By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Someone once said that crafting legislation is similar to making sausage, in that neither activity is attractive to watch as it takes place.

I will spare you the nuts and guts of sausage making. However, the infrastructure bill that is slogging its way through the U.S. Congress is another matter.

It is taking seemingly forever for congressional Democrats and Republicans to work through their differences. President Biden is waiting for some form of legislation to arrive at his desk. I will presume he’ll sign what Congress delivers to him.

But … man! This is getting painful to watch.

Senate negotiators are hammering out a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that aims to repair our roads, bridges and rail lines; it also will provide greater broadband Internet service. The legislation also figures to put millions of Americans to work, even though quite a few million of us are returning to the work force as the nation fights mightily to rid itself of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is a bipartisan effort, with pols on both sides of the great divide finding ways to compromise. That’s what I call “good government.”

Some progressive politicians want to spend more money; some arch-conservative pols don’t want to spend any money on anything.

Government needs to step up. It needs to find ways to assist Americans struggling to pay their household bills. The infrastructure bill, with all its complexities, figures to lend a much-needed hand. Not to mention that it will repair crumbling roads, bridges and rail lines. We need ’em all to get from place to place … you know?

The only thing is that it ain’t pretty to watch taking shape.