CNN: “A defining political clash took shape Sunday over Joe Biden’s latest effort to reshape the US economy, with Republicans mobilizing against a massive infrastructure plan that could put the President in historic Democratic company. GOP office holders launched a broad assault on the package, arguing it was too expensive and was stuffed with overly partisan programs that had nothing to do with fixing roads and bridges. ‘The Biden administration is calling it an infrastructure plan. It looks like a $2 trillion tax hike to me,’ Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves told CNN’s Jake Tapper on ‘State of the Union.’ Democrats, meanwhile, hinted they would try to press ahead with the plan without Republican votes if necessary through a 50-50 Senate, immediately putting the focus on divisions over details that exist in their own ranks. They styled the bill as a jobs package that was needed despite strengthening employment figures as the pandemic economy begins to wake up.”

“‘I think it’s a serious proposal dealing with some of the serious crises that we face,’ Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said, also on ‘State of the Union.’ The measure includes hundreds of billions of dollars for transportation projects, but also investments in items not normally seen in a traditional infrastructure plan, including in-home care services for elderly Americans, $300 billion for manufacturing, more than $200 billion for housing and tens of billions of dollars for programs like climate-friendly electric vehicles. So in essence, the fight in Washington is going to boil down to a debate on what exactly the term ‘infrastructure’ entails. The building Washington confrontation was a sign that both parties recognize the package, part of a flurry of initiatives by Biden to benefit blue collar and middle class Americans, is a moment that will shape his legacy. The broad scope and price tag of the bill, and a furor over a subsequent measure focusing on education and health care expected later in the year, means Biden faces a tougher assignment than was the case with his newly passed $1.9 trillion Covid relief law.”