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AOC puts Republicans in time-out chair

May 26, 2021 | | Print Article

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) sounded off in a virtual town hall meeting claiming that Republicans haven’t “proven themselves” worthy of making demands of the Biden administration concerning the infrastructure deal.

She bluntly asserted that the GOP has no standing in the matter: “I don’t believe that they have proven themselves to be a reliable and dependable enough legislative partner to be in the position to be making any demands of the Biden administration.”

Because Republicans are offering a counter-proposal that differs from what the Democrats want, Ocasio-Cortez contends that conservative lawmakers can’t be “counted on” to do what is needed: “Maybe when they can actually contribute and vote for legislation that they impose demands on, we can actually talk about them issuing larger demands on legislation that will be defining our infrastructure for the next ten years.”

“I don’t think that their behavior has merited or deserves or puts themselves in a position of making demands. When they actually want to participate in good faith in our legislative process then maybe we can discuss that, but so far, especially in this session, they haven’t,” the New York progressive declared.

Republicans are planning on sending President Joe Biden a counter-proposal regarding the infrastructure deal this week. The proposal could amount to almost $1 trillion and conservative lawmakers are attempting to offset the monstrous spending spree without increasing taxes. The counteroffer could come as early as Thursday. They are proposing using unspent coronavirus funds.

The deal has stalled in Congress and Biden has cut the original proposal of $2.3 trillion to $1.7 trillion in an effort to shove it through. Republicans initially proposed a more modest $568 billion plan. A big part of the issue is agreeing on exactly what infrastructure is as the Democrats keep redefining it to include things such as care for elderly and disabled Americans.

Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) told reporters that, following a meeting between the Republican senators who are negotiating a counteroffer, the bill would be close to what Biden wants. He also claimed that it would not affect the 2017 tax cuts bill signed by former President Trump.

“We’re going to hit a figure very close to what the president said he would accept, and it will end up being the most substantial infrastructure bill ever enacted by the federal government. And if the president gets to make the decision, he will accept it,” Wicker remarked.

Ocasio-Cortez and Democrats, in general, are losing patience over the negotiations and are warning Republicans that they will bypass them if an agreement is not reached.

“We always hope that our Republican friends will work with us on things. … We hope to move forward with Republicans, but we’re not going to let them saying ‘no’ stand in our way,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) informed reporters on Tuesday.

Schumer declared that Democrats will move forward with Biden’s massive infrastructure plan with or without a compromise: “That’s our plan, to move forward in July,” Schumer stated.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) commented that it was “close” to the time that Democrats should just walk away if negotiators don’t make progress and soon.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) asserts that the parties are “still very far apart.”

“If President Biden wants to be middle-class Joe and focus on physical infrastructure then he’s going to find a willing partner with Republicans,” Barrasso noted in a statement. But he also warned that if the cost, tax hikes, and social programs remain an issue “then he’s going to find no Republican support.”

Ocasio-Cortez was rebuked on social media:

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Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
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