Posted on 03/31/2021 12:39:39 PM PDT by Red Badger
KEY POINTS President Biden will unveil a more than $2 trillion infrastructure and economic recovery package on Wednesday.
The plan aims to revitalize U.S. transportation infrastructure, water systems, broadband and manufacturing, among other goals.
An increase in the corporate tax rate to 28% and measures designed to prevent offshoring of profits will fund the spending, according to the White House
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KEY POINTS President Biden will unveil a more than $2 trillion infrastructure and economic recovery package on Wednesday. The plan aims to revitalize U.S. transportation infrastructure, water systems, broadband and manufacturing, among other goals. An increase in the corporate tax rate to 28% and measures designed to prevent offshoring of profits will fund the spending, according to the White House.
Biden hopes the package will create manufacturing jobs and rescue failing American infrastructure as the country tries to emerge from the shadow of Covid-19. He and congressional Democrats also plan to combat climate change and start a transition to cleaner energy sources.
The president was set to announce his plans in Pittsburgh, a city where organized labor has a strong presence and the economy has undergone a shift from traditional manufacturing and mining to health care and technology. Biden, who has pledged to create union jobs as part of the infrastructure plan, launched his presidential campaign at a Pittsburgh union hall in 2019.
While Democrats narrowly control both chambers of Congress, the party faces challenges in passing the infrastructure plan. The GOP broadly supports efforts to rebuild roads, bridges and airports and expand broadband access, but Republicans oppose tax hikes as part of the process.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday he is “not likely” to support the proposal because of the tax increases. Biden called McConnell Tuesday to brief him on the plan, the GOP Senate leader said.
His Democratic counterpart, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, touted the bill as a means to create jobs while promoting clean energy and transportation. In a statement Wednesday, he said, “I look forward to working with President Biden to pass a big, bold plan that will drive America forward for decades to come.”
Biden has said he hopes to win Republican support for an infrastructure bill. If Democrats cannot get 10 GOP senators on board, they will have to try to pass the bill through budget reconciliation, which would not require any Republicans to back the plan in a chamber split 50-50 by party.
They would also have to consider whether to package the physical infrastructure plans with other recovery policies including universal pre-K and expanded paid leave. Republicans likely would not back more spending to boost the social safety net, especially if Democrats move to hike taxes on the wealthy to fund programs.
Schumer on Wednesday also previewed a potential sticking point within his party.
He said he wanted the infrastructure plan to include a repeal of the cap on state and local tax deductions — a change which would disproportionately help higher-income people in high-tax states including New Jersey, Connecticut and Schumer’s home state, New York.
Democrats are looking to pass the package this summer. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the Democratic caucus in the chamber that she would like to have it passed by July 4, according to a source familiar with the matter. The source, who declined to be named because the remark was made in private, added that it was not intended as a deadline.
The administration official did not say whether Biden would seek to pass the plan with bipartisan support.
“We will begin and will already have begun to do extensive outreach to our counterparts in Congress,” the official said.
Asked Monday about how the bill could pass, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would “leave the mechanics of bill passing to Leader Schumer and other leaders in Congress.”
As of now, Democrats will have two more shots at budget reconciliation before the 2022 midterms. Schumer hopes to persuade the chamber’s parliamentarian to allow Democrats to use the process at least once more beyond those two opportunities, according to NBC News.
The party passed its $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package without a Republican vote.
— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger and Ylan Mui contributed to this report
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“resident Biden” I see what you did there.
More than 2 Trillion.......
Is it shovel resdy?
He is.....................
New and Improved version of Shovel Ready, yep.
A mere typo....................😉....
Can I ask a stupid question? Whatever happened to the national debt ceiling? Is it simply ignored because we are in a “crisis” due to the virus? Is there a separate vote on bills indicating that due to a “crisis”, that such spending is off budget?
What does universal Pre K education, have to do with infrastructure?
Yes...................
Well, they gotta have a road to get there..............
Simply put, law abiding tax paying citizens are screwed. Show of hands who think the national debt will ever be paid. Crickets.............
I want to make sure I have it right: He wants to raise taxes on corporations and hopes that this will create jobs?
LOL, yes maybe that’s a justification, upgrade the road to get to the pre-K class.
This giant bill frustrates me because they continue to produce giant bills, which nobody can read before voting, and which contain extraneous items.
For example, there may well be a discussion to be had about universal Pre-K. Personally I am opposed to the idea. But my point is, let’s have a separate bill which deals with that subject, if it’s really something that people think society needs. Why the need to lump it in with other unrelated subjects?
I know Congress does this all the time. I wish they didn’t. Ideally every issue should be dealt with separately.
And it’s very frustrating that this infrastructure bill will probably end up as a 2000 page behemoth, which nobody in Congress will be able to read before they are expected to vote on it. That’s a procedural matter, over and above the subject matter of a bill. But it’s still bad procedure, in my opinion.
He needs a shovel if his dogs keep crapping in the White House, AND to shovel thee BS that comes out of Harris and Psakis yaps
Yes. Liberal logic, or lack thereof.................
History suggests from the Obunghole era is that this money will be flushed into the DNC toilet. I suppose the new debt ceiling is 1000 Trillion. Let’s just say fvk it and go out big time!
I like it. Mail should go to:
Legally Elected President or Current Resident
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington DC
Hey, be understanding. With his limited canine communication skills to the public, I think the dog did a fine job expressing the accomplishments of the administration so far.
Nothing. “Infrastructure” is a lie. It is mostly payouts to Democrat groups, like teachers.
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