James Antle of the Washington Examiner highlights Republicans’ growing list of reasons to oppose the Biden administration.
President Biden’s new administration has become a target-rich environment for Republicans as he and congressional Democrats embark on an ambitious liberal agenda.
Biden spent the last week on a tour to promote his recently signed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, dubbed the American Rescue Plan. But he will soon turn the page to tax increases, legalization of illegal immigrants amid a border crisis, and an infrastructure package that will contain some controversial elements.
Republicans are already putting this together in a case against the president and the Democrats’ small congressional majorities.
“Biden is putting on a masterclass for what NOT to do at the border,” Tommy Pigott, the Republican National Committee’s rapid response director, said in a statement. “It is a complete and total failure of leadership and American communities are left paying the price.”
GOP groups also seized on White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s revelation that the $400,000 threshold for tax increases under Biden’s plan will apply to “families,” not individuals.
“Just as Americans are starting to recover from the pandemic, President Biden wants to raise taxes and then lies about who it will impact,” America Rising PAC deputy press secretary Whitney Robertson said in a statement.
Psaki told reporters at a White House daily briefing that the tax increase would still only affect 2% of households. But the tax hikes come at the same time congressional Democrats, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, press for restoring one of the tax breaks former President Donald Trump ended: the cap on state and local tax deductions, which hits the blue-state professional class especially hard.
All parts of the conservative coalition have begun to mobilize against Biden, who promised during last year’s campaign to govern as a bipartisan deal-maker and centrist.
