Preserving tax cuts for the rich and corporations is far more important to them than repairing crumbling roads and bridges.
Biden’s $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan was bloated. It included things like child care (a legitimate request, but not infrastructure). But Biden, seeking to negotiate with Republicans, quickly dropped his request to $1 trillion. In return, they came up from $600 billion to $928 billion, but that offer isn’t what it seems.
Only $257 billion of that is actual money. The rest takes away from already-approved other spending. And they want it to come from user fees, not taxes. Read story here.
Republicans have preferred user fees over taxes since the dawn of time. They expect working people to pay a $5 road or bridge toll to get to a job paying $7.25 an hour. They want to cut off unemployment benefits to people who don’t have child care. There’s nothing to negotiate here. Our job is to help the Democrats keep the Senate seats they have and win 1 more in 2022 so they won’t need Joe Machin’s vote to get legislation past Republican obstruction and selfishness.
Related article: Why the GOP’s arguments against infrastructure spending lack validity.
A deal is possible, and if it does not happen well it’s the party that controls the House, Senate and White Houses fault. [This comment has been edited.]
A deal is not possible unless both sides negotiate in good faith, and that doesn’t seem to be happening. And the Democrats do not control the Senate as long as it takes only 41 votes to stymie legislation in that body. The fault rests with the minority obstructing the majority.