“To truly win the 21st century and once again lead the world; to truly build an economy once again from the bottom up and the middle out; to truly deal everybody in this time, we need to invest in our people,' Biden said.
President Biden sought to assure Americans on Wednesday that the newly minted bipartisan framework of his infrastructure plan, while pared down, still addresses several progressive investments promised over the past several months, such as lowering childcare costs and expanding schooling.
Biden appealed mainly to parents and families, repeatedly stressing how the reconciliation and infrastructure proposals would ease their financial burdens. He ticked through several wish-list items for progressives, including at least two years of free community college, universal free preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds, an expansion of free school meals for over 350,000 students, alongside an expansion of the child tax credit established by the White House’s coronavirus relief bill.
The bipartisan framework’s rollout began with mangled communication, when Biden threatened to veto the bill if it was not passed in conjunction with the Democrats’ reconciliation package, which was packed tight with many of the agenda items cut by negotiators from the White House’s initial infrastructure proposal.
Although it’s not clear whether the White House has enough votes for either plan, some powerful Republicans seem to back the slimmed-down version. Earlier this week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told some of his constituents that the plan would financially benefit them.