The mammoth infrastructure deal, while not a done deal, is on track to pass the Senate.That’s a tribute not only to tireless negotiators, but also to a White House that has learned to ignore silly commentary.(How many times did the media say President Biden failed on infrastructure? What about the hysteria that Biden had imperiled the deal with a comment about linking it to a separate reconciliation bill?) The legislation is not perfect, as Biden acknowledges, but he surely can take credit for historic investments in public transit, passenger rail, bridges, clean water and clean energy.On cloture, the measure drew a remarkable 17 Republican votes , suggesting Biden’s vision of bipartisanship, at least on popular spending items, was not folly.All that said, the bill comes up short on legitimate “pay-fors.” The outline of the deal states , “In the years ahead, the deal will generate significant economic benefits.
It is financed through a combination of redirecting unspent emergency relief funds, targeted corporate user fees, strengthening tax enforcement when it comes to crypto currencies, and other bipartisan measures, in addition to the revenue generated from higher economic growth as a result of the investments.” That’s embarrassingly flimsy.Worse, Republicans got their way in refusing to fully fund the Internal Revenue Service to go after tax cheats.No one should be surprised at this stage that the party that backed a corrupt, lawless president and makes heroes out of violent insurrectionists does not want to enforce the tax laws.After all, their rich donors might have to pay what they owe the government if the IRS has the resources to go after the scofflaws.Republicans do not even seem willing to maintain the pretense that they are the “law and order” party.
Michael R.Strain of the conservative American Enterprise Institute writes for Bloomberg Opinion, “By refusing to adequately fund the Internal Revenue Service, congressional Republicans are leaving hundreds of billions of dollars on the table each year and undermining the rule of law.” The tax gap — the difference between what is owed and what taxpayers pay — adds up to more than $600 billion per year.As Strain argues, “Most taxpayers pay what they owe.Some don’t.This fundamental unfairness needs to be addressed.In addition, it threatens the integrity of the entire tax system by undermining public trust.”But undermining public trust is a feature, not a bug, in Republican proposals these days.
Their assault on scientific truth, their denigration of expertise (even at the expense of unnecessary deaths from the coronavirus), their intimidation of the free press and their “big lie” of a stolen election are all attempts to exhaust the public’s trust and capacity for rational judgment.Without those, democracy cannot function.
When the public falls into intellectual and moral nihilism, a strongman can step in to tell his followers that he’s the only source of truth and that he “alone” can fix things.Autocratic figures thrive when ordinary voters become contemptuous of their own government.It seems anti-democratic Republicans seek to make government so dysfunctional that it loses credibility with average people.
Corruption, excessive income inequality and just plain unfairness lay the groundwork for an ambitious autocrat.In that regard, refusing to fund the IRS is not merely meant to starve government of revenue or protect wealthy donors; it is part of a broader effort to create the impression that democracy cannot serve the people it portends to represent.The good news is that Democrats can put IRS funding back into the reconciliation deal — along with tax increases on corporations (many of which have paid nothing in federal taxes ) and the super-rich who manage to keep getting richer.
This is not only good policy and politics (voters overwhelmingly think the rich and corporations are not paying enough); it is good for the credibility and preservation of democracy itself..
