- Title 42 is expiring, something republicans really want to keep.
- Federal reserve says US economy is short at least 3+ million jobs, businesses having trouble finding workers. It's a large driver for the current inflation and is very sticky.
- US birth rate at 1.6 per female, need 2.1 to just keep the current population.
- 1 million+ COVID deaths and counting. COVID hospitalizations are at a 4 month high.

Yet... there's no deal. I use to think that eventually common sense will prevail but time and time again, politics prove that it doesn't adhere to simple truths.