Tempers are starting to flare on both sides of the aisle as bipartisan infrastructure talks drag on and negotiators face the prospect of missing an informal self-imposed deadline of Monday for getting a deal. Some Democrats are accusing Republicans of slow-walking the negotiations and reopening negotiating items that were believed to be solved. Republicans say Democrats are being unreasonable in some of their demands, such as an insistence on tens of billions of dollars in new funding for transit and broad authority for local governments to decide how to spend infrastructure funds. ADVERTISEMENT A bipartisan group of Senate negotiators who have been working with the White House for months to fill out a $1.2 trillion, eight-year spending proposal say they’re on track to get it done next week, but frustrations are starting to mount as a final deal eludes them. “They have not been serious about transit dollars,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown Sherrod Campbell Brown … [Read more...]

INDIANAPOLIS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — On July 22 leaders with the Big 12 held a call without Oklahoma and Texas to discuss how to keep the league’s flagship schools from bolting to the Southeastern Conference — and contingency plans to survive without them. “There was no panic,” a person familiar with the meeting told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Big 12 was not making its internal discussions public. “All options are on the table.” READ MORE: Another GM Recall For The Chevy Bolt Because Of Faulty Batteries That Could Cause Fires The Big 12 put out a statement Thursday night that revealed few details, but made clear the eight members in danger of being left behind want the Longhorns and Sooners to stay put. And that leaving could be costly for Oklahoma and Texas. “There is a recognition that institutions may act in their own self-interest, however there is an expectation that members adhere to Conference bylaws and the enforcement of Grant of Rights … [Read more...]