President Biden is going to win this one on both counts
Earlier this week President Biden offered to keep the 2017 Trump tax cuts for the wealthy in place, in exchange for Senate Republican support on his infrastructure plan. At the time, Palmer Report explained that Biden was making this offer knowing the Republicans would reject it, so he could then use reconciliation to pass whatever he wants to pass, while being able hit the Republicans for refusing to work with him.
Sure enough, Senate Republicans have now rejected Biden’s offer, just as we told you they would, and offered a ridiculous counteroffer instead. This makes clear that Senate Republicans have no interest in a legitimate infrastructure package, meaning Biden and the Democrats can use this against them in 2022 and 2024.
President Biden may continue to make Senate Republicans offers on infrastructure, but it’s now pretty clear that it won’t go anywhere. The end result will likely be that Biden and the Democrats pass whatever infrastructure package they want to pass through reconciliation, and the Republicans will miss their opportunity to influence it or take credit for it. Instead the Republicans will be painting themselves as obstructionists.
Voters in the middle love a winner who gets things done, and they hate obstructionists who try to block things from getting done. Biden is going to manage to get infrastructure done, while getting the Republicans to paint themselves as obstructionists. This will end up being a win for Biden and the Democrats on both counts.
