AFP: President’s So-Called Infrastructure Plan Puts Country in Reverse
Arlington, Va. – Americans for Prosperity (AFP) issued the following statement after President Biden unveiled the framework of a so-called infrastructure package expected to spend as much as $4 trillion on programs that have little to do with improving roads and bridges but would harm the economy, increase taxes that would crush small businesses getting back on their feet, and would altogether represent a massive expansion of the federal government’s control over businesses, workers, and the economy as a whole.
AFP will bring to bear the full weight of its grassroots activist network across the country to urge lawmakers to reject harmful elements of the proposal and consider alternative solutions that could rebuild our economy, make improvements to infrastructure, and address other critical needs without massive tax increases and trillions in new spending.
Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips issued the following statement:
“President Biden’s so-called infrastructure proposal puts our country in reverse. The most expensive plan in American history paid for by one of the largest tax increases in history might be unprecedented in size and scope, but is old in substance.
“This is not an investment in our future, but a rehash of tired ideas we know won’t work: enormous federal spending on partisan priorities that have nothing to do with roads and bridges, historic tax increases that will crush small businesses and reduce workers’ wages, special interest carveouts that rig the economy in favor of the well connected, and favors to labor unions that undermine workers’ rights and their ability to find work.
“To be clear, old doesn’t mean harmless. This plan is built on the notion that government is the solution to everything and represents a massive expansion of its command over the economy and its ability to dictate winners and losers in the marketplace.
“We should be going the other way – keeping tax burdens on Americans low so they can keep more of what they earn, prioritizing spending to areas of greatest need, and removing regulatory barriers that make it harder for people to get to work and for businesses to build and innovate.”
AFP objects to several provisions in the proposal, including:
- Reversing components of President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which helped people keep more of what they earn and contributed to more jobs and higher wages.
- Increasing taxes that would worsen our already devastated economy, hurt workers’ wages, crush small businesses, and ultimately wouldn’t come close to paying for this new spending.
- Implementing elements of the PRO Act, which would make unprecedented, harmful changes to federal labor laws that would ban right-to-work laws that protect workers’ from being fired if they choose not to join and pay a union, restrict workers’ ability to earn a living as an independent contractor, and implement costly and unnecessary financial penalties that would bankrupt small businesses, among other things.
- Implementing elements of the “Green New Deal” by dishing out sweetheart subsidies & carveouts to politically preferred firms.
- Spending trillions of dollars on unrelated, unnecessary, and ineffective programs.
Lawmakers focused on improving roads and bridges should instead consider the following reforms:
- Preserving federal infrastructure dollars for targeted construction projects of a national priority and putting an end to the practice of spending gas tax revenues on non-highway projects
- Unleashing private investment in infrastructure assets
- Returning power and responsibility to the states wherever possible
- Overhauling the regulatory and permitting system to improve outcomes and efficiency
- Eliminating costly and unfair labor restrictions.
Additional information:
- Since the outset of the pandemic, Americans for Prosperity has advocated alternative solutions to help the economy recover stronger from the pandemic, while at the same time warning against harmful policies that would hinder recovery.
- At the beginning of the year, the grassroots group also released the “Save Lives. Save Livelihoods. Recover Stronger.” policy agenda to focus Congress and the Biden administration’s attention during the first 100 days on two of the biggest challenges facing Americans: ending the pandemic and helping the economy recover stronger.
For further information or to set up an interview, please send an email to LIsidro@afphq.org.
Through broad-based grassroots outreach, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is driving long-term solutions to the country’s biggest problems. AFP activists engage friends and neighbors on key issues and encourage them to take an active role in building a culture of mutual benefit, where people succeed by helping one another. AFP recruits and unites activists in 35 states behind a common goal of advancing policies that will help people improve their lives. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org
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