Senate Republicans label Biden infrastructure plan a 'slush fund'

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill


BY JOSEPH CHOI - 04/12/21 09:01 AM EDT

Senate Republicans have reportedly sent around a memo calling President Biden’s ambitious infrastructure package a “slush fund,” ahead of a bipartisan meeting with the president at the White House on Monday.

Politico reports that the memo sent by the Senate Republican Conference to all GOP communications staffs blasts the White House for referring to the infrastructure proposal as a “jobs plan” and instead called it a “partisan plan to kill jobs and create slush funds on the taxpayer dime.”

“Biden’s Partisan, Job-Crushing Slush Fund spends just 5% of the total $2.7 trillion on roads and bridges,” the lawmakers said in their memo, according to Politico.

“The rest is: a wish list of non-infrastructure spending on failed Obama policies; a dog’s breakfast of slush funds for Democrats’ pet projects without any accountability or transparency; expensive green energy mandates on Americans; a ban on the right to work; and a flurry of tax hikes that will to drive companies out of the U.S. and give China and Russia a say in the United States’ tax laws. As a result, the plan will eliminate at least 1 million jobs," they added.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/547641-senate-republicans-label-biden-infrastructure-plan-a-slush-fund

[Turbineguy]

1. And nobody runs slush funds better than

republicans!

[KPN]

9. Hope Joe Biden sees this perfect retort ... and uses it.

[DENVERPOPS]

22. No shit

their classic propaganda bullshit of accusing the Dems of what they are masters at doing.................

Their voters never get wise............

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Republican Senators trying to dirty up an economic revival plan because .....

they might have to pay some for it, or because it's not money in their pockets (how does a growing economy not help Republican businesses and portfolios - that needs some exploration), or because the libs are not owned but actually competent at this governing thing.

Republicans are walking the plank, though they have have no idea how far out they are.

[PSPS]

4. ... it will work.

[KPN]

10. Nah. Biden will make cannon fodder of this characterization. He's using the stump masterfully.

[PSPS]

29. I was completing the post's title with the ellipses, not commenting on the post's content.

I fully agree with you. Biden is really a master at this stuff. Not surprising given that he has 40 years of experience in actual governing instead of 60 or more years of experience in criminality.

[KPN]

31. ....

[Tbear]

3. I'm with TG

Methinks they project too much(thinking of the mid-use of PPP loans).

[dchill]

5. Projection on steroids.

[Evolve Dammit]

19. My first thought as well.

[NewJeffCT]

6. The Democrats better come up with a damn good counter to that

or else the media is going to be running with those GOP talking points, like they do 95% of the time.

[Auggie]

7. Exactly. That memo will be brought up in the press conference.

[ancianita]

8. They say that because THAT'S HOW THEY HANDLE MONEY. They're takers, not do'ers.

The Republican Party wouldn't know how to run a two-car funeral, and so Democratically run government will have to run their state projects, and probably oversee local projects, too.

When the American Jobs Plan passes, Democrats can say, "Thanks for your votes; we'll take it from here."

Democratic arguments:

1. These are a list of grade D projects, not 'pet' projects;

2. Transparency is built into Democratic governance, or the public wouldn't know squat about how this vaccine rollout would go;

3. Everything's "expensive" for austerity autocrats who don't want to spend a dime on clean energy or environmental cleanup projects;

4. Ending 'right to work' is ending war on unions -- tough shit, snowflakes;

5. Tax hikes are hikes that corporations and billionaires don't mind, so this is Koch PR bullshit;

6. There is NOWHERE for US companies to go if they don't like the hikes, and they know it because they've tried it and would rather put up with regulations over the total control by autocratic societies they've already tried to work in.

This disproves their "slush fund" claim as nothing but their usual shit-for-brains argument.

[cstanleytech]

11. Funny how accountability or transparency did not matter to them when it came to Trump.

[MissMillie]

12. EVERY time a spending bill required a watchdog

45 fired the watchdog.

[AllaN01Bear]

13. and trumps stimulus package wasnt?

[Aristus]

14. Pretty reckless talk from people who would be better served obtaining funds for their

states or districts.

A huge infrastructure appropriation could increase employment, standard of living, and consumer confidence in a Representative's district, thus increasing his or her chances of re-election.

Are republicans really so stupid as to oppose this?

Yes.

Yes, they are...

[WVreaper]

15. accountability and transparency!

Where oh where have those two words been for the past four years?

[essaynnc]

16. Two Points to consider....

1. Didn't a couple of economic powerhouses come and and say that this would revive the economy and create a bunch of jobs??? Has everyone just forgotten this???

2. When a memo like this goes out, the inferred action to the republican rand and file is... Put your brain on hold, listen to and repeat ad nauseum what we're telling you. If you think, we're going to spank you!!

You have to give them credit, they're great at messaging! So I'm with the previous posters, GET OUR MESSAGING TOGETHER NOW!

[Maxheader]

17. They said the same shit about obamas tarp payments....

Gonna break the bank!! Let the businesses ride it out!..including most of

the fortune 500... the country would still be recovering without

tarp. Still see too many seniors working fast food , lost all their savings..

from shrubs stupidity and negligence...

fuck the wingers. Worthless lot..all...

[LudwigPastorius]

18. GOP calls infrastructure plan a "slush fund"

Translation: "Waaa! We're not getting any of that sweet, sweet taxpayer money!"

Not only fuck those guys (and gals), but fuck them doubly hard when Joe passes the corporate tax hike to pay for this.

[kimbutgar]

20. When one has nothing to offer all they can do is attack

So typical of repukes. They got nothing to offer but bs talking points.

The Democrats have to talk about specifically what projects can be done in their communities and shut down the slush bs talking point.

[Pas-de-Calais]

21. Potus should distribute their memo at meeting

With him

Watch and listen to their

Ahem, uhh, bbbbut, you stole that from us

Then
Usher
Them
Out
Increase it another 2 trillion

Ram it down their collective
Throats!!

[elleng]

25. Yes

[rlegro]

23. Methinks those Republicans....

.. have brain freezes from consuming too many cherry ice slushies.

[elleng]

24. 'ahead of a bipartisan meeting with the president.'

DESTROYERS, neither legislators or governors.

[keithbvadu2]

26. So they won't be steering any pork to their districts?

So they won't be steering any pork to their districts?

[2naSalit]

27. They are getting quite desperate.

[oldsoftie]

28. We have to be careful with the rush to electrify all the automobiles.

Rushing gives WAY too much power to China. They control the vast majority of the minerals needed to make the lithium batteries these cars require. They have been throwing money at Africa to get even MORE control.
We need to make a concentrated effort to develop batteries that do not require such a massive dependence on a country that already has us by the short hairs in many other areas. Can that be done? I'm not an engineer; i have no idea.
We're already getting 95% of our antibiotics from China; something i never knew before the pandemic. Thats dangereous as well. Imagine if they just cut THAT supply off?

[mpcamb]

30. No, a slush fund would be trump soliciting funds and keeping it for himself.

[SWBTATTReg]

32. and republicans slashing tax rates, etc. w/ the 2017 tax cut (and supposedly jobs) bill didn't?

I guarantee you that Biden's plan directs resources to a major area of the economy that needs heavy duty fixing. Why didn't republicans do this during their reign/control of the Senate, the House, and the WH?

Only thing they were interested in was a slush fund for their donors (repugs)...