Democrats raced to push the framework for their huge $3.5 trillion spending plan through the Senate in the middle of the night. It’s a plan that’s packed with progressive agenda items, and not a single Republican is supporting it.
The vote came just hours after lawmakers handed President Joe Biden a hefty $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Then the new $3.5 trillion spending measure passed on a strictly party-line 50-49 vote with all Republicans voting against it. One GOP senator was absent. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), missed the budget votes to be with his ailing wife.
Higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations would pay for much of the proposed budget, according to Democrats.
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Democrat lawmakers and President Joe Biden say the bill led by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will help families and fight climate change.
“It will also, I hope, restore the faith of the American people in the belief that we can have a government that works for all of us, and not just the few,” Sanders said.
Republicans argued the Democrats’ proposals would waste money, raise economy-wounding taxes, fuel inflation and codify far-left dictates that would harm Americans in the long run. They were happy to use Sanders, a self-avowed socialist, to mark all of the Democrats who backed the measure.
If Biden and Senate Democrats want to “outsource domestic policy to Chairman Sanders” with a “historically reckless taxing and spending spree,” Republicans lack the votes to stop them, conceded Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). “But we will debate. We will vote.”
The House will take up the budget measure in two weeks when lawmakers return from summer recess.
New Taxes and New Social Programs
The hefty budget blueprint envisions creating new social programs including tuition-free pre-kindergarten and community college, paid family leave, and a Civilian Climate Corps whose workers would tackle environmental projects.
In addition, millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally would have a new chance for citizenship, and there would be financial incentives for states to adopt more labor-friendly laws.
Medicare would add dental, hearing, and vision benefits. Tax credits and grants would prod utilities and industries to embrace clean energy. Child tax credits that were beefed up for the pandemic would be extended, along with federal subsidies for health insurance.
Besides higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations, Democrats envision savings by letting the government negotiate prices for pharmaceuticals it buys, slapping taxes on imported carbon fuels, and strengthening IRS tax collections. Democrats have said their policies will be fully paid for, but they’ll make no final decisions until this fall’s follow-up bill.
Republicans Gain a Democrat Ally
Republicans claimed two narrow victories with potential implications for future votes, with West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, one of the chamber’s more conservative Democrats, joining them on both non-binding amendments for the measure.
One indicated support for health care providers who refuse to participate in abortions. The other voiced opposition to teaching critical race theory, which considers racism endemic to American institutions.
