President Biden on Friday admitted that his massive social spending plan won’t pass at its current $3.5 trillion pricetag and will need to be pared down.
“To be honest with you, we’re probably not going to get $3.5 trillion this year. We’re going to get something less than that. But I’m going to negotiate, I’m going to get it done,” Biden said in Hartford, Conn.
“I don’t know that I can get it done,” he said in a tone that conveyed defeat as he also mentioned his plan to provide free community college.
And later, as he prepared to depart Connecticut On the tarmac of Hartford’s airport — taking his first questions from reporters this week — Biden conceded, “Look, it’s clear that it’s not going to be $3.5 trillion.”
Biden said that he hoped to approve some policies without 10 years of funding — a compromise pushed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that still faces skepticism from centrists.
“The question is how much of what is important is going to get into the legislation?” Biden told reporters.
“I’m of the view that it’s important to establish a principle on a whole range of issues without guaranteeing we get the whole 10 years. What matters is we establish it. I don’t know of any major change in American public policy that occurred by a single piece of legislation… What happens is you pass the principle and you build on it.”
Biden added that he wasn’t giving up on his proposal for two years of free community college.
“I doubt we’re going to get the entire funding for community colleges, but I’m not going to give up on community colleges as long as I’m president,” he said.
Left-wing Democrats have insisted the $3.5 trillion price tag was already a compromise and they’re threatening to derail a Senate-passed $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill if too much is removed from the larger proposal.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a self-declared socialist, on Friday tweeted that the media is to blame for Biden’s proposal lacking enough support.
“There’s been endless stories about the role of the president, the conflicts in the House and Senate, the opposition of two senators, the size of the bill, etc. – but very limited coverage of what the provisions of the bill are and the crises for working people that they address,” Sanders wrote, griping that reporters should focus more on whats in the mammoth bill than the fact tghere isn’t consensus for it even in the Democratic Party.
The sprawling social spending measure can pass Congress with only Democratic votes under special budget reconciliation rules, but it’s stalled in the Senate because of reluctance over the price tag and specific proposals from centrists including Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).
Manchin previously said he was skeptical about a component that would federally fund free preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds. He said his state made the reform without federal assistance.
“I don’t believe that we should turn our society into an entitlement society. I think we should still be a compassionate, rewarding society,” Manchin said Wednesday.
Biden’s initial proposal called for subsidies for child care and family and sick leave and for generous government aid for home and community health care for seniors and people with disabilities. It also called for vast federal renewable energy projects, climate change research and enactment of new pollution fees.
The bill would extend a temporarily expanded child tax credit — from $2,000 to $3,000, or $3,600 for children under six — and would be paid for through tax hikes on businesses and higher incomes and through stricter IRS enforcement.
