GOP Senate leader McConnell signals battle over trillion dollar Biden infrastructure bill
GOP Senate leader McConnell signals battle over trillion dollar Biden infrastructure bill
Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday pledged to oppose “every step of the way” Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan.
Republican Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday signalled that he will oppose “every step of the way” President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan. He pledged that the bill will not get any GOP support in Congress, reported Reuters.
Speaking at a press conference in Owensboro, Kentucky, McConnell said that Biden infrastructure plan reveals a steep ideological chasm between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to spending, taxes and the federal debt.
He said that he doesn’t think the White House has been given a mandate from voters to spend trillions of dollars on the infrastructure, which sees large allotments to progressive causes, such as electric cars and climate change, along with more health services, such as elder care.
“I’m going to fight them every step of the way, because I think this is the wrong prescription for America,” McConnell said.
The plan would shift the American economy toward a new greener direction with greater government involvement and away from a free market approach, which has been a mainstay of both parties since the Reagan administration. Biden’s approach is being called reminiscent of the more active government programs of 60s Democratic Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson.
“There’s more money in that plan that the president laid out in Pittsburgh for electric cars than for roads and bridges. Let me say that again: more money for electric cars than roads and bridges,” McConnell said.
Biden’s plan calls for paying for the package by raising taxes on American corporations from 21% to 28% and closing loopholes, such as those used for corporate offshore tax shelters.
McConnell called Biden’s plan a “massive ta increase,” stating it would hurt the economy and run up the debt.
The White House fired back that the program would “more than pay for itself,” according to reports.
“My view about infrastructure is, we ought to build that which we can afford and not either whack the economy with major tax increases or run up the national debt,” McConnell said.
