Texas Sen. Ted Cruz opposes President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan

Sen. Ted Cruz says that President Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan is “really just the Green New Deal-lite masquerading as an infrastructure plan.”

The Green New Deal aimed to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Cruz strongly opposed the deal partly because of the effect it would have on Texas’ oil and natural gas industry.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, hasn’t said anything about the plan since it was released Wednesday, but when asked about the proposal recently said “I get skeptical.”

“I think we’re going to need to see how much of that is going to be paid for and how it’s going to be paid for,” Cornyn said. “It looks like they want to raise taxes.”

The plan’s money would be spent over the next eight years and funded mainly by increasing taxes on corporations, not individuals, from 21% to 28%.

The plan justifies this tax hike by saying that “profitable corporations should not be able to get away with paying little or no tax by shifting jobs and profits overseas.”

Cruz, a Texas Republican, was not pleased.

“At a time when America’s families, small businesses, and job creators are just getting back on their feet, President Biden plans to increase taxes because he thinks he knows how to spend your money better than you do,” Cruz said Wednesday.

The senators also expressed concern about the plan’s spending.

“I think they’re going to try to do a lot of things and call it infrastructure which aren’t technically infrastructure,” Cornyn said last week.

About 27% of the plan will go toward transportation infrastructure, 28% toward clean drinking water and sustainable housing, 25% toward research and development, including workplace development and manufacturing, and 17% toward expanding care for the elderly and disabled, according to a breakdown by the Washington Post.

“President Biden is attempting to make good on his promise to transform America’s blue-collar economy into a ‘green’ economy,” Cruz said Wednesday.

Thirteen percent of the bill goes toward investing in the U.S. manufacturing sector with increased focus on semiconductors and green energy, according to the Washington Post.