It would be folly for Democrats to take claims by Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) seriously after his latest tantrum about infrastructure, according to one political columnist.
"Republicans in Congress are a terribly sensitive group of people. They take offense easily, their feelings are fragile, and a Democratic president who wants to work out a deal with them has to step cautiously at every moment, offering nothing but soothing words of reassurance lest they run from negotiations in tears, never to return. Or maybe that's all an act, one we should stop taking at face value," columnist Paul Waldman wrote in the Washington Post.
"Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared on Monday that to win Republican support for the bipartisan infrastructure bill being negotiated in the Senate, Democratic leaders must renounce any plans to pass a partisan bill via the reconciliation process, one that would go further to 'human infrastructure' needs such as pre-K and elder care," he explained.
Waldman used a sports analogy to point out the absurdity of McConnell's position.
"But here's the crazy part: McConnell is telling Biden what he can and can't do to pass the very bipartisan bill that McConnell will filibuster to defeat. It's like the Yankees manager running on the field to tell the Red Sox pitcher he's not allowed to throw curveballs or sliders," he explained. "Given that McConnell will not only vote against the bipartisan bill himself but will do everything in his power to kill it, who cares what he thinks?"
Biden has proposed some $2 trillion in infrastructure spending over eight years, including funding for some of his priorities like climate change mitigation, child care, schools and social services.
McConnell and other Republicans firmly opposed any inclusion of such projects in the deal, saying only traditional infrastructure like roads, airports or broadband internet should be included.
But Democratic leaders are insisting that the "human infrastructure" projects be funded in a second track known as budget reconciliation, which can pass the 100-member Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes necessary to advance major legislation.
McConnell isn't the only GOP senator that Democrats should simply ignore, Waldman explained.
"That's why we can't ever lose sight of the big picture, which is that Republicans want and need Biden's presidency to be a failure. That fact exists even apart from their substantive disagreement with most of what Biden wants to do," he wrote. "We know that for McConnell there is nothing substantive he wants more than victory; that pure, distilled lust for power is a big part of what has made him so effective. But other Republicans would have us believe that while they too want to take back control of Congress, they want an infrastructure bill even more, so they'll stick with it until the end. Unfortunately, there is almost no reason to believe them. And when they say their feelings are hurt? That's a pretty good clue they're just looking for an excuse to walk away."
With additional reporting from AFP
