Well, Democrats should hope Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin, and other moderate Democrats that think they can get bipartisan support on an infrastructure-jobs plan through Congress was paying attention to remarks from Enemy of the People-Obstructionist in Chief-Legislative Grim Reaper-Moscow Mitch McConnell today.
According to reporting by the Hill, the Senate Minority Leader made it perfectly clear he and his fellow Republicans are not interested in doing much more than the $568 billion dollars meager (and insulting) infrastructure proposal West Virginia Senator Shelly Moore Capito and her colleagues in the former party of Lincoln unveiled two weeks ago.
In remarks at a Kentucky Press Conference, the Republican Evil Machiavellian said:
"I think it's worth talking about but I don't think there will be any Republican support — none, zero — for the $4.1 trillion grab bag which has infrastructure in it but a whole lot of other stuff...We're open to doing a roughly $600 billion package which deals with what all of us agree is infrastructure," McConnell said. "If it's going to be about infrastructure, let's make it about infrastructure."
Remember the Reactionary-Republican definition of infrastructure does not include:
- Modernizing and rebuilding school buildings.
- Refit homes and businesses to make them more energy-efficient.
- Rebuild veterans care facilities.
- Constructing 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations.
- Investing in human infrastructures like home and child care.
Republicans are also not interested in paying for it by raising taxes on the wealthiest individuals or corporations with the Senate Prince of Darkness saying they are not interested in revising the 2017 tax cut that made the rich richer and had no positive long-term effects on the nation's economy.
In other words, it is 1993 and 2009 all over again with Republicans in Congress who would be against promoting a cure for cancer if a Democratic President proposed it.
These reactionaries seem to forget they lost the last election and the people support the Biden/Harris proposals.
If McConnell thinks his opening (and it seems only) bid for infrastructure legislation is acceptable, he can shove it up his ass.
If Republican Senators follow his lead, negotiations with them are a waste of time.
The Biden/Harris Administration and Democratic Congressional Leadership should just adopt a two or three-bill strategy where they pass a smaller bipartisan infrastructure measure and the rest through budget reconciliation and get it done before the fall.
It is obvious that is the only way to go forward unless the Problem Solvers Caucus group comes up with a detailed proposal that meets the needs of both sides. Right now, they have a program of good ideas (please click here to review) but no firm numbers.
Hopefully, Manchin, Sinema, and the other moderates will see the Republican stance for what they are: dragging out the process and obstruct and see that Democrats will probably have to again go at this alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment