{"id":212455,"date":"2021-06-22T16:27:20","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T16:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=5c23da556d520dc30ef0cbf84cd28c1b"},"modified":"2021-06-22T16:27:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T16:27:20","slug":"by-refusing-to-tax-the-rich-gop-set-terms-of-bipartisan-infrastructure-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/06\/22\/by-refusing-to-tax-the-rich-gop-set-terms-of-bipartisan-infrastructure-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"By Refusing to Tax the Rich, GOP Set Terms of Bipartisan Infrastructure Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Senators<\/a>

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress will release the details of their latest infrastructure proposal any day now, but their plan for paying for it remains hazy as Democrats move to bypass GOP opposition with a much more ambitious spending package. <\/p>\n

The quest for a bipartisan infrastructure deal has exposed, more than ever, that lawmakers on the right are unwilling to raise taxes on those who benefit most<\/a> from the U.S.\u2019s lopsided economy to pay for investments in public resources, while many left-leaning lawmakers remain determined to make the rich pay their fair share without raising extra revenue off everyone else.<\/p>\n

Between the two camps stand conservative Democrats, such as<\/a> Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who say Congress should reach a bipartisan compromise on infrastructure despite the GOP\u2019s staunch opposition to taxing the wealthy, leaving negotiators with dwindling options for financing the plan. Meanwhile, Democrats are working on their own $6 trillion proposal that would allow for tax hikes on corporations and the wealthy and therefore could only pass along party lines.<\/p>\n

Republicans have said for months that they would never support President Joe Biden\u2019s original proposal for modest tax hikes<\/a> on corporations and the wealthy that would chip away at the signature tax cuts passed by Republicans under President Trump. Biden drew his own line in the sand, refusing to renege on his campaign promise not to raise taxes on households making less than $400,000 a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe logic of having the rich pay for it is both that they have been the big gainers in the economy over the last four decades and also that they just got a big tax break in 2017,\u201d said Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic Policy and Research, in an email. \u201cIt’s hard to argue that they would be suffering some great injustice if Biden were to reverse some or all of the 2017 tax cut for the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden and centrist Democrats worked to reach a deal with the GOP anyway, even as critics on the left warned<\/a> them that the polling is in their favor<\/a> and Republicans only wish to obstruct Biden\u2019s agenda. Biden originally called for $2.3 trillion in infrastructure and jobs spending, along with a $1.8 trillion investment in education and support for children and families, and was willing to lower the price tag in negotiations with Republicans until those talks fell flat.<\/p>\n