President Joe Biden is playing nice with Republicans at the moment on infrastructure, the next big White House plan for saving the nation. But he's serious about getting this done, with or without them. "I'm not ready to have another period where America has another infrastructure month and doesn't change a damn thing," he said Thursday. "I'm meeting with my Republican friends up in the Congress to see number one, how much they're willing to go for, what they think are the priorities and what compromises—I'm ready to compromise," Biden said in Thursday remarks in Louisiana. "What I'm not ready to do is, I'm not ready to do nothing."
Which is precisely what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is opting for—doing nothing, again. On Wednesday McConnell was sounding like a broken record: "100% of my focus is on stopping this new administration […] 100% of my focus is on standing up to this administration." That was his response to the ongoing civil war in his party being played out now in the House in the leadership struggle for the souls of the GOP between the forces of current evil (Rep. Elise Stefanik on behalf of Trump) and former evil (Rep. Liz Cheney, a Cheney). With all that going on, McConnell knows what he has to do to get a Republican Senate back—keep Biden from saving the nation.
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That means trying to make sure that the slow job growth reported for April—just 266,000 new jobs for the whole month—continues. That means fighting Biden on his massive job creation plan. "Nearly 90 percent of the infrastructure jobs created by the American Jobs Plan do not require a college degree,” Biden said in his speech to Congress earlier this month. "Seventy-five percent don't require an associate's degree. The American Jobs Plan is a blue-collar blueprint to build America, that's what it is." He reiterated that Thursday in Louisiana. "When I think about the threats of hurricanes and global warming and then the poor condition of our economy as it relates particularly to infrastructure, I think of one thing: I think of jobs. Jobs. Jobs."
The problem as always is the 50-50 Senate and the troublemaking handful of Democrats who insist they don't want a repeat of the American Rescue Plan, and passing another massive bill with just Democratic support in a budget reconciliation. So Biden is once again meeting with Republicans this week. West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and whoever she wants to bring along will meet with Biden on Thursday of this week. Her initial offer—$568 billion for some roads and bridges and broadband paid for with wishes and unicorn farts in the form of user fees—is a non-starter for Biden. But there is the fact that Republicans are at least talking about the reality of infrastructure needs, so they can agree to that much.
Recognizing that those are the kinds of spending projects that actually reflect well on politicians at home, even McConnell is rhetorically bending a bit, and upping the numbers. He told Kentucky public television this weekend that the "proper price tag for what most of us think of as infrastructure is about six to 800 billion dollars." That's a few hundred billion more than the initial offer, so it's either movement, or McConnell feeling the need to temper his assertion that he wasn't going to let Biden do a goddamned thing.
Meanwhile, there is still no legislation on paper. Republicans continue to insist that they won't agree to rescinding or even changing any of the corporate tax cuts they passed in 2017. Biden's bottom line remains, according to a White House official, that they will pass a bill and that it won't be on the backs of taxpayers earning less than $400,000 a year. "He's put his plan forward … [including] how he believes we should pay for it," the official told Politico. "If there are other suggestions, he's willing to compromise."
Out of all this is emerging the reality that some part of Biden's plan is going to have to pass by reconciliation, with just Democratic votes. That means doing so called hard infrastructure—roads and bridges—with Republicans, or at least making every effort to get them on board with some proposal. The remainder would then be done by reconciliation. Sen. Bob Casey, a Biden ally, sees that path clearly, and says that Republicans are going to have to give this month, by Memorial Day. "There will be and there should be a fish or cut bait moment," he said. "We're in a critical month," he told Politico. "I just don't believe that we will be able to do anything that's bipartisan other than some version of physical infrastructure only. And I don't know the scope or dimensions of that. But most of what's in both proposals we're going to have to do by reconciliation."
Meaning Biden and Democrats are giving every opportunity to Republicans to prove McConnell wrong, to show that they are willing to be participants in this whole governing thing. In the Senate, anyway. Who knows what House Republicans are going to spend the remainder of this month in, other than a contest to prove who can be the most treasonous. This month of negotiating might just be enough to demonstrate to the foot-dragging Democrats in the Senate that there really isn't any joy to be had with Republicans. If that doesn't work, Biden might be taking care of it personally. He's meeting with Joe Manchin Monday.
Which is precisely what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is opting for—doing nothing, again. On Wednesday McConnell was sounding like a broken record: "100% of my focus is on stopping this new administration […] 100% of my focus is on standing up to this administration." That was his response to the ongoing civil war in his party being played out now in the House in the leadership struggle for the souls of the GOP between the forces of current evil (Rep. Elise Stefanik on behalf of Trump) and former evil (Rep. Liz Cheney, a Cheney). With all that going on, McConnell knows what he has to do to get a Republican Senate back—keep Biden from saving the nation.
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That means trying to make sure that the slow job growth reported for April—just 266,000 new jobs for the whole month—continues. That means fighting Biden on his massive job creation plan. "Nearly 90 percent of the infrastructure jobs created by the American Jobs Plan do not require a college degree,” Biden said in his speech to Congress earlier this month. "Seventy-five percent don't require an associate's degree. The American Jobs Plan is a blue-collar blueprint to build America, that's what it is." He reiterated that Thursday in Louisiana. "When I think about the threats of hurricanes and global warming and then the poor condition of our economy as it relates particularly to infrastructure, I think of one thing: I think of jobs. Jobs. Jobs."
The problem as always is the 50-50 Senate and the troublemaking handful of Democrats who insist they don't want a repeat of the American Rescue Plan, and passing another massive bill with just Democratic support in a budget reconciliation. So Biden is once again meeting with Republicans this week. West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and whoever she wants to bring along will meet with Biden on Thursday of this week. Her initial offer—$568 billion for some roads and bridges and broadband paid for with wishes and unicorn farts in the form of user fees—is a non-starter for Biden. But there is the fact that Republicans are at least talking about the reality of infrastructure needs, so they can agree to that much.
Recognizing that those are the kinds of spending projects that actually reflect well on politicians at home, even McConnell is rhetorically bending a bit, and upping the numbers. He told Kentucky public television this weekend that the "proper price tag for what most of us think of as infrastructure is about six to 800 billion dollars." That's a few hundred billion more than the initial offer, so it's either movement, or McConnell feeling the need to temper his assertion that he wasn't going to let Biden do a goddamned thing.
Meanwhile, there is still no legislation on paper. Republicans continue to insist that they won't agree to rescinding or even changing any of the corporate tax cuts they passed in 2017. Biden's bottom line remains, according to a White House official, that they will pass a bill and that it won't be on the backs of taxpayers earning less than $400,000 a year. "He's put his plan forward … [including] how he believes we should pay for it," the official told Politico. "If there are other suggestions, he's willing to compromise."
Out of all this is emerging the reality that some part of Biden's plan is going to have to pass by reconciliation, with just Democratic votes. That means doing so called hard infrastructure—roads and bridges—with Republicans, or at least making every effort to get them on board with some proposal. The remainder would then be done by reconciliation. Sen. Bob Casey, a Biden ally, sees that path clearly, and says that Republicans are going to have to give this month, by Memorial Day. "There will be and there should be a fish or cut bait moment," he said. "We're in a critical month," he told Politico. "I just don't believe that we will be able to do anything that's bipartisan other than some version of physical infrastructure only. And I don't know the scope or dimensions of that. But most of what's in both proposals we're going to have to do by reconciliation."
Meaning Biden and Democrats are giving every opportunity to Republicans to prove McConnell wrong, to show that they are willing to be participants in this whole governing thing. In the Senate, anyway. Who knows what House Republicans are going to spend the remainder of this month in, other than a contest to prove who can be the most treasonous. This month of negotiating might just be enough to demonstrate to the foot-dragging Democrats in the Senate that there really isn't any joy to be had with Republicans. If that doesn't work, Biden might be taking care of it personally. He's meeting with Joe Manchin Monday.