It’s common knowledge that the Republican Party doesn’t like President Biden’s infrastructure bill. It’s also common knowledge that there are portions of the bill they dislike more than others. Even so, the mainstream news media seems to be horrified by the idea that the GOP would use strategic negotiations to get what they want — you know, that thing Democrats do all the time.
What’s more, liberal reporters seem to be gearing up to blame the Republican Party if the bill doesn’t pass. This comes in spite of the fact that moderate GOP senators have been working with the White House for weeks to come up with a compromise.
The Week, a left-leaning news outlet, has blatantly accused the Republican Party of trying to “trap” the Democrats by agreeing to pass a scaled-back version of the infrastructure bill but then opposing a second bill with progressive “soft infrastructure” goals. This includes free Pre-K and community college education as well as climate change proposals.
It isn’t just card-carrying Republicans on the chopping block. While the Democrat-controlled Senate could attempt to pass the second bill via the reconciliation process, moderate Democrats such as Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Krysten Sinema oppose both the second progressive bill — and the move to use reconciliation to pass it. Both senators come from states with many Republican and moderate voters, and pushing for progressive ideologies wouldn’t be a smart career move.
As an added bonus, the Republican move to try to split the infrastructure bill into two parts is already exposing divides in the Democrat Party. Progressive lawmakers, furious that their pet projects may not make it into a passable infrastructure bill, could derail passage of the first bill and demand that the entire bill as originally proposed by the President be passed. The move could be the death knell for the entire bill, and Democrats would have to explain their failure to voters when they come up for re-election next year.
In all this, the mainstream media wants to make GOP lawmakers out to be the “bad guys” because they won’t give Democrats what they want. However, this is the way things work in a free nation. Different parties have opposing points of view to reflect the views of the people who voted for them. Each party works to advance bills while working to derail or stop bills they oppose. This is how it’s always been. It’s ridiculous for Democrats itching to pass a controversial bill to blame the opposing party for refusing to agree with them.
Here’s a radical idea — pass a bill voters actually support.
