorities, but it faces an uncertain fate in the House of Representatives as progressive Democrats press for even greater spending. […]

The 19 Republicans who voted for the bill, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did so despite pressure from former President Donald Trump to deny Democrats a victory. Trump released a statement that called the bill “the beginning of the Green New Deal.”

Republican negotiators, including Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, dismissed that criticism and promoted the agreement as a huge breakthrough for the Senate.

* November 5th…

The House passed a more than $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill late Friday, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk in a critical step toward enacting sprawling Democratic economic plans.

The Senate approved the revamp of transportation, utilities and broadband in August.

* Also on November 5th…

Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-18) released the following statement on his vote against the infrastructure bill:

“I voted no on the infrastructure package which enables the Democrats to ram through their reckless tax and spending agenda using reconciliation. Given the reconciliation process initiated by President Biden and Speaker Pelosi at the behest of Senator Sanders and the radical progressive wing of the Democrat party, the reality remains that the infrastructure bill and reconciliation package are linked and cannot be viewed separately. A vote for the infrastructure bill is a vote that paves the way for an extreme reconciliation spending bill that includes crippling tax hikes that will kill American jobs and send them overseas, hammer small businesses as they struggle to recover from COVID-19, and worsen the labor shortage while driving up inflation on working families.”

So, he’s now the process police.

* This News-Gazette editorial on November 10th was about Rodney Davis’ argument, which was the same as LaHood’s…

Equally disappointing was the response of Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville — the ranking Republican on the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee — who voted no on the legislation and falsely claimed that it was paired with another infrastructure bill.

“I’m beyond disappointed that President Biden and Democrats in Congress paired bipartisan infrastructure investment to their reckless, multi-trillion-dollar, tax-and-spending proposal,” said Davis.

Davis could have voted for the physical infrastructure bill — as other Republicans did — without voting for the separate social-safety-net and climate-change bill that Democrats hope to pass later this month. Further, Davis last summer asked that about $23 million in “member-directed spending” or earmarks for his district be included in the infrastructure bill.

Congress’ history is full of hypocrisy, and last week’s voting on the infrastructure bill is another example.

Mike Bost made the same argument, by the way.

* Also on November 10th…

One caller instructed Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to slit his wrists and “rot in hell.” Another hoped Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska would slip and fall down a staircase. The office of Representative Nicole Malliotakis of New York has been inundated with angry messages tagging her as a “traitor.”

Investing in the nation’s roads and bridges was once considered one of the last realms of bipartisanship in Congress, and President Biden’s infrastructure bill drew ample support over the summer from Republicans in the Senate. But in the days since 13 House Republicans broke with their party leaders and voted for the $1 trillion legislation last week, they have been flooded by menacing messages from voters — and even some of their own colleagues — who regard their votes as a betrayal.

* November 11th…

[US Rep. Darin LaHood’s] Illinois district includes the heart of the nation’s heavy construction equipment manufacturing industry, where Caterpillar, Komatsu America and their suppliers are mainstays of the Peoria economy. The upstart electric truck maker Rivian in Normal, Ill., has much to gain from the bill’s funds to electrify the nation’s highways and boost its power grid. […]

But while the new 16th District may have infrastructure needs, it also has Republicans — lots of them — with a heavy conservative tilt. The new district will almost certainly be represented by the Republican Party in 2023. […]

Eli Nicolosi, the Republican chairman in Winnebago County, which includes Rockford, had the misimpression that the bill was full of social policies that had nothing to do with infrastructure, some of which are in the reconciliation bill. He said he understood and accepted Mr. LaHood’s vote, even though he noted that the local airport could use some help and that aerospace manufacturing would most likely benefit from a cash infusion. […]

Connie Beard, the chairwoman of the McLean County Republicans, brought up Rivian as a company of the future, but she worried aloud that the infrastructure measure would mean “tremendous amounts of tax increases.” Told that there were none in the bill, which is dominated by old-fashioned public works programs, Ms. Beard pivoted.

“It’s hard for the legislators themselves to understand what was left in the bill and what was on the cutting room floor,” she said, adding, “I understand why Congressman LaHood wanted to take more time.”

Extreme partisanship combined with newly drawn districts and a whole new crop of voters will make politicians skittish as heck about breaking party ranks and drawing primary challengers. That’s not an excuse, but it’s clearly why they did what they did.