President Biden cut off talks with Sen. Capito and her GOP gang after he gave them $1 trillion and they gave him $150 billion. Who among us is surprised? I am not at all surprised, and am gratified that Biden didn't drag out the sure-to-be fruitless talks until the middle of July, ACA-style.
Shockingly, no matter how hard Biden tried, Capito refused to meet him in the middle with new spending. This is because Republicans are not negotiating in good faith, as even Senator Joe Manchin must know. And if he doesn't, he's about to have some serious pressure put on him to understand exactly how impossible it is to have "bipartisanship" with a bunch of people who don't give a damn about governing or good faith negotiation. Kyrsten Sinema too.
From Jen Psaki's statement:
The President also spoke with Senators Sinema, Cassidy, and Manchin today. He urged them to continue their work with other Democrats and Republicans to develop a bipartisan proposal that he hopes will be more responsive to the country’s pressing infrastructure needs. The President said that he would be in contact with members of the group by phone while in Europe, and he designated his Jobs Cabinet and White House aides Steve Ricchetti, Louisa Terrell, and Brian Deese to meet with them in person to advance this effort.
In other words, Democratic senators who are protecting the Jim Crow filibuster, getting sh*t done is on YOU.
But wait, there's more:
To ensure that the American Jobs Plan moves forward on a timely basis, the President spoke with Speaker Pelosi to consult with her on efforts to move forward on an infrastructure/jobs package in the House this month. In the same regard, the President also spoke with Senate Majority Leader Schumer to discuss the need to commence work on the budget resolution process so that legislation to advance the President’s economic priorities and tax reform plans could move to the Senate floor in July. The President is committed to moving his economic legislation through Congress this summer, and is pursuing multiple paths to get this done.
So, RIP infrastructure week; hello budget battles. With a deadline. And a red line:
From Day One, the President has been clear that he has two red lines: he will not raise taxes on Americans who make under $400,000 and he will not accept inaction as the outcome.
America turns its hungry infrastructure eyes to you, Manchin and Sinema. Get crackin'.
