Dems' $3.5trillion reconciliation bill poses 'existential threat' to US economy, US Chamber of Commerce warns
The US Chamber of Commerce is targeting five moderate Democrats with a paid advertising campaign launched on Wednesday, as its president warned Americans that progressives' hefty $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill poses an 'existential threat' to the national economy.
'This reconciliation bill is effectively 100 bills in one representing every big government idea that's never been able to pass in Congress. The bill is an existential threat to America's fragile economic recovery and future prosperity,' US Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne Clark said.
'We will not find durable or practical solutions in one massive bill that is equivalent to more than twice the combined budgets of all 50 states.'
President Joe Biden spent the same day fighting for his $3.5 trillion wish-list, central to his 'Build Back Better' agenda.
Biden held marathon back-to-back meetings well into the evening with 23 Democrats in the House and Senate yesterday to press them to vote in favor of the reconciliation bill.
US Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne Clark (left) said President Biden's $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill poses a threat to US economic recovery from COVID-19
The president spoke with both moderates and progressives within the party, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Pelosi told reporters 'we're in good shape' upon returning to the Capitol Wednesday. The White House called the meetings 'productive and candid' but indicated there would be more to follow.
Republicans have long opposed the measure, calling it a 'reckless tax and spending spree.'
They and moderates have pushed to prioritize the smaller $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure compromise, which Pelosi hopes to pass on a 'two-track' plan with the larger bill.
Clark also held up the bipartisan bill as a better measure.
'The success of the bipartisan infrastructure negotiations provides a much better model for how Congress should proceed in addressing America’s problems,' she said.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said negotiations were in 'good shape' after her and Leader Schumer's meeting with Biden
Schumer and Pelosi were one of nearly two dozen moderate and progressive Democrats to be called to the White House to discuss Biden's agenda
The US Chamber of Commerce is the largest lobbying group in the country and it represents more than three million organizations.
Its six-figure ad campaign is targeting five lawmakers' constituencies so far: Cindy Axne, (D-IA-03), Angie Craig (D-MN-02), Antonio Delgado (D-NY-19), Josh Harder (D-CA-10) and Elaine Luria (D-VA-02).
But the group indicated that more moderate Democrats' districts could soon follow.
'The ads appeal to voters who understand the perils of raising taxes as the nation seeks to recover from the pandemic and calls on them to contact their members of Congress to voice their opposition,' the Chamber of Commerce stated in its press release for the campaign.
Each 30-second advert displays news media quotes that paint a grim picture of the US economy while a voiceover attacks the Biden administration over the impact that tax hikes necessary to pay for his agenda would have.
'American workers and small businesses are being hit from all sides. A devastating pandemic. Skyrocketing inflation. And now, the Biden Administration wants to hit them again with massive tax increases,' the voiceover says.
Each 30-second ad displays grim media reports on the state of the US economy and encourages voters to call their representatives
'These tax hikes would be a body blow to our economy. Endangering our recovery. And taking more hard-earned money from small businesses and working families.'
It then urges voters to contact their representative to 'reject higher taxes.'
The $3.5 trillion Democrat-backed bill would include money toward establishing universal pre-K, free community college and creating the first ever federal Paid Family and Medical Leave benefit. It would also expand Medicare and Medicaid and create a Civilian Climate Corps to create jobs and tackle climate change, among other environmental and health measures.
Democrats would fund the expensive measure by raising the corporate tax rate from 21 to 28 percent and raise taxes on the wealthy, which Republicans, some moderates and the Chamber of Commerce all oppose.
But members of the influential 96-strong Progressive Caucus has threatened to tank the bipartisan $1.2 trillion compromise if action isn't taken on the larger bill.
Reps. Cindy Axne and Josh Harder are among the Democrats targeted in the first round of the US Chamber of Commerce's ad campaign
Reps. Angie Craig, Elaine Luria and Antonio Delgado are also getting the ads in their districts
Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7) released a statement reiterating that warning after meeting with Biden at the White House on Wednesday.
'As I did yesterday with Speaker Pelosi, I reiterated what I have said: progressives will vote for both bills because we proudly support the President’s entire Build Back Better package, but that a majority of our 96-member caucus will only vote for the small infrastructure bill after the Build Back Better Act passes,' Jayapal said.
'This is the President’s agenda, this is the Democratic agenda, and this is what we promised voters when they delivered us the House, the Senate, and the White House.'
That puts Pelosi between a rock and a hard place - with just a slim majority in the House and Senate, Democrats can only afford to lose less than a handful of votes to pass Biden's expensive agenda. The party will have to vote in near-lockstep to pass the $3.5 trillion bill without Republican support.
Jayapal praised her Wednesday meeting with Biden as a 'very productive and necessary conversation.'
Others around Biden on Wednesday described him as being hyper-focused on scoring a deal.
Lawmakers said Biden had a positive, focused attitude during negotiations
'The president is really fired up,' Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, told the Associated Press last night.
Wyden described the president as 'vintage Joe Biden, let's-get-it-done mood' to a Politico reporter.
Chief of Staff Ron Klain celebrated the reporting on Twitter, writing: 'FACT CHECK: TRUE.'
Congress is racing toward Monday's deadline for a House vote on the first part of Biden's plan - a $1.2trillion public works measure - which now also serves as a deadline for producing a compromise framework for the broader package.
At one point, Biden told the lawmakers there were plenty of conference rooms at the White House they could use to hunker down this weekend as some suggested they roll up their sleeves and stay to get final details done.
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a key centrist who has balked at the $3.5trillion price tag, said the president told him to come up with a number he could live with.
'He just basically said, "Find it. Just work on it, give me a number.'''
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