Congressional Republicans are doing an epic job of talking out of both sides of their mouths right now. On one side, they're beside themselves over the price tag of the investments President Biden wants to make in the national economy. On the other side, they're all too happy to tout the relief funds that Democrats—and Democrats alone—made available to their constituents.
Taken together it's just one giant ice cream sundae complete with whipped cream, nuts, and a cherry to boot.
Even before Biden delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was digging in on the GOP hypocrisy. Remember when Republicans passed that 2017 tax gift to the wealthy that they said would pay for itself but actually added some $2 trillion to the deficit? So does Pelosi.
“All of a sudden they are deficit hawks when they were giving away money to wealthy people under President Trump,” Pelosi said of the 2017 law Wednesday on CBS This Morning.
Pelosi went on to liken the GOP initiative to a "scam," while Democrats are proposing "investments" that will pay off for the whole country.
“What we’re talking about here are investments. Nothing brings more to the Treasury than the investment in education we make,” Pelosi said. Biden's American Families Plan includes money for universal preschool, two years of free community college, and expanded Pell Grants, among other initiatives to boost education rates in the country.
But Pelosi's morning salvo to Republicans on Wednesday wasn't to be outdone by the sentiments she shared Thursday after a string of House Republicans gleefully told their constituents that new relief funding provided by the American Rescue Plan they voted against would soon be available to them.
“A number of them are trying to take credit for something they didn't vote for—that's not unusual," she said. "Vote no, take the dough—that's what the Republicans do."
Pelosi enjoyed the whole line of attack so much, she quote tweeted Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, one of the Republicans enthusiastically announcing the availability of new relief funding she sought to deny her constituents.