President Biden knows exactly what he’s doing on this one
Being president is a tough job. You do what you think best for your country while others complain. President Biden has had it coming at him from two sides — Republicans who claim he is spending too much, and Progressives who think he is not spending enough. What do you do if you are Joe Biden? You rely on your close advisors, whom are hopefully on the ground, learning what will best suit a country recovering from a disastrous administration. Then, you find a way to back Republicans into a corner. According to the Associated Press, that is exactly what President Biden is doing.
President Biden’s next agenda item is infrastructure. When he first introduced his plan, Republican Marsha Blackburn tweeted “no” to climate change studies, green transportation initiatives, and money for elder care. As you might imagine, Twitter ate her alive. Many reminded her that she, too, will be an elder someday, but people like Blackburn do not really care about the money being spent. They just want to fight with Democrats. President Biden knows this and is trying to work with them despite their idiocy.
Say what you want about President Biden, but he is not stupid. AP reported that he recently held an Oval Office meeting with bipartisan lawmakers in yet another attempt to win Republican support for an initiative that makes sense for America. Just ask the people in Texas. Even Joe Manchin, who is basically a Republican in disguise, has been trying to get Republicans on board. According to an aide, Biden is keeping Democrats in line while boxing in Republicans by tagging them with yet another failure to do something that will help the American people. In the long run, Biden’s initiatives help the country overall, but Republicans refuse to see it that way.
How quickly they forget that while Biden has a Democratic majority; they can simply pass this legislation—as they did with the American Rescue Plan—through budget reconciliation. President Biden would like for Republicans to participate, but he certainly is not going to sit around and wait for them, not when the future of our country is at stake. He is, however, giving them every chance. He said during the meeting Monday that he is “prepared to negotiate as to the extent of my infrastructure project, as well as how we pay for it.” Republicans know as well as Democrats how badly we need this legislation, but they are stuck on increased taxes. Roger Wicker (MS) told AP that “undoing the 2017 GOP tax breaks would be an almost impossible sell.”
Republicans are all for spending money if it goes into rich people’s pockets, but spending money to help mainstream America? As Tony Soprano might say, “fuggedaboutit.” Garret Graves (LA) said that he heard some things he wanted to hear and is interested in hearing more. Perhaps some Republicans may come around, but we will not wait for them all to grow a brain. If they choose not to come around, they can sit back and whine about not getting reelected while President Biden’s approval rating continues to skyrocket.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years