President Joe Biden’s attempt to turn his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan into a battle for democracy is igniting a furious reaction among Republicans, who say he wants to stifle debate and silence opposition.
Since taking power, Biden has frequently used the tension between democracy and autocracies to frame the challenges posed by Beijing and Moscow. But in a speech in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, he used the same language to sell his tax-raising program to opponents.
“You know, there’s a lot of autocrats in the world who think the reason why they’re going to win is democracies can’t reach consensus any longer; autocracies do,” he said as he made a case for Republicans in Congress to join his cause.
“That’s what competition between America and China and the rest of the world is all about,” Biden said. “It’s a basic question: Can democracies still deliver for their people? Can they get a majority?”
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It marks an extension of a recurring theme in Biden’s foreign policy speeches and a line drawn under the Trump administration, that the United States is locked in a battle with strongman leaders.
But Republicans are not impressed by a pitch they say conflates supporting Biden with supporting democracy.
“Democracy only works through free and vigorous debate, not through mandated consensus from left-wing autocrats,” said Republican strategist John Feehery.
Biden’s proposals include $25 billion for improving airports, $115 billion for roads and bridges, and $17 billion for ports. It is all part of a plan to create millions of jobs as the country rebuilds after the coronavirus pandemic.
But it also includes funding for climate change initiatives and human services such as elder care.
Key Republican and business groups say the administration’s plans to raise the corporate income tax rate by 7 points to 28% in order to pay for it all risks driving companies and jobs overseas.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the proposals revealed philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats on spending and the deficit.
“I’m going to fight them every step of the way because I think this is the wrong prescription for America,” he said after speaking to Biden earlier this week about the sprawling package.
If Biden is unable to win Republican support for the package, then his party’s congressional leaders can still turn to the same budgetary procedures they used to propel his COVID-19 spending bill through the Senate with a simple majority that included nary a GOP vote.
At the same time, there could yet be mileage in using appeals to patriotism to woo Republicans, according to Dominic Tierney, professor of political science at Swarthmore College.
“Foreign threat is often effective at getting conservatives to back domestic investments at home. Just think of how the Soviet launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1957 led to the first U.S. federal aid for education,” he said.
“However, what will get Republicans on board for domestic spending is not vague talk of a battle between autocracy and democracy but a specific focus on China. The challenge is to galvanize a coalition for reform in Washington without creating the specter of a great enemy and spurring a new Cold War.”
Some Republicans have already signaled a willingness to listen, at least within carefully defined parameters.
New York Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said there was an urgent need to renew roads, bridges, and ports.
“Additionally, as President Biden indicated in his remarks this afternoon, we must invest in American manufacturing and bring our supply chain home, particularly our medicine and technology,” she said Thursday. “This is something I have been advocating for, and it is critical for our independence, particularly from China, that we work together to make this a reality.”
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But Feehery said Democratic calls for bipartisanship are hollow.
“The Democrats always do this,” he said. “They are all for bipartisanship as long as you agree with their partisanship.”
