President Biden Meets With Congressional Leadership On Infrastructure, GQP Leadership Rejects ‘Bipartisanship’

Lawrence O’Donnell, who used to be an aid to the Senate Finance Committee, explained Wednesday night that when the congressional leadership meets with the president at the White House, the substantive discussions usually occur within the first 15 minutes. If things do not go well, they will make the meeting last for the full hour just for appearances. If the meeting goes for more than hour, real progress is being made. There is reason for holding further discussions.

You would never know this insider tip from reading the New York Times today. Biden Courts Congressional Leaders on Infrastructure, but Divisions Remain:

To hear the participants tell it, President Biden’s first-ever meeting with Republican and Democratic leaders from both houses of Congress was 90 minutes of productive conversation. It was cordial. There were no explosions of anger.

But the agreeable tenor could barely mask the legislative reality: The two parties remain deeply divided over the president’s proposal for $2.3 trillion in spending to upgrade the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

The meeting produced only minuscule progress on Mr. Biden’s ambitious efforts to invest more broadly in the United States than at any time in generations, underscoring the political challenge for the president as he seeks to exploit the narrowest of majorities in Congress to revive and reshape the country’s economy.

“It was different than other meetings,” marveled Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Republican leader and a veteran of chaotic White House meetings with President Donald J. Trump. “Everybody was pleasant.”

“Everybody was pleasant,” that is until the Prince of Darkness, the “Grim Reaper of Democracy,” Mitch McConnell, and the craven coward Kevin McCarthy, Trump’s lap dog who had just come from excommunicating Liz Cheney from the GQP Caucus for refusing to bend a knee to Trump’s Big Lie, held a gaggle with the media in front of the West Wing.

Both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said tax increases are off the table, despite Biden proposing an increase in corporate taxes as a way to pay for a popular roads, bridges and broadband program. Republicans draw ‘red line’ for Biden in Oval Office showdown:

“We’re not interested in re-opening the 2017 tax bill. We both made that clear with the president. That’s our red line,” McConnell said at a press availability. “This discussion … will not include revisiting the 2017 tax bill.”

GQP leadership is out of touch with the American people and even half of their own GQP base. The latest YouGov Poll shows both Republicans and Democrats are willing to spend more on infrastructure (70% of Democrats and 50% of Republicans). 71% of Republicans under 45 back increasing public spending, even if it means taxes increase:

More than a third of Republicans overall (39%) say they are willing to support increased spending, even at the risk of higher taxes. But there is an age gap among Republicans. Seven in ten Republicans under the age of 45 (71%) would spend more, even at the risk of higher taxes, compared to 29% of older Republicans. Younger Republicans make up less than a third of all those who identify as Republicans.

Both Republicans and Democrats are willing to spend more on infrastructure (70% of Democrats and 50% of Republicans). That being said, most Republicans (even those who support spending more) do not want taxes raised on corporations and those earning $400,000 a year or more in order to pay for the work.

An earlier Morning Consult Poll found More Than 3 in 5 Voters Support Corporate Tax Hike to Fund Biden’s Infrastructure Plan:

While raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent will likely be heavily debated among policymakers in the coming weeks, a new Morning Consult/Politico poll finds that voters are mostly fine with increasing taxes on corporations to fund infrastructure improvements.

Sixty-five percent of registered voters said they strongly or somewhat support funding Biden’s infrastructure plan through 15 years of higher taxes on corporations, while 21 percent somewhat or strongly oppose it.

Republican voters were nearly split: 42 percent back the president’s plan to raise corporate taxes, while 47 percent oppose it. Independents were much more likely to support funding the infrastructure plan through corporate tax hikes (60 percent) than not (21 percent).

When voters were presented with the choice between making improvements to America’s infrastructure funded through increases to the corporate tax or improving infrastructure only if it were done without the tax increases, 53 percent backed the former option.

[O]n a broad level, nearly three-quarters of voters agree that corporations should pay higher taxes, including 85 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of Republicans.

Americans For Tax Fairness reviewed eight polls conducted in April and found WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FOR FUNDING BIDEN INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN WITH TAXES ON RICH & CORPORATIONS: SUPPORT RISES WHEN PLAN IS FUNDED BY RAISING TAXES ON CORPORATIONS.

At least eight polls have been conducted and released recently showing strong support for President Biden’s Made in America Tax Plan, which would raise about $2.5 trillion from corporations to pay for the $2.3 trillion cost of the American Jobs Plan. These polls also show strong majorities for Biden’s proposal to raise taxes on people who make more than $400,000 a year, which is expected to be the primary way he pays for his forthcoming American Family Plan.

“Making corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes is a winning message, period,” said Frank Clemente, Executive Director of Americans For Tax Fairness. “For too long our country has had a system where the rich, powerful and privileged can hoard money, avoid taxes and continually put the responsibility on the middle class. President Biden’s plan to close tax loopholes and begin to create a fair share tax system is a bold move, and the right move. Voters clearly like the President’s jobs and infrastructure the more it’s paid for by the rich and corporations.”

So suck it, Mitch. You are advocating on behalf of a minority within a minority position, shilling for the corporate plutocrats and the privileged one percenters. You do not have a large chunk of your GQP base, especially younger voters.

As Jennifer Rubin explains, Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell have blown up the GOP’s ‘working class’ messaging stunt:

Republicans have been walking a tricky line. On one hand, they want to pose as the friend of the working class and stoke the MAGA base by decrying “corporate wokeness” (defined as vocally defending elections). On the other hand, they are desperately dependent on corporate money and must mollify country club Republicans who have moved away from the GOP in disgust over the Jan. 6 insurrection and Republicans’ ongoing attack on democracy.

That fine balance fell apart on Wednesday when House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), after exiting a meeting with President Biden, made clear that they would not budge on items to pay for the infrastructure bill.

The two Republican leaders said they set a “red line” on Biden’s effort to roll back their 2017 tax cuts. Understand that what Biden has proposed is a modest increase in the corporate tax rate from the current 21 percent to 28 percent (still below 35 percent before 2017), along with an increase in the minimum corporate tax and a limit on what companies can write off from overseas assets. That is what Republicans will go to the mat to oppose. It seems they would rather kill an overwhelmingly popular infrastructure bill — or worse, shift the tax burden to ordinary Americans — than accept higher taxes for big corporations, 55 of which paid no federal income tax last year. Alternatively, they might decide deficits really do not matter and agree not to pay for it at all.

If Republicans are to be taken at their word, then the only conclusion is that they oppose any corporate tax increase. That is a more extreme, plutocratic stance than many Republicans took in 2017, when they and their corporate allies were hoping for a 25 percent rate.

McCarthy and McConnell’s line in the sand is also more extreme than what their corporate backers think is possible now.

Aside from the economic flaws in favoring corporate tax cuts over investments in infrastructure, the stance from McCarthy and McConnell is unquestionably bad politics. Large majorities of Americans have indicated that they favor an infrastructure bill and that they like it even more when it is funded by tax hikes on corporations.

[W]hy would a party oppose something popular that scrambles their populist messaging ploy? Quite simply, the corporate cash and rich individual donors mean more to the GOP than do the views of voters, even those in their MAGA base. Republicans’ brief tussle over corporate pushback on voting suppression should not obscure the underlying reality: The GOP remains the party of the wealthy and of corporations in everything but phony rhetoric.

And then there is that craven coward Kevin McCarthy who, despite giving a floor speech accurately stating that Donald Trump’s rhetoric incited the seditious insurrection and failed MAGA/QAnon coup d’etat on January 6, nevertheless gave aid and comfort to the insurrectionists by still objecting to the election results even after the Capitol attack.

He has since become Donald Trump’s loyal lap dog, hoping that Trump will come for his head last because of his obeisance.  Good luck with that. Loyalty is a one-way street with the mafia Don.

The Times continues:

Since taking office, the president has barely talked with Mr. McCarthy, who voted on Jan. 6 to overturn Mr. Biden’s 2020 election victory in key battleground states. Asked afterward about the election, Mr. McCarthy sought to play down the issue.

“I don’t think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election,” Mr. McCarthy said. “I think that is all over with.”

This was quite literally just hours after he excommunicated Liz Cheney from the GQP Caucus for refusing to bend a knee to Trump’s Big Lie.

That is not true. Mr. Trump continues on a near daily basis to insist, contrary to fact, that the election was corrupt and stolen from him. And only hours before the discussion at the White House on Wednesday, Mr. McCarthy himself led the charge to oust Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming from her position as the No. 3 Republican in House leadership because she refused to drop her public criticisms of the former president and her party for the election falsehoods.

“[Y]ou won’t find any Republicans going to go raise taxes,” Mr. McCarthy said, referring to Mr. Biden’s desire to increase taxes on wealthy Americans that were lowered in the 2017 tax bill. “I think it’s the worst thing to do in this economy.”

[A]nd in a campaign text to supporters shortly after the meeting, Mr. McCarthy sought to raise money by saying, “I just met with Corrupt Joe Biden and he’s STILL planning to push his radical Socialist agenda onto the American people.”

President Biden outstretched his hand in good faith “bipartisanship” and these two radical Republicans chose to (metaphorically) tear off his arm to beat him over the head with it. For the goddamn lazy media villagers who write incessantly about “bipartisanship,” here is GQP bipartisanship for you. Now fuck off.

The Times adds:

Returning to the Capitol, Democratic leaders framed the meeting as a modest sign of progress.

“It took us a few steps forward,” Ms. Pelosi said. Her Senate counterpart, Mr. Schumer, said that the two parties would “try hard” to get an agreement, taking the “first step” to identify potential areas of common interest.

So some progress then? Not really reflected in the Times‘ reporting.

Then there is this disturbing anecdote buried deep in this Washington Post report. Biden’s sweeping — and fluid — tax plans are making some congressional Democrats nervous:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has in private reassured allies of Democrats’ long odds in approving tax hikes, pointing in particular to the voting record of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), a centrist Democrat, said two people familiar with his remarks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss them.

So the Prince of Darkness, the “Grim Reaper of Democracy,” Mitch McConnell, believes that he has Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s vote tucked away in his pocket? This removes any incentive for him to ever negotiate in good faith.

Why is Sen. Kyrsten Sinema making a Faustian deal with the Devil? She needs to answer McConnell’s assertion. This decidedly is not why Arizonans sent her to the Senate.

Elvia Diaz at the Arizona Republic comments, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema gets her own White House visit? That’s ridiculous:

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is crowning her newfound power with a visit to the White House, where President Joe Biden may as well kiss that “f— off” ring she recently flaunted.

“[T]he President is hosting Senator Sinema at the White House today to discuss the American Jobs Act and the ongoing negotiations in Congress about investing in our infrastructure,” the White House press office announced.

Arizonans who worked their tails off to elect the first Democrat in years are less than thrilled with her because she’s turned into an obstructionist for everything important to them in the evenly divided U.S. Senate.

And how she’s doing it is just jaw-dropping, from her ridiculous curtsy and thumbs down vote rejecting a $15 an hour minimum wage hike proposal to flaunting an f— off ring after the torrent of criticism.

For her, it wasn’t enough to snub her critics, she had to tell them off in codes and symbols, like mean high school girls dismissing everyone not worthy of attention.

[I] won’t “lay off Sinema” as long as she’s the roadblock between important issues like immigration reform, voting rights, infrastructure and a host of other life-changing legislation.

Politico adds, The other targets of Biden’s bipartisan outreach: Manchin and Sinema:

As the Biden White House attempts to craft an infrastructure package with Republicans, they’re also tending to their Plan B: Ensuring Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema stay on board if the GOP jumps ship.

[T]he president may need both Manchin (D-W.V.) and Sinema (D-Ariz.) to believe in that sincerity if, as some in the White House suspect, bipartisan talks fail and Democrats have to go it alone.

Biden met with Manchin and Sinema at this White House on Monday and Tuesday. In their meetings, the president sent the message to both senators that he wants them to have a voice in how a massive infrastructure package is crafted, inviting them to identify hard-to-refuse pet projects in their states and signaling a real attempt at bipartisanship, all with the intent of getting them to feel invested in the package early on.

“You’re giving them complete buy-in,” one person with knowledge of the White House’s strategy said. “They’re saying ‘you have complete ownership of this process.’”

Readers should suggest their own infrastructure pet projects, then contact your senators.

If both Manchin and Sinema sign onto the bipartisan deal but Republicans ultimately back out, White House advisers think they will then be in a much better position to convince the two senators to join a Democrat-only package that moves through the Senate via budget reconciliation, according to two people briefed on the matter.