While Democrats are hard at work in negotiations to get to the finish line on passing the Build Back Better agenda and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, the GOP has spent nearly nine months proving time and time again that they have no interest in helping the people they were elected to serve. Republicans have made it clear that their goal of obstruction for political gain will always trump (guess who they learned it from?) every opportunity to help the American people.
Why are they doing this? Here are five questions every Republican must answer:
1) Why do Missouri Republicans protect tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and big corporations, which added billions to the national debt, after refusing to support tax cuts for middle-class families during the COVID-19 crisis?
2) Data has shown that Republican states have benefited the most from the expanded child tax credit, which has helped cut the child poverty rate and is popular among voters. President Biden did that, not Governor Parson. So, what do Republicans have to say for their opposition to providing relief for millions of hard working parents? And what makes you think you can claim its success after the fact?
3) Why don’t Missouri Republicans want to lower health care costs for the American people? Because of the American Rescue Plan, people can save, on average, 40% off of their monthly premiums. Yet Republicans in Congress unanimously voted against the American Rescue Plan, even during a public health emergency, when health care is needed most.
4) Are Missouri Republicans prepared to bring down the bipartisan infrastructure bill in the hopes it will hurt Democrats and President Biden politically, even though there has been decades of bipartisan agreement that our nation needs to make critical new investments in infrastructure? The bipartisan infrastructure bill was approved by 19 Republicans in the Senate, including Mitch McConnell.
5) Why did Missouri Republicans vote against critical pandemic relief bills, which included checks in the bank for American families, aid to small businesses, and resources to safely reopen schools?
They should answer these questions.
But, they can’t. Try it yourself – ask one of your representatives and watch their eyes get wider and wider while a meeting is suddenly added to their calendar, whoops looks like they must go! Thanks for reaching out, constituent (because I don’t remember your name).
No one is asking Democrats these questions because the proof is in our actions and policies. American families are bouncing back, and the Build Back Better agenda needs to continue moving through Congress.
Missouri Republicans can’t bring themselves to do bipartisan work in the name of Missouri prosperity. Help us keep fighting them – the Build Back Better agenda isn’t just for Washington.