Buttigieg Butchers GOP On ‘ABC Sunday’ For Abandoning America

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During an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg went after Republicans for their resistance to the basic principles of a sweeping spending proposal that Democratic leaders have put forward to support American families. The plan — which is still under development and has yet to pass Congress, but could soon — includes provisions like an extension of the expanded child tax credit and financial support for a universal pre-kindergarten program. Its scope has been reduced amid negotiations among Democrats — with resistance to key elements from so-called moderate Senators including Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — but potentially transformative elements remain in the proposal.

Negotiations among Democrats have left the sweeping proposal hanging in limbo, but Buttigieg was optimistic. Eventually, Democrats are able to pass the plan on their own, because certain budget-related bills are exempt from the filibuster rules in the Senate, which ordinarily require the agreement of at least 60 Senators in the 100-member chamber before moving forward on most legislation.

Buttigieg commented as follows, discussing Biden’s recent roll-out of an updated version of the proposal:

‘The president put forward this framework having talked to [Manchin and Sinema] and others throughout the progressive and moderate wings of our party, confident that it will pass. This is a process that’s taken up to a year — and a huge amount of consultation, listening. I’ve seen the president paying close attention to what members across the party have to say — talking to Republicans. Remember, we got a bipartisan vote for the infrastructure part of the deal. I wouldn’t, by the way, let Republicans off the hook on voting for the family provisions too. I know they probably won’t, but it’s not too late for some of them to join Democrats, who are united in believing that the time has come for us to actually put our money where our mouth is, support American families, and do it with a fairer tax code that rewards work, not wealth.’

Watch below:

There is one key element of the plan that has been struck amid hassling over its exact contents: universal paid family leave. Such a program exists in the overwhelming majority of countries developed to a point similar to the U.S., but thanks to opposition from Manchin, it’s been removed from the spending proposal that Democrats are pushing. Manchin and Sinema are facing steep opposition from among Democrats for their obstruction.