"The president deserves a lot of credit": McConnell praises Biden on infrastructure bill
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"The president deserves a lot of credit": McConnell praises Biden on infrastructure bill
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) credited President Biden on Tuesday for his role in getting the Senate to pass the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Why it matters: It's a rare flash of praise from the Republican leader, who has previously said that 100% of his focus is on "stopping" the Biden administration's agenda.
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McConnell applauded Biden's role in getting Democrats to support the bill — which was negotiated mostly by a bipartisan group of centrists — and push it across the finish line.
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"There’s nothing to back you up like the promise of a presidential signatory, if you’re in the same party as the president," McConnell told the Wall Street Journal . "And so I think the president deserves a lot of credit for getting the Democrats open to reaching a bipartisan agreement on this bill."
Between the lines: By voting for the infrastructure package, McConnell and Republicans are seeking to show that the Senate is not too polarized to function — which could stave off Democratic attempts to eliminate the 60-vote filibuster and pass more of their agenda without Republican votes.
The big picture: McConnell also rejected criticism from former President Trump and other Republicans who said that he was giving the Democrats a victory before the 2022 midterm elections, per the WSJ.
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" Infrastructure is popular with both Republicans and Democrats," McConnell said.
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“The American people, divided, sent us a 50-50 Senate and a narrowly divided House. I don’t think the message from that was, ‘Do absolutely nothing.’ And if you’re going to find an area of potential agreement, I can’t think of a better one than infrastructure, which is desperately needed."
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The Senate voted 69-30 on Tuesday to pass the package, with 19 Senate Republicans voted in favor, including McConnell.
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President Biden on Tuesday thanked McConnell for supporting the bill. "I know compromise is hard for both sides, but it’s important — it’s important, it’s necessary — for a democracy to be able to function," Biden said.
What to watch: Despite the rare reprieve from partisanship, McConnell maintained that Republicans will likely not help Democrats pass federal voting legislation or other top Democratic priorities.
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But, that doesn't mean McConnell will block everything. "When they want to try to do something in the middle, we can talk," he said.
Go deeper ... "Long overdue": Biden praises Senate passage of bipartisan infrastructure package
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Where is Mitch McConnell and what have you done with him????????????????????????????
Moscow Mitch expects a personal return on the Federal Dollars spent in KY.
There's probably a ton of roads and bridges that need work in that poor state
There is a lot of holes that you have to dodge in Kentucky. My mother lives there (as does my brother). Last time I visited I thought our rental car was going to rattle itself to death.
Lots of 'em in Arkansas, too. Every day I hit the same pothole on the interstate.
And....I've just gotten the same tire repaired for the 4th time in 12 months. I'm always collecting nails, bolts, pieces of metal...
My brother (the one in Kentucky) complained about NYS roads the last time we were there & I said "At least you don't need a tow truck to pull you out of the potholes like in Kenfucky". He was not amused & we haven't spoken since.
McConnell is trying to position himself into a win-win situation. He will take a lot of credit for the infrastructure plan, but if it ultimately dies because both the infrastructure and the reconciliation bill are tied together in the House and fail , he will say "I did all I could".
McConnell is also trying to come up with a new re-election strategy since Trump is now against him. He is actually trying to do some work.
The two faces of McConnell.
Politics.
McConnell sees political advantage to praise Biden. Okay by me. It is good to see politics manifest in praise every now and then rather than the endless lying accusations and spin.
Mitch just learned a very important lesson. Never negotiate with fucking Democrats on anything!
The Dems gigantic pork reconciliation bill just passed along party lines out of the Senate. Heading to the House now. So Democrats get every last damn thing they want. So much for the two Democrat hold outs- their morals extended exactly as far as it took to get the first bill passed.
Mitch and the Republicans that voted for the first infrastructure bill deserve to all lose their jobs for being so fucking stupid! Biden and the House Democrats even told them what would happen!
Democrats have a lot to crow about now until midterms. Then it will be time to make them irrelevant. Hopefully we can get some real Republicans in the Senate with a backbone and brain to replace McConnell and other morons that voted with Democrats.