Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy called President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill “a bold neo-socialist experiment” that he quipped may offer something for murder hornets.
“This is not an infrastructure bill. As best I can tell, just being charitable, about 15% of this bill is addressed to infrastructure,” Kennedy told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.”
“The rest is climate subsidies and social welfare spending,” he said. “There may be something in here for murder hornets, for all I know.”(RELATED: Biden Administration Reportedly Crafting First Major Tax Hike Since 1993)
Biden unveiled the “American Jobs Plan” Wednesday that will also raise the corporate income tax rate to 28% from 21%.
“No one can accuse the Biden administration of timidity. This is a bold, neo-socialist experiment,” Kennedy said, noting that the Biden administration has already spent over $4 trillion dollars in less than 100 days that includes a nearly $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package. The senator suggested that “in spending this massive amount of taxpayer money” Biden is taking the country to a “Chinese model of capitalism,” where the government spends more than the private sector in the economy.
Kennedy also said the record spending begs the question “do deficits and debt matter? We’re about to find out.”
In addition to reducing the “independence of the Federal Reserve” by forcing it to print money, Kennedy said the bill is deceptive — seeking to advance projects like the Green New Deal under the guise of infrastructure. (RELATED: ‘Like Calling Harvey Weinstein A Feminist’: Sen. Kennedy Says Biden’s Stimulus Bill Has Little To Do With COVID-19)
President Joe Biden speaks about the American Rescue Plan and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses in response to coronavirus, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, February 22, 2021. – The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been a key lifeline to businesses amid the Covid-19 crisis, but the smallest among them, those least likely to have relationships with banks, often missed out. (Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“I mean, everybody is for infrastructure. Being against infrastructure is like being against Golden Retrievers. But if you’re talking about bridges and roads and ports and airports, by my numbers, I’m still reading things, but it is way less than 10%.”
The infrastructure bill promises to spend $400 billion on “care infrastructure” for the “millions” of elderly and disabled Americans, their families, and home care workers.
It targets another $580 billion for private sector innovation, research and development and green energy projects.