Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole doesn’t think much of President Biden’s infrastructure plan. In a column released this week, he called it “Biden’s Crushing American Jobs Plan.”
Here’s what he wrote in his column:
“On the heels of Democrats’ so-called coronavirus rescue package filled with provisions completely unrelated to the pandemic, President Biden recently unveiled the “American Jobs Plan,” billed as an infrastructure and climate plan. However, like the fake pandemic relief bill advanced solely by Democrats, President Biden’s irresponsible $2.3 trillion proposal spends too much and has very little to do with the problem it claims to solve and more to do with advancing a liberal policy wish list.
While a very small portion of President Biden’s plan focuses on traditional infrastructure needs such as updating roads, bridges, waterways and broadband, the proposal, taken in its entirety, is merely a scheme to tax, spend and usher in progressive climate policies. Indeed, the majority of the plan would be better described as the Green New Deal under another name. In fact, while the current cost is estimated to be $2.3 trillion, reports reveal that the cost of social welfare programs haven’t been added to the total yet. As a result, the true cost of the proposal could fall between $3-4 trillion. This would make it the most expensive legislation to be passed in American history.
Although Biden Administration officials have touted the plan’s promise of adding 19 million jobs by 2030, the report they cited, Moody’s Rating Scale, actually reported that the economy would add 16.3 million of those jobs over the same period without passage of the proposal. Therefore, the plan really only paves the way for the creation of about 2.7 million potential additional jobs. Even the Administration has since acknowledged that particular misrepresentation. However, it is more likely that the anti-business policies included in the proposal will actually eliminate existing American jobs. For example, President Biden’s proposal calls for an extreme corporate tax increase from 21 percent to up to 28 percent. Previously set by the monumental and pro-American business Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the current competitive rate ushered in vital economic growth and incentivized businesses to create jobs in the United States instead of in foreign countries. This misguided policy would ultimately crush jobs, result in higher prices for the American people and small businesses and weaken America’s competitive edge.
Moreover, this bill spends more on non-infrastructure related policies and social programs than actual infrastructure. This includes billions for Medicaid expansion, a new “Civilian Climate Corps,” more additional funding for schools without requiring them to reopen and expanding federal control of local housing markets.
In addition, President Biden’s proposal calls for the policies contained in the House-passed PRO Act, which would usher in the most significant change to labor laws in 80 years. If this enormous Democratic power grab were enacted, it would preempt every existing right to work law in 27 states, including Oklahoma, which protects workers from the requirement of either becoming members of a union or paying fees to one. This is alarming federal overreach.
Considering that President Biden promised in his inaugural address to unify the country and called for bipartisanship to get things done, his latest proposal directly contradicts that pledge. Moreover, his plan shows how out of touch Democrats are with the pressing needs and priorities of hardworking Americans, who are still recovering from the pandemic, and local economies, that are still not back to normal. The American people deserve more than a radical and partisan wish list that will result in less money in their pockets.”
Source: press release