The decision of Republicans to collaborate with Democrats is both bad policy and makes little sense politically. As we have been saying for months, despite what the media (and evidently, some Republicans) will tell you, America’s infrastructure is not crumbling and is not deeply in need of repair. There is not an economic justification to spend money to stimulate an economy that will recover on its own as the nation emerges from the pandemic (growth accelerated at an annual rate of 6.5 percent in the second quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced on Thursday). Also, it is not as if the government is in the black. The Biden administration’s own estimates foresee debt as a share of the economy surpassing the World War II record this year. And Fed chairman Jerome Powell, who had been insisting that inflation is going to be transitory, has conceded that it will take longer to abate than he previously expected…

It is true that Sinema came out in opposition to the Democrats-only $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill after the announcement of the bipartisan deal. However, reading her statement, it’s clear that she isn’t opposed to the idea of passing a bigger bill, just the price tag. That still leaves her open to voting for a less expensive, but still extravagant, reconciliation bill. And because Republicans are helping to pass $550 billion of spending, it means Democrats might be able to get more overall spending than if they were to try to hold a purely partisan vote on one massive bill.

Republican defenders of the bipartisan deal also argue that it’s fiscally responsible because it will be fully “paid for.” Yet some of the supposed pay-fors are dubious.