WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans in Congress are making the politically blatant bet that it is more advantageous to oppose President Joe Biden’s ambitious US reconstruction agenda than to support the costly $ 2.3 trillion road venture, bridges and other infrastructure investments.
Just as Republicans did not vote for COVID-19’s $ 1.9 trillion relief bill, they plan to stay on the sidelines of this next big increase in the White House, forcing Democrats to take full ownership of the huge spending package and corporate tax hikes that Biden wants approved over the summer. The tension may increase this week, as Biden shows no signs of adjusting to satisfy Republican leaders, instead of appealing directly to his voters for support.
“I think Republican voters will have a lot to say about whether we can do a lot of that,” Biden told reporters at the White House.
This leaves Biden and Congressional Republicans on a collision course, the outcome of which could define the parties and their presidency. The Republican Party’s strategy is reminiscent of the Obama-era blockade that helped sour Democratic President voters more than a decade ago. At the time and now, the Republicans intend to make Democrats responsible for all taxes and expenses that will come, just as they did in the 2009 bailout after the economic crisis, framing it as a government excess that accumulates debt. .
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell set the tone for his party by categorically declaring last week that he will fight Biden’s agenda “every step of the way.”
But it is not at all certain that the Republican Party handbook that worked for more than a decade will produce the same political gains this time. Voters seem tired of the Washington party stalemate, live amid the country’s stains of degradation and signal that they initially support Biden’s approach to governing, at least in the virus aid package.
A recent survey by the Associated Press-NORC Public Research Center found that Americans responded favorably to the president’s approach, with 73% approving his treatment of the pandemic. This includes about half of the Republicans.
Senator Roy Blunt, R-Mo., A member of the Senate Republican Party leadership, said on Sunday that a smaller package of about $ 615 billion, or 30% of what Biden is proposing, could find the bipartisan support of Republicans if the White House found a way to pay for it without raising the corporate tax rate. He pointed to potential user fees on drivers and others.
“There is an easy win here,” said Blunt on Fox News Sunday.
Rather than backing down to a new era of great government, Democratic leaders in Congress are embracing this, believing that they can bypass the Republican Party blockade on Capitol Hill and present the case directly to Americans eager for investments in homes, communities and the media. livelihoods, especially in China and other rival countries, are making headway.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi compared Biden’s plan to the long-range goals of presidents before him – from Thomas Jefferson’s efforts to build the Erie Canal to Teddy Roosevelt’s projects on a national park system.
“Now, in this century, President Biden is undertaking something in the tradition of thinking big,” Pelosi told a news conference.
Progressives want Biden to be even bigger. Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Said on Sunday that he expects more funding to combat climate change and is pushing to include his own proposal to expand Medicare with dental, visual and hearing care for the elderly.
“Now is the time to start addressing our physical and human infrastructure,” said Sanders on CNN.
As Congress struggles to begin drafting legislation for Biden’s proposal, both parties will be put to the test.
In the Chamber, lawmakers will be asked to submit project requests in their home districts – roads and other infrastructure that could be eligible “landmarks” for federal funds. It is a way of attracting bipartisan participation and ensuring that funds are spent on agreed needs.
Republicans will be forced to participate or shut down, often under pressure from elected officials and other constituents clamoring for funds to update sewers, airports and countless other infrastructure systems.
Sprinkled in Kentucky with questions about the money that could be flowing into home state road, bridge and housing projects after the president unveiled his plan, McConnell countered them one by one.
Biden’s package “will not receive support from our side,” said McConnell.
Asked about McConnell’s comment, Biden smiled on Friday when speaking to reporters at the White House and asked whether Republicans are arguing that the country doesn’t need the infrastructure – or whether Republicans “decide that we do, but they won’t need to pay for it. that?”
Biden also pressured whether Republicans are opposed to cleaning lead pipes in homes, schools and day care centers.
“What do you think would happen if they found out that all the lead pipes were on Capitol Hill?” Biden asked.
At the same time, Democrats and Republicans will face the politically difficult vote of raising corporate taxes to pay all expenses, contrary to the business community that is largely against Biden’s plan to permanently increase the rate that corporations pay from 21% to 28% .
Both parties see this as an almost existential battle over competing political views: Democrats who believe in the government’s power to take the lead in solving the nation’s problems; Republicans who put their faith in the private sector to generate solutions.
At Capitol Hill, it is also a battle over which party will control Congress.
After Barack Obama was elected in 2008, McConnell said his goal was to make him president for a single term. This time, the Republican leader appears to have a short-term goal in hand – he wants to win back the now divided 50-50 Senate.
“They are so close to the majority in 2022 that they can taste it,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist.
Democrats have control of the Senate because their party’s vice president, Kamala Harris, can vote for the tiebreaker. In the House, the Democratic majority remains with only a handful of seats.
“They really don’t want to give Biden wins,” said Conant.
Democrats, uncertain about their political prospects, take no chances, legislating as if they were in good time.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer set in motion a potential process that would allow Biden’s package to move forward without the typical 60-vote limit needed to overcome Republican obstruction. Instead, it could be passed with a simple majority of 51 votes.
Pelosi has set a July 4 target for House votes, but acknowledges that the ambitious timetable may slow.
“The sooner we can get legislation done, the sooner we can allocate resources,” she said.
The goal, she said, was “to get the job done as quickly as possible.”