ABC, NBC Back Biden’s Orwellian Rebranding of Social Programs as ‘Infrastructure’

April 11th, 2021 10:32 AM

Last week Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-D) was mocked on social media for declaring that social programs like “paid leave,” “child care,” and “caregiving” were “infrastructure” because they were part of President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure slush fund. And, during Sunday’s morning newscasts, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Sunday Today took up the Orwellian redefinition of infrastructure to bash Republicans for not going along with what any sane person would describe as social programs.

On NBC, White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell tacitly admitted they were trying to rebrand what infrastructure meant by telling viewers that roads and bridges were part of the bill’s “traditional infrastructure” spending:

The President is proposing $620 billion for traditional infrastructure including modernizing 20,000 miles of roadways; another $650 billion for broadband, the electric grid, and clean water; and another 400 billion for the White House calls the care economy, putting money toward elder care, childcare, and so on.

O’Donnell went on to suggest that the Republicans were the ones trying to falsely label that $400 billion as “social programs.” “Now, Republicans say they are willing to work on the more traditional types of infrastructure spending, but oppose much of the spending they see as new social programs,” she huffed.

 

 

Meanwhile, over on ABC, White House correspondent MaryAlice Parks normalized the Orwellian redefinition by saying Republicans were only concerned with keeping tax cuts for corporations on the books.

But so far, Republicans are just firmly opposed to the President's ideas for paying for this all,” she explained. “You know, the President said he wants to raise the corporate tax raise back closer to where it was before President Trump's tax cuts. And Republicans, you know, they helped put those tax cuts for corporations in place. They don't want to see them reversed.”

Parks also praised Biden for wanting to meet with Republicans anyway in an attempt to negotiate and convince them to support his slush fund:

Everyone's back into town, so these meetings really get going in earnest. They are serious now. The President, tomorrow planning to invite Democratic and Republican leaders here to the White House to sit around a table and try to hash out some of these details.

The President wants Republicans on board, you know, they were hoping to get a Republican vote on this infrastructure package. And there are a lot of Republicans who say they are willing to work on infrastructure, who say they're having meetings with some of President Biden's own cabinet officials.

In reality, Biden’s infrastructure bill was – as the National Review put it – “an oversized grab bag of other priorities, including housing, manufacturing, elder care, and even the PRO Act, which would make it harder for workers to choose to stay out of unions.”

That’s right, Democrats snuck a union-backing provision into the bill and the liberal media was trying to hide it. They don’t want viewers to know anything about the bill outside of the direct “infrastructure” spending.

This collusion to push the Orwellian redefinition of what constituted “infrastructure” was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from McDonald’s on ABC, and CarMax on NBC. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.

The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:

ABC’s Good Morning America
April 11, 2021
8:15:15 a.m. Eastern

(…)

DAN HARRIS: Let me ask you about another big political story on this Sunday morning. Congress is back in session tomorrow. Agenda item number one, the Democrats' infrastructure bill. Is there any hope that this bill, the infrastructure bill, could get some bipartisan support unlike the COVID relief bill?

MARYALICE PARKS: Yeah, Dan. Everyone's back into town, so these meetings really get going in earnest. They are serious now. The President, tomorrow planning to invite Democratic and Republican leaders here to the White House to sit around a table and try to hash out some of these details.

The President wants Republicans on board, you know, they were hoping to get a Republican vote on this infrastructure package. And there are a lot of Republicans who say they are willing to work on infrastructure, who say they're having meetings with some of President Biden's own cabinet officials.

You know, it's no coincidence that the President has members of his cabinet who are former mayors and former governors out there trying to sell this package, talking about their direct experience, their understanding of what's needed in the states. But so far, Republicans are just firmly opposed to the President's ideas for paying for this all.

You know, the President said he wants to raise the corporate tax raise back closer to where it was before President Trump's tax cuts. And Republicans, you know, they helped put those tax cuts for corporations in place. They don't want to see them reversed.

HARRIS: MaryAlice, thank you so much.

NBC’s Sunday Today
April 11, 2021
8:05:27 a.m. Eastern

(…)

KELLY O’DONNELL: Meanwhile, here in D.C., bipartisanship continues to be discussed if not yet realized. President Biden will meet with lawmakers from both parties tomorrow here at the White House to discuss infrastructure and the coming fight over how big to go.

The President is proposing $620 billion for traditional infrastructure including modernizing 20,000 miles of roadways; another $650 billion for broadband, the electric grid, and clean water; and another 400 billion for the White House calls the care economy, putting money toward elder care, childcare, and so on.

Now, Republicans say they are willing to work on the more traditional types of infrastructure spending, but oppose much of the spending they see as new social programs. Willie.

WILLIE GEIST: The President’s got to worry about Republicans and a handful of Democrats as well there. Kelly O’Donnell at White House. Kelly, thanks so much.