Ain't Talking 'Bout Love: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 15, 2021, 3:59:27 AM12/15/21

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Okay, now it's your turn.

Can anyone tell me about the 'practical import' of the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs act for the Portland Metro Area? I have not been following such developments closely, so I can't do the 'speculations' myself.

From the White House:

The $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework is a critical step in implementing President Biden’s Build Back Better vision. The Plan makes transformational and historic investments in clean transportation infrastructure, clean water infrastructure, universal broadband infrastructure, clean power infrastructure, remediation of legacy pollution, and resilience to the changing climate. Cumulatively across these areas, the Framework invests two-thirds of the resources that the President proposed in his American Jobs Plan.

How it will 'play out on the ground', I guess I don't know. Comments?

Jeffrey Rubard

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 15, 2021, 10:25:07 AM12/15/21

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Those Federal acta are really complicated things, especially "from the outside" of expertise about the topic.
Still, it's "the law of the land" and all.

J. Rubard

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 16, 2021, 2:38:55 AM12/16/21

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I found out recently that the U.S. Code comes in about fifty "volumes", and comprises more acts and statutes than even a John Roberts could make himself master of. So... your bright idea? *Your* bright idea?

Rubard

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 17, 2021, 1:59:16 AM12/17/21

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Pretty normal concept of federal law: no individual is the 'master' of its concepts. "All can stand to fall", it was once said, before our conception of what that would be deepened.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 17, 2021, 12:24:28 PM12/17/21

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That is to say, we once meant by that "You can pay *your* money and take *your* choice. Your idea of the other person's circumstances and what the act means for them may be, shall we say, less than deep." Rather than some sort of vicious charade, pretty precisely.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 18, 2021, 1:14:02 AM12/18/21

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"Dude, I'm an anarchist."
You know, they ask you if you're an anarchist in high school around here a lot. I decided I wasn't one.
Stay on planet Earth in late 2021 then, dude.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 18, 2021, 10:55:07 AM12/18/21

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The rest of you have to contend with a massive body of Federal "acta" that must influence your actions on the job, if not in relatively unguarded "free time".

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 19, 2021, 12:41:34 AM12/19/21

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You really don't get to disregard them as public employees. (Doesn't that make sense?)

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 20, 2021, 10:16:40 AM12/20/21

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So... if Tri-Met employees or cops seem to "not be doing their job right", in a little while... they'll "have to".

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 21, 2021, 12:07:11 PM12/21/21

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From the old days:

"I see the states across this great nation
I see the laws made in Washington, D.C
I think of the ones I consider my favorites
I think of the people who are working for me"

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 21, 2021, 10:06:57 PM12/21/21

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No, *of course not*.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 22, 2021, 12:02:41 PM12/22/21

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You, uh, don't get to "pick" your favorites.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 23, 2021, 2:55:15 AM12/23/21

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And there are so many volumes (at least over forty by a reasonable count) that not even John Roberts would be a completely authoritative guide to Federal law, much less Dread Pirate Roberts. (Anybody know "DPR"?)

Jeffrey Rubard

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 23, 2021, 4:54:56 PM12/23/21

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I mean, it can't seriously be the case that Ted Wheeler was "Dread Pirate Roberts", can it?
But anyhow, it's a pretty "stock example" that the Chief Justice is not 100% authoritative about arcana of Federal law.
Like, I didn't make it up.

Jeff Rubard

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 24, 2021, 3:15:39 AM12/24/21

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Like, you could ask the actual USG. Etc.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 25, 2021, 6:36:42 AM12/25/21

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Or not, but, like, about all the people who are 'top experts' on absolutely everything...

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 26, 2021, 12:27:48 AM12/26/21

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Absolutely everything at all. Dialetheists, not dialecticians: they know one thing is true, then its opposite, in that it contradicts one's own perhaps-timorous "suggestion".

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 26, 2021, 1:52:11 AM12/26/21

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Alternative: Consider another law -- say, the Civil Rights Act -- to hone your understanding of what federal legislation is and what it means for Oregon.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 26, 2021, 11:09:51 AM12/26/21

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The Voting Rights Act? Unfortunately a little bit fabled in the "samizdat history" of Oregon, but it's there too.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 27, 2021, 1:53:43 AM12/27/21

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We recently had an example of the Wagner Act in a tiny little strike at the Fred Meyer chain...
(pretty "real", somehow, even if it was no big deal and you never worked in the field at all, eh?)

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 28, 2021, 5:02:28 PM12/28/21

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Less real: the applicability of the National Passenger Railway Act of 1970 to MAX.
(You just can't do any of those things anywhere in the tri-county area!)

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 30, 2021, 8:23:48 PM12/30/21

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Personal theory: Beyond its more normal understanding as imposing a sanction on agitation towards the overthrow of the US Government, the Smith Act has as a corollary that in its modern state the United States holds no truck with political assassination -- for extreme rightists with moralistic agendas, as well as leftists. (More general theory: "Is that your real name, Mr. Smith?")

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 31, 2021, 12:59:05 AM12/31/21

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Also the USA Patriot Act, which can be "reasoned" thusly: "This is a country with laws, pretty much all the time. Stay within boundaries."

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 31, 2021, 11:28:36 AM12/31/21

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The "Freedom of Information Act" isn't merely about possible releases of fairly dated information from the USG, either.
Did you find out there were, say, free rides on the transit system on New Years Eve?
Then I Guess You Did -- you're "free to know" things people had you learn about life and America, even if they're unfortunate.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 31, 2021, 5:54:04 PM12/31/21

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"Bo-ring."
Well, maybe then they should utilize provisions of the Social Security Act to "get real paid" or something like that!

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 1, 2022, 8:26:17 PM1/1/22

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Less about the Selective Service Act, even. (They are pretty selective: I don't think I'd have in truth been eligible for most duties.)

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 2, 2022, 2:24:50 AM1/2/22

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Oh, let's throw in a random law: the Communications Decency Act of 1996.
(I could never figure out what that one was about, ever.)

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 3, 2022, 12:14:47 PM1/3/22

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Another? The "Refrigerator Safety Act of 1956"? Is that even real?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 4, 2022, 2:43:37 AM1/4/22

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Ans: Yeah, it is. Maybe you're not "real", though.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 4, 2022, 2:51:22 PM1/4/22

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What's up with Medicare these days, generally?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 5, 2022, 10:59:28 PM1/5/22

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Medicaid?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 6, 2022, 9:13:09 AM1/6/22

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The Pure Food and Drug Act?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 7, 2022, 11:57:50 PM1/7/22

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The Voter Registration Act? (That's so old I don't even remember what it was about, honestly. But it sounds cool, right?)

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 8, 2022, 10:58:11 AM1/8/22

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Naw, there's no Federal law with that name exactly. I was thinking of one from the '20s, but that would be very unclear.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 9, 2022, 11:19:25 PM1/9/22

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The "Indian Citizenship Act" or "Suffrage Act" of 1924-5, that's the one.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 11, 2022, 7:41:19 PM1/11/22

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Um... the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 12, 2022, 12:26:06 AM1/12/22

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Naw, "Aesthetes", Smoot-Hawley is not a consideration in my world.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 13, 2022, 9:40:50 AM1/13/22

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Neither does the Wagner act deeply apply to an opera-hating "independent laborer". It's just a law that is on the books, right?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 15, 2022, 12:23:27 PM1/15/22

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Not a lot of love for the Mann Act these days, and it's partially because the prosecution under it of Chuck Berry fundamentally obscures its purpose. The Mann Act was designed to prevent "invasion assaults", where individuals traveled interstate for the purposes of accosting someone. (Probably too vague in this at all, and Herbie Mann had a theory about this.) Still, it's... on the books? Not up to you? I guess.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 15, 2022, 10:28:21 PM1/15/22

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2022 Update: Do we "oldsters" all remember the Communications Decency Act -- not sure how you could maintain that line today, myself -- as a real "moment" in incipient overreaching by acquaintances?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 25, 2022, 6:08:04 PM1/25/22

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What do we think of Medicare and Medicaid?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 26, 2022, 12:18:52 PM1/26/22

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Or the Americans with Disabilities Act, which us haters of George H.W. Bush tried to discover a "silver lining" in (because that's, uh, exigent)?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jan 27, 2022, 10:53:32 AM1/27/22

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The Class Action Fairness Act? (Personal advice: mostly don't get involved, or seek it as a remedy.)

Jeffrey Rubard

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Feb 3, 2022, 1:05:19 PM2/3/22

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Unfortunately this exercise quite often hits the level of the "National Park Service Act", but then hey, if you've got the day off... I guess you would?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Feb 5, 2022, 3:51:48 PM2/5/22

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I almost forgot the Fair Housing Act!

Jeffrey Rubard

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Feb 8, 2022, 12:06:03 PM2/8/22

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Did Medicare Part D work out for people or not?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Apr 30, 2022, 7:31:01 PM4/30/22

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There is that other new law, too...

Jeffrey Rubard

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May 1, 2022, 6:59:51 PM5/1/22

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Yeah, that one.

Jeffrey Rubard

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May 23, 2022, 5:02:25 PM5/23/22

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...but it's true of all the scores of volumes of U.S. Code that they "don't change every day".

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jun 20, 2022, 6:57:49 PM6/20/22

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So you wouldn't need to "check in" with a non-lawyer about them.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jun 25, 2022, 5:45:06 PM6/25/22

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Is it summer yet?
"Yes."
Expecting that to change anytime soon?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jun 26, 2022, 1:06:02 PM6/26/22

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Really not, right? So we at least wouldn't "keep up" over it day to day?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jun 27, 2022, 4:59:45 PM6/27/22

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Similarly about "facts of a person's biography", as opposed to the funny things that happen in face-to-face
interactions that promise "menacing danger" at every second, unlike normal people in their daily life.
They're "still there" if you still need to care later.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jun 28, 2022, 4:02:24 PM6/28/22

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I do, indeed, lack a "time machine" to go back and change the events in a previous day or on previous days of my life,
and I suppose this is rather generally true. "But I don't know that!" This is also rather generally the case.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jun 29, 2022, 8:19:12 PM6/29/22

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The "Emmett Till Antilynching Act"? Can't quite "fuggedaboutit", and so forth.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jul 1, 2022, 6:41:10 PM7/1/22

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Just one of the many binding Federal laws, etc.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jul 21, 2022, 7:08:06 PM7/21/22

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Update: So what are people's thoughts on the Supreme Court decision regarding abortion?
"That was almost a month ago."
It wasn't the time to talk about such things, yet. Well?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jul 23, 2022, 7:02:41 PM7/23/22

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"It is complicated."
How? How is the "American consensus" view in favor of legal abortion at all complicated?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jul 24, 2022, 6:15:33 PM7/24/22

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"We're not all 'pro-choice'."
Neither are all of us pro-coercion either, 'cuz.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jul 25, 2022, 3:39:04 PM7/25/22

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"???"
Oh, don't have me "craft" your legal defense for you, either.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jul 26, 2022, 2:51:49 PM7/26/22

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"Like that's even possible."
Well, I'm not a lawyer, that's true.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Aug 5, 2022, 7:39:59 PM8/5/22

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"What else is true, then?"
(File ends)

Jeffrey Rubard

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Aug 24, 2022, 5:07:37 PM8/24/22

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Seriously, that thing seems primarily to be an "experiment" in practices running contrary to normal legal discovery.
"I don't like that."
Wow, that *makes sense again*, rather than being a preening self-idiocy as a thought.
However, then you'd want the *minimal* amount of "discovery" conducted *properly*, wouldn't you?
"It's a thought."

Jeffrey Rubard

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Sep 7, 2022, 4:23:43 PM9/7/22

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Hard to say about the Inflation Reduction Act.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Sep 10, 2022, 7:14:23 PM9/10/22

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Did they pass it, or what?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Sep 16, 2022, 6:28:02 PM9/16/22

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And does anybody know anything about the 1978 Presidential Records Act?
I really do not "get" what it was about.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Sep 19, 2022, 3:04:31 PM9/19/22

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Has anybody read the text of this one?
"Doesn't apply."
That is... not how that issue goes, but I haven't taken even a cursory look at its provisions.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 4, 2022, 6:16:17 PM11/4/22

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More or less the idea: "Look, there are eighty volumes of U.S. Code relevant to public matters. You couldn't possibly 'know it all' stacked up against a corpus like that."

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 5, 2022, 5:10:30 PM11/5/22

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(Actually true, unlike much one hears.)

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 13, 2022, 5:53:53 PM11/13/22

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What do people think of the Inflation Reduction Act?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 14, 2022, 3:16:28 PM11/14/22

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Will it work, do you think?