title:  Republicans PROVE They Are Against The Working Class By Blocking Job-Creating Provision In Major Bill
text: A major bipartisan infrastructure bill has gone through the House, and it proved that House Republicans don t care all that much about  buy American  (just like their lord and savior, King Cheeto). The bill, which would have permanently required all piping for water infrastructure projects receiving federal funding to be made in the U.S., has sadly been watered down to a single year.Why is this? Trump made a huge deal about  made in America,  and how American manufacturing has gone down the tubes over the last 30 years. Yet all his products are made overseas, as are most of what his daughter, Ivanka, sells in her fashion line. Trump has said that his $1 trillion infrastructure plan would have strong  buy American  requirements, so either the GOP doesn t care what their own leader wants, or Trump cares even less about American manufacturing than we thought.Or both. Critics say that it amounts to giving federal funding to some companies, and not others, creating a system of  winners and losers  in the market. That s what they always say, and they have yet to be proven right. Senate Democrats see it differently, and have been waging a Twitter campaign to build support for keeping the permanent requirement in place..@SenatorBaldwin s #BuyAmerica provision would help build US infrastructure w/ US steel. How can @HouseGOP oppose this obvious job creator?  Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 5, 2016.@RealDonaldTrump: Tell @SpeakerRyan to put #BuyAmerica back in Water bill. American tax dollars for American jobs.https://t.co/zpzJrHOOcF  Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) December 5, 2016Fact: @HouseGOP plan harms American manufacturing. @HouseDemocrats will fight to support #BuyAmerica & we urge @realdonaldtrump to do same.  Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) December 5, 2016@HousesGOP plan harms American manufacturing. @HouseDemocrats will fight to support #BuyAmerica & we urge @realdonaldtrump to do same https://t.co/t00ZzGaAhg  Bonnie WatsonColeman (@RepBonnie) December 5, 2016According to Illinois Senator-elect Tammy Baldwin, Trump has been silent about this problem while sitting in his gilded bubble at the top of Trump Tower: By removing my Buy America standard, Speaker Ryan and House Republicans are embracing the status-quo in Washington. This is a failure by House leadership to make a solid commitment to American manufacturers and workers,  said Senator Baldwin.  American workers should build our infrastructure with American products and taxpayers  money should not be spent on Chinese or Russian iron and steel. It s disappointing that the President-elect is sitting silent in Trump Tower. One would think that, if he can blast Boeing for something that isn t happening, then he can at least issue a statement of disappointment in House Republicans for removing the provision. Now Democrats have to introduce it as a separate amendment.It s true that the single-year provision ends up in appropriations bills for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, which is a joint project between the states and the federal government for water infrastructure improvements. This particular bill would be part of that. But having to reinsert the  buy American  language in every appropriations bill every year makes it easier to remove.However, it s also true that, if Republicans were serious about bolstering American manufacturing, they d take a harder look at putting a permanent requirement in this kind of a bill. The free market certainly isn t doing anything to help, and gutting trade agreements could make things worse all throughout our economy.But whatever. We know by now that the GOP has badly failed American workers with their dogmatic adherence to the extreme, reckless brand of capitalism we practice here. They ll continue to do it until they have strong reason not to, and that involves the wealthy getting severely pissed at them.Featured image by Mark Wilson via Getty Images