Biden gives GOP a shock, tells them they have to actually make policy to stay in the game

[babylonsister]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/5/14/2030534/-Biden-gives-GOP-a-shock-tells-them-they-have-to-actually-make-policy-to-stay-in-the-game

Biden gives GOP a shock, tells them they have to actually make policy to stay in the game
Joan McCarter
Daily Kos Staff
Friday May 14, 2021 · 5:26 PM EDT


It was all happy talk from both the White House and Senate Republicans coming out of Thursday's infrastructure meeting, with President Biden stressing that everyone was working in "good faith" and telling reporter that he was "prepared to compromise." For the Republicans' part, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the lead in negotiations for the GOP, said it was "very productive" and a "more than courteous give-and-take."

Biden gave the Republicans homework, which has be a shock to their systems. Capito said after the meeting: "The President has asked us to come back and rework and offer so that he can then react to that and then re-offer to us." She added that "more detail is what we need to get them so they can react more specifically."

Yes, more detail. For the past four years, Republicans have been talking and talking and talking about infrastructure without actually doing anything. The chances that they went into that room Thursday with anything more concrete that "no corporate tax hikes" is nil.

Scratch that, they do have another idea.

Link to tweet

Yep, Republicans want to pay for infrastructure rebuilding by making the poor schlubs who have to drive to work every day pay more: user fees, toll roads, gas taxes. That hits low- and middle-income people disproportionately harder, and they already face higher transportation costs relative to their incomes.

Astoundingly some Democrats are down with that, like Virginia's Mark Warner, who also happens to be the second richest senator after Mitt Romney. "User fees have to be part of the mix," he told Axios this week. Bad look, senator. As Kerry Eleveld says, "That is about the dumbest position Democrats could adopt as a message heading into 2022."

Luckily there are less well-heeled Democrats around to set him straight. Like President Biden. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reiterated Friday that user fees are not on the table for Biden. He will not break his pledge not to raise taxes on people making less than $400,000.

That some Senate Democrats (like Kyrsten Sinema and Tom Carper) are also pushing user fees, as if it would actually end up making Republicans automatically decide to play nice and vote for the bill—laughable, yet at the same time profoundly discouraging. There shouldn't be so many gullible Democrats anymore, not after all the years with Mitch McConnell as Republican leader.

Given how many Republicans have been out there claiming responsibility for the good stuff in Biden's COVID-19 relief law when they unanimously voted against it, Democrats should be getting the lesson. Republicans are going to stay in the negotiations solely for the purpose of weakening the bill. They will accept the offered bribes of special projects in their districts and states included in the bill and then 99% of them, if not 100%, will vote against it, forcing Democrats to pass as much of it as they can with budget reconciliation and a simple majority vote.

Then Republicans will run home, where they will rebuke Biden and the Democrats for not being bipartisan and at the same time take credit for the great projects that will soon be happening. Because that's what they do.

Biden needs to take the same tack with these Democrats as he has with Republicans: Keep them on a short leash and give them homework. One good task he should impose would be to practice message discipline, and stop them from going out in public saying things like: "I wish the president had not taken user fees off the table, whether gas tax or miles traveled. I think user fees make sense."

[lark]

1. I am 100% against user fees. I lived in a town with toll bridges and it was a freaking nightmare.

It would sometimes take 20-30 min. just to get through the bridge and it was annoying as hell. Rich folks will just get expensive fast passes and not be bothered with the long lines, so it won't affect them but it will affect the working class and poor = a ton. Repugs are just so horribly predictable, rich folks get everything for free and pay for nothing and working class pays for them and themselves and if they can't afford groceries, well repugs are fine with that too - the MF'ers.

[PSPS]

2. Instead of "user fees," there should be "benefiter fee."

The rich get rich by virtue of the working class "using" everything just to benefit the rich.

[Mr.Bill]

3. Raising gas prices with a tax

is never a good idea. Just about everything follows the price of gas eventually.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. It's Also Terribly Regressive

It impacts those most who have the least.
It doesn't get more regressive than a harsh gas tax. Especially when it leads to a sudden increase at the pump.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Congressional Republicans cannot spell "detail"

let alone understand it

[HariSeldon]

5. Biden should force Republican senators to hold their noses

Sanders, Warren, and maybe a couple other very progressive senators should be quietly given the ok to vote against an infrastructure bill that is "too small," thus requiring Republican support for it to pass. If the Republicans "Lucy the football," then Democrats have all the ammunition to pass a much larger, partisan bill. I still think user fees should be a red line, given Biden's campaign promises (and good sense about making the rich shoulder a little more of what should rightly be their share).

[jaxexpat]

7. Once had a co-worker who explained his "conservative" fiscal attitude thus.

He told me, as seriously as if it actually made any sense, "Taxes on the wealthy don't work and aren't fair. You have to understand that people with higher incomes have higher payments on what they borrow in order for them to live in line with their tax brackets. A lot of them simply cannot make their budget if they're taxes go up". I asked him if I was supposed to sacrifice so these people could live beyond their means. He asked me, "when did you become an economics expert? You don't know what these people go through." He actually thought his $85K income was in jeopardy if taxes went up for the wealthy. He actually IDENTIFIED with the wealthy. His sympathy for their "plight" made him THINK he was one of their crowd. Fantasy world, much?

These people don't get the part about how Biden's tax increases are not scheduled to be assessed on anyone making less than $400,000 per year. They sure as hell don't get that when the situation exists in any country where financing it's infrastructure costs, the national "cost of doing business", as well as higher education and support for clean energy CAN be financed from such a small demographic then the country is already politically damaged. CAN be financed from such a small demographic. CAN be financed from such a small demographic. CAN be financed from such a small demographic. CAN be financed from such a small demographic. How many actually get it?

This is the perfect example for the millstone of disinformation we all carry.