RIDC GOP IN DEM CLOTHING
Joe Manchin worries Biden's social spending agenda costs too much, so why did he just vote for an infrastructure law that costs more?Ben Winck
Sat, November 20, 2021
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Manchin is among the last obstacles to Build Back Better's approval, but the CBO just blew up his main talking point.
He says he wants the package to be fully paid, and the CBO says it would add $160 billion to the deficit.
Along with several Republicans, Manchin just voted for an infrastructure law that will be even bigger, adding $259 billion to the deficit.
A centrist senator says the government shouldn't spend more than $1 trillion that would add to the deficit. Another centrist senator votes for a law that's larger than $1 trillion that adds hundreds of billions to the deficit.
There's just one problem: Both of these are Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. He has one stance on Joe Biden's Build Back Better agenda and another on the bipartisan infrastructure bill that Biden signed into law this week. Both can't be true.
Even Mitch McConnell voted for the infrastructure law, a return to his voting patterns during the Trump presidency, when he repeatedly voted for laws that increased the national deficit.
Manchin has already succeeded in cutting a lot from Build Back Better, whittling down the original $3.5 trillion price tag to roughly $2 trillion. Even with this reduction, he's adamant the plan must be fully paid for by a combination of tax hikes.
The Build Back Better Act passed by the House on Friday is estimated to add $367 billion to the government deficit over the next decade, according to analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. The estimate doesn't include revenue from improved IRS enforcement, but even after factoring that in, the package is set to add $160 billion to the deficit. That looks paltry compared to the infrastructure bill that Manchin — and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — both just voted for.
The senator has hinted he won't back a plan that adds to the deficit, but he did just that in August. Manchin voted to pass the $1 trillion infrastructure plan in early August despite it not being fully paid for. He was among the few senators to craft the bipartisan package. Not only does it boost the deficit, but the CBO estimates the infrastructure plan will cost the US about $256 billion.
In other words, Manchin has already backed a bill that adds nearly $100 billion more to the deficit than the one he's worried is too expensive.
Manchin's office did not reply to a request for comment.
Caring about the price tag in all the wrong ways
Focus on the Build Back Better plan's cost strikes at a growing divide in the Democratic party. Progressives see the moment as key to creating a more equitable economy. Centrists like Manchin are expressing concerns similar to those coming out of the Republican Party.
For one, progressives initially pushed for a much larger spending bill and aimed to cover the costs with more aggressive taxation of billionaires and corporations. Members frequently pointed to the package's popularity, and President Joe Biden repeatedly noted he wanted to "go big" with his spending plans.
Yet Manchin railed against such tax proposals. The senator said he didn't like "targeting different people" with the billionaires' tax, and that opposition all but ensured the package would be smaller than Biden's $3.5 trillion proposal.
The senator's inflation concerns also resemble those on the other side of the aisle. Republicans have knocked the Build Back Better plan as an inflationary risk, arguing it would boost price growth beyond its already fast pace. Manchin voiced similar worries earlier in November, saying in a tweet that inflation is "not 'transitory'" and that "DC can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day."
Concerns that Build Back Better will worsen inflation are likely overblown. The package's funds would be doled out over 10 years, meaning it wouldn't contribute to a sudden burst of spending. Ratings agencies including Moody's and Fitch confirmed to Reuters this week the plan wouldn't have a material impact on inflation.
Manchin hasn't yet indicated how the CBO score affects his support for Build Back Better. The Senate is expected to adjust the House's bill in the coming days. Sen. Bernie Sanders said Friday he hopes to strengthen taxes on the wealthy and plans for climate reform. Manchin, meanwhile, has expressed plans to cut paid leave from the package. Doing so could eliminate the bill's cost.
As Manchin demonstrated in August, he's willing to add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit. He might have just decided roads and bridges matter more than paid leave.
Biden sounds like he's ready to sign whatever Manchin and Sinema decide on the social-spending bill
Ayelet Sheffey,Joseph Zeballos-Roig
Fri, November 19, 2021
Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona following a vote at the US Capitol on November 3, 2021.Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Biden told a reporter he will sign Democrats' social-spending bill, even if it excludes paid leave.
The bill passed the House on Friday, and it heads to the Senate where it faces likely challenges
Manchin and Sinema have voiced opposition to measures in the House version, like tax hikes and paid leave.
President Joe Biden's economic agenda cleared a potentially major hurdle Friday morning when his $2 trillion social-spending package passed the House.
And although it now heads to the Senate, where it will likely face additional cuts due to opposition from centrist Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the president seems ready to take whatever the evenly-split Senate produces and sign it into law.
"I'm going to sign it, period!" Biden told Nancy Cordes of CBS News when asked if he would still sign a bill without paid family and medical leave.
All 50 Senate Democrats must stick together for the plan to clear the chamber over unified GOP resistance. Manchin and Sinema both haven't explicitly backed Biden's social spending bill, and objections from either could either stall or sink the centerpiece of the Democratic agenda.
Four weeks of paid national family and medical leave, along with a $555 billion investment in the climate, made it into the Build Back Better framework that passed through the House. But as Insider reported, the framework is likely to change once it reaches the Senate — especially when on issues like paid leave, to which Manchin has repeatedly voiced opposition.
"I've been very clear where I stand on that," Manchin told reporters on Wednesday, referring to his comments last month that he didn't think the measure belonged in a party-line package, and he has also indicated he wants workers to assume part of the cost to access the benefits with a new tax on their wages.
Along with Manchin's opposition to paid leave and the overall size of the package, Sinema — the other Democratic holdout — has balked at raising tax rates on high-earning individuals and corporations.
While Manchin and Sinema may try to cut elements from the House package, though, other Democrats want to see it grow even more. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a statement on Monday that while he is glad the House passed a key element of Biden's agenda, he still wants to see it "strengthened" through lower prescription drug prices and a Medicare expansion that would cover vision, dental, and hearing aids.
The House legislation only includes an expansion of Medicare to provide hearing benefits.
Biden indicated on Friday he wants to get the bill signed into law "as soon as possible," and it seems likely the final version of the bill rests in the hands of Sinema and Manchin.
"Senator Manchin: We're looking at you," Missouri Rep. Cori Bush wrote on Twitter. "The people must win."
Ayelet Sheffey,Joseph Zeballos-Roig
Fri, November 19, 2021
Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona following a vote at the US Capitol on November 3, 2021.Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Biden told a reporter he will sign Democrats' social-spending bill, even if it excludes paid leave.
The bill passed the House on Friday, and it heads to the Senate where it faces likely challenges
Manchin and Sinema have voiced opposition to measures in the House version, like tax hikes and paid leave.
President Joe Biden's economic agenda cleared a potentially major hurdle Friday morning when his $2 trillion social-spending package passed the House.
And although it now heads to the Senate, where it will likely face additional cuts due to opposition from centrist Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the president seems ready to take whatever the evenly-split Senate produces and sign it into law.
"I'm going to sign it, period!" Biden told Nancy Cordes of CBS News when asked if he would still sign a bill without paid family and medical leave.
All 50 Senate Democrats must stick together for the plan to clear the chamber over unified GOP resistance. Manchin and Sinema both haven't explicitly backed Biden's social spending bill, and objections from either could either stall or sink the centerpiece of the Democratic agenda.
Four weeks of paid national family and medical leave, along with a $555 billion investment in the climate, made it into the Build Back Better framework that passed through the House. But as Insider reported, the framework is likely to change once it reaches the Senate — especially when on issues like paid leave, to which Manchin has repeatedly voiced opposition.
"I've been very clear where I stand on that," Manchin told reporters on Wednesday, referring to his comments last month that he didn't think the measure belonged in a party-line package, and he has also indicated he wants workers to assume part of the cost to access the benefits with a new tax on their wages.
Along with Manchin's opposition to paid leave and the overall size of the package, Sinema — the other Democratic holdout — has balked at raising tax rates on high-earning individuals and corporations.
While Manchin and Sinema may try to cut elements from the House package, though, other Democrats want to see it grow even more. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a statement on Monday that while he is glad the House passed a key element of Biden's agenda, he still wants to see it "strengthened" through lower prescription drug prices and a Medicare expansion that would cover vision, dental, and hearing aids.
The House legislation only includes an expansion of Medicare to provide hearing benefits.
Biden indicated on Friday he wants to get the bill signed into law "as soon as possible," and it seems likely the final version of the bill rests in the hands of Sinema and Manchin.
"Senator Manchin: We're looking at you," Missouri Rep. Cori Bush wrote on Twitter. "The people must win."
KEY CORPRATIST OPPORTUNIST
Key Democrat unlikely to budge on filibuster reform - Washington Post
FILE PHOTO: Senator Kyrsten Sinema at Senate Finance Committee hearing
Key Democrat unlikely to budge on filibuster reform - Washington Post
FILE PHOTO: Senator Kyrsten Sinema at Senate Finance Committee hearing
Sat, November 20, 2021,
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a key centrist who is often a holdout on major elements of President Joe Biden's agenda, reiterated she does not support modifying or eliminating the filibuster to ease the passage of voting rights legislation, she said in an interview with the Washington Post.
Sinema, who is a co-sponsor of Democratic voting rights bills aimed at prohibiting racial discrimination and ensuring ballot access, told the newspaper that she continues to oppose efforts by fellow Democrats to eliminate the filibuster, a Senate rule that requires a 60-vote supermajority to pass most legislation.
“My opinion is that legislation that is crafted together, in a bipartisan way, is the legislation that’s most likely to pass and stand the test of time. And I would certainly encourage my colleagues to use that effort to move forward,” she told the Post.
She also brushed off the possibility of supporting an exception to the filibuster to enable passage of voting rights legislation, saying she was not sure it is a viable option.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had hinted at a change in Senate rules earlier this month to circumvent the filibuster, at least for some legislation.
"That caveat — ‘if it would even work’ — is the right question to ask,” Sinema, who rarely gives interviews, told the Post.
Senate Democrats earlier this month failed to advance voting rights legislation for the fourth time this year due to overwhelming Republican opposition, raising potential ramifications for the 2022 congressional and 2024 presidential elections.
The Senate voted 50-49 in favor of starting debate on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act but fell short of the 60 votes needed.
Named for the late civil rights activist and congressman, the legislation would restore state voting requirements to prohibit racial discrimination that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in 2013.
Democrats have made election reform a priority in light of Republican state balloting restrictions passed in response to former President Donald Trump's false claims of massive voter fraud in the 2020 election.
(This story has corrected spelling of Sinema's first name to Kyrsten instead of Krysten in paragraph 1)
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a key centrist who is often a holdout on major elements of President Joe Biden's agenda, reiterated she does not support modifying or eliminating the filibuster to ease the passage of voting rights legislation, she said in an interview with the Washington Post.
Sinema, who is a co-sponsor of Democratic voting rights bills aimed at prohibiting racial discrimination and ensuring ballot access, told the newspaper that she continues to oppose efforts by fellow Democrats to eliminate the filibuster, a Senate rule that requires a 60-vote supermajority to pass most legislation.
“My opinion is that legislation that is crafted together, in a bipartisan way, is the legislation that’s most likely to pass and stand the test of time. And I would certainly encourage my colleagues to use that effort to move forward,” she told the Post.
She also brushed off the possibility of supporting an exception to the filibuster to enable passage of voting rights legislation, saying she was not sure it is a viable option.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had hinted at a change in Senate rules earlier this month to circumvent the filibuster, at least for some legislation.
"That caveat — ‘if it would even work’ — is the right question to ask,” Sinema, who rarely gives interviews, told the Post.
Senate Democrats earlier this month failed to advance voting rights legislation for the fourth time this year due to overwhelming Republican opposition, raising potential ramifications for the 2022 congressional and 2024 presidential elections.
The Senate voted 50-49 in favor of starting debate on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act but fell short of the 60 votes needed.
Named for the late civil rights activist and congressman, the legislation would restore state voting requirements to prohibit racial discrimination that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in 2013.
Democrats have made election reform a priority in light of Republican state balloting restrictions passed in response to former President Donald Trump's false claims of massive voter fraud in the 2020 election.
(This story has corrected spelling of Sinema's first name to Kyrsten instead of Krysten in paragraph 1)
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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