President Biden just hit it out of the park
Republicans are going to have to flip the script on their “Biden is so out of it” narrative. You’d think they’d have learned their lesson after Trump got jammed in the Presidential debates, because, in the run-up to the debates, he’d constantly, falsely claimed that Biden couldn’t string more than two words together without totally collapsing. When Biden, in fact, spoke coherently and effectively, while Trump was reduced to a cartoon version of himself, sputtering and fuming like a lunatic, Biden easily won the debates in the minds of everybody who was not a Trump sycophant.
Looney Republicans have tried to perpetuate the myth that Biden essentially cannot function on his own, which makes it all the more satisfying when he kicks their collective asses. They thought he couldn’t get his COVID relief package through Congress without them, so they tried to “negotiate” his proposal down until it would hardly have had any impact. However, the President convincingly made the case to the American people, who overwhelmingly supported it, and he plowed ahead without Republican support in Congress, firmly convinced that he was doing the right thing. COVID relief payments went out very swiftly, and the impacts of the legislation are being felt across America.
Now, on infrastructure, the President has issued a bold proposal, $2 trillion worth of investment to rebuild America’s roads and bridges, airports, and rail lines, but also our water and sewer systems, power grids, and broadband – fulfilling his campaign promise to Build Back Better. Some narrow-minded Republicans said it was too big and too bold. They suggested something like one-third of the spending, on only “traditional infrastructure.” (One-third seems to be their typical opening counter-offer. Maybe it was in the Art of the Deal, by Former Guy).
The President was unswayed. Today, in discussing his proposal, Biden said, “We’ll be listening. We’ll be open to good ideas and good-faith negotiations. But here’s what we won’t be open to; we will not be open to doing nothing. Inaction is simply not an option.” Responding to criticism that he was redefining “infrastructure,” he said “We are America. We don’t just fix for today. We build for tomorrow.” He pointed out that, in the past, trains and highways weren’t traditional infrastructure, “until we allowed ourselves to imagine” the connections they could bring to our vast nation.
Biden stated that “The idea of infrastructure has always evolved to meet the aspirations of the American people and their needs,” and “we need to start seeing infrastructure through its effect on the lives of working people in America.” Very inspiring words. And a reflection of the determination of the President to get things done for the benefit of the American people – with or without the cooperation of Republicans.
