In the last four years, they were unable to come up with any infrastructure bill they could agree on -- either from the White House or from Congress.
Now President Biden has come up with an infrastructure bill that would massively improve the nation's infrastructure over several years. But the congressional Republicans oppose his bill.
Why? Because he would pay for the improvements in infrastructure by raising corporate taxes to 28%, and increase taxes on those making over $400,000 a year.
The Republicans like to say Democrats spend too much without paying for the expenditures -- thus increasing the national debt. They can't say that about this bill, because it has included a way to pay for the improvements. They are now exposed as caring only about keeping corporations and the rich from paying their fair share of taxes.
The following is part of an article in The Washington Post by James Downie:
After President Biden introduced his $2 trillion infrastructure package last week, he said, “I’m going to bring Republicans into the Oval Office, listen to them, what they have to say, and be open to their ideas.” On “Fox News Sunday,” National Economic Council Director Brian Deese added, “There’s a lot of sensible reform we could do … that would also generate revenue across time. If people have different approaches to that, he’s open to doing it.” Biden’s openness may be a “good-faith effort,” as Deese insisted, but Republicans proved again Sunday that when it comes to “sensible reform,” they’re out of ideas.
When asked whether the country needs an infrastructure upgrade, Republicans were quick to affirm it does. “Absolutely,” Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri told Fox. “There’s no doubt that Mississippi could use” the money, Gov. Tate Reeves said on CNN. “We need it,” Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi agreed on “Meet the Press.”
Bipartisanship ahoy? Not so fast — Republicans don’t like the Biden plan’s corporate tax increase, which would raise rates to 28 percent (a level that preserves half of the rate cut imposed during Donald Trump’s presidency). “What the president proposed this week is not an infrastructure bill. It’s a huge tax increase,” said Wicker. “We don’t have to hike taxes by $2 trillion,” complained Reeves.
So how would Republicans pay for upgrades that they agree are needed? Well, there they sound pretty much stumped. “I’m open to suggestions about that,” said Wicker. “One way you pay for it is by seeing significant improved economic growth,” suggested Reeves — which, as CNN host Jake Tapper pointed out, “doesn’t really answer the question.”. . .
What makes the GOP intransigence particularly silly is that it’s in defense of a corporate tax cut that didn’t work — for most Americans, that is. When Republicans slashed the corporate tax rate as part of a broader tax reduction in 2017, they predicted that a lower rate would boost companies’ return on investment, raise Americans’ wages and help the bill pay for itself. Even before the pandemic, however, none of those promises came to pass. After an initial bonanza, investment fell short of GOP hopes, with most of the money instead used for dividends and stock buybacks. Wages didn’t rise because of the cuts. In 2019, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the law paid for only one-fifth of its cuts. . . .
Remember, whenever the Trump administration launched one of its many ill-fated “infrastructure weeks,” Republicans rarely balked at the price tags — not because those proposals were always funded but because they didn’t make the wealthy and big business pay more of their fair share. So if Biden does sit down with Republicans to talk about paying for an infrastructure package, everyone in the room should be clear on one thing: Republicans don’t really care if this bill — or any other Democratic bill — is paid for. They just don’t want their friends covering the cost. The good news for Democrats is that view is a loser with voters.