The Biden administration has put forward a wide-reaching infrastructure spending proposal, and the policies in question have garnered high levels of support from the general public (including Republicans!) — but so far, not a single Republican member of Congress has announced that they back the measures. The situation mirrors what unfolded just recently, as the COVID-19 economic relief package that Biden signed into law repeatedly got the polled support of 70 percent of Americans despite unified Republican opposition in Congress.
During an appearance on CBS’s Face The Nation over the weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) aptly pointed out how, even if Republicans in Congress refuse to acknowledge the reality of what needs to be done, the public largely “understands.” Republicans in Congress are gearing up to be left in the metaphorical dust — and that’s on them.
As Pelosi put it:
‘Public sentiment is everything — Lincoln said that. The public understands that the worst and most expensive maintenance is no maintenance, and we have to maintain our roads, our bridges, our mass transit. We have to upgrade our water systems. We have to build out our broadband for distance learning and telemedicine and the rest of that. So we have a big responsibility. We have a big need to the tune of trillions of dollars according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.’
Watch her comments below:
“Public sentiment is everything,” @SpeakerPelosi says when asked how Democrats would adjust its infrastructure package to garner Republican support. pic.twitter.com/lxInvkdBne
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 11, 2021
Democratic leaders are hoping to make significant progress on the infrastructure spending plans in coming months. The proposal, as it stands, includes financial support for roadway upkeep, green energy technology, and a lot more. A recent survey from Morning Consult illustrated the high public support for infrastructure spending that Pelosi referenced. When respondents were asked whether they broadly supported Biden’s infrastructure spending plan (without reference to any potential funding sources), 60 percent of overall respondents said yes, including 35 percent of Republicans.
Meanwhile, 42 percent of Republican respondents said that they supported funding Biden’s plan with corporate tax increases, while 47 percent of GOP’ers expressed opposition. When asked whether they’d want to see infrastructure spending without corporate tax increases or still go through with the hikes, 47 percent of Republican respondents said they supported increasing infrastructure spending without raising corporate taxes, and 33 percent of Republican respondents backed still going through with tax increases, even when provided with a rhetorical out.
