Republicans might help a a lot smaller infrastructure plan

Republicans could be ready to back the limited infrastructure funding in President Joe Biden’s spending proposal, which would require cutting the $ 2.25 trillion plan by more than two-thirds, a senior GOP senator said.

With Biden’s “Americans Jobs Plan” on the table for less than a week, government officials and Senate Republicans attended the Sunday news broadcasts to express opposing positions. While parts of the Democratic Party urge Biden to get bigger, Republicans are focusing their opposition on increasing corporate rates, which they say will stifle job creation.

Brian Deese, a key adviser who heads the Biden National Economic Council, said the plan is an “eight year one-time capital investment,” addressing classic infrastructure projects like bridge repair, as well as investments to promote long-term job growth.

“It will expand the potential of our economy,” Deese said on Fox News Sunday, adding, “We still have a long way to go” to bring US employment back to pre-pandemic levels in the short term.

Senator Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri, said he could envision bipartisan support in improving facilities like roads and airports and possibly water systems, as well as expanding broadband access – if the government reduced the package to about $ 615 billion .

Importance of the infrastructure

“You would still be talking about less than 30% of this entire package and it’s an easily doable 30% I think,” he said of Fox. “When people think of infrastructure, they think of roads, bridges, ports and airports.”

The meaning of “infrastructure” needs to be revised in the 21st century, said Cecilia Rouse, Chair of the White House Economic Advisory Council.

“It is important that we improve our definition of infrastructure that meets the needs of a 21st century economy, and that means that we have to finance the structures and create incentives that enable us to maximize our economic activity”, said Rouse on CBS’s “Face” the nation.

Read more: Broadband-Test-Not-Test-Biden-Plan

Republicans represented Biden’s attempt to cover the cost of the package by increasing corporate tax from 21% to 28%, a reverse of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cut as a non-starter that would kill jobs.

“Let me just tell you this will limit job creation in the EU United States of America, ”Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker said on NBC’s Meet the Press. The 2017 tax cuts were “a plan that worked,” he said.

“Whopping Tax Increase”

“I’m all in favor of looking for ways to pay for it,” without raising corporate taxes, Wicker said.

Lawmakers are rushing to complete stimulus relief before the break

Photographer: Caroline Brehman / CQ Appell / Bloomberg

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said Thursday in his home state of Kentucky that his party would not support the Biden Plan as it has now been written “as much as we want to concern ourselves with infrastructure.”

“The last thing the economy needs right now is a big tax hike,” McConnell told reporters.

Biden’s plan faces a difficult path in Congress as Republicans have already said they will not vote for a measure that will be paid for through tax hikes. Some progressives say Biden’s plan isn’t big enough. Other Congressional Democrats, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, said he likes Biden’s instruction, but plans to release his own international tax proposal to fund an infrastructure proposal.

Deese said Biden was ready to have a “talk” about the plan and suggested that Trump’s 2017 tax law be addressed as well.

“However, we could do a lot of sensible reforms that would generate revenue over time,” Deese said. “If people have different approaches, he’s open to it.”

While Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on ABC’s This Week on Sunday that there was “really good, strong deal room for it,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm suggested to CNN that Biden be ready to go it alone if necessary.

Democratic priorities

Biden on Wednesday unveiled an infrastructure-focused economic plan that aims to modernize U.S. roads, bridges, ports and water systems, and pump money into semiconductor manufacturing, renewable energy, and research and development.

The plan also provides funding for other longstanding democratic priorities, including electric vehicles, broadband internet and human resource development. Biden said these investments are vital for the country as it emerges from the pandemic and faces challenges related to climate change and a global economy.

“We are determined to make sure Infrastructure Week in Washington is no longer a punchline,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “That is exactly what this robust plan will do.”

The eight year proposal is a consequence ofup to The US $ 1.9 trillion economic relief bill was passed with only Democratic votes in March. It seeks a minimum tax on profits US companies earn overseas and increases the tax rate from around 13% to 21%. The plan includes several more corporate increases, including additional corporate IRS audits.

Second suggestion

The White House is planning a second proposal in the coming weeks to tackle so-called social infrastructure, including childcare, health care and tuition fees. This plan is paid for through wealthy household tax hikes and could cost more than $ 1 trillion.

“Now is the time to look at our physical infrastructure and our human infrastructure. I want this to happen as soon as possible, ”Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders told CNN’s State of the Union.

The competing pressures mean Biden’s proposal will likely have to be split into two or even three pieces of legislation. Some parts need Republican support to get through the Senate, while other provisions may be included in accelerated budget bills that only require Democratic votes to pass.

– With the support of Yueqi Yang

((Adds Deese comment on the tax discussion in paragraph 15. An earlier version corrected the dollar amount quoted by Roy Blunt.)

Before it’s here, it’s in the Bloomberg Terminal.

LEARN MORE