Schumer received a $1.5T top-line proposal from Manchin this summer.
Manchin also recommended starting the debate no sooner than October 1 to avoid the holiday weekend.
POLITICO received a copy of an agreement Joe Manchin presented to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer this summer in order to keep the Democrats’ massive spending measure under $1.5 trillion in overall cost.
Manchin also recommended starting the debate no sooner than October 1 to avoid any disruptions.
For the past few days, Sen. Joe Manchin has been handing out copies of the document,
which outlines his concerns with Vice President Joe Biden’s jobs and family proposal.
The one-page agreement was signed on July 28th, just days before the Senate passed a bipartisan infrastructure package,
which Manchin helped draft, and just days before the Senate enacted a budget,
which established a spending bill of up to $3.5 trillion.
In the document, Manchin proposes a 25 percent corporation tax rate, a 39.6 percent top income tax rate, and a 28 percent capital gains tax rate increase, all of which would go toward deficit reduction.
One of Manchin’s main worries is the deficit, and in this document he urges the Federal Reserve to reduce its quantitative easing program to ease inflation fears. He also asks that no money from this bill be spent until past Covid aid money has been disbursed.
Boldly printed on the paper is the statement that “Senator Manchin does not guarantee that (final reconciliation legislation) exceeds the conditions specified in this agreement.”
The document was signed by both Manchin and Schumer…………………….. According to a note Schumer sent to Joe Allen, the actor “would try to dissuade Joe on many of these.” Schumer’s
In other words, “Leader Schumer never agreed to any of the requirements Sen. Manchin laid out,” a representative for the senator stated. Leader Schumer made it plain that he would strive to persuade Sen. Manchin to support the final reconciliation package, as he has been doing for weeks. Sen. Manchin did not rule out voting for a reconciliation bill that went beyond his ideas.
Manchin’s demands are unlikely to be met by Democrats, and the senator’s willingness to compromise is unclear. Manchin has provided Schumer with more information, though, than many other Democratic Party members.
Since signing the deal, he’s visited with Vice President Joe Biden numerous times, and he’s been in contact with the White House frequently this week. This suggestion has been widely ignored by the Obama administration and other Democratic leaders. A 50/50 Senate means that Democrats cannot lose a single vote to approve legislation through budget reconciliation, which allows for the approval of economic legislation with a simple majority. But they must also accommodate him.
After this report was published, Manchin held a frantic press conference on Capitol Hill, where he claimed the paper cleared the door for August action on his bipartisan infrastructure measure and the Senate’s budget proposal. However, when confronted by protesters, Manchin revealed that back in July,
he wasn’t sure if a reconciliation bill was even necessary and thought he’d made progress by coming up with the $1.5 trillion figure.
“I didn’t mean to be a pain in anybody’s side. It’s a place I’ve never visited before. Manchin asserted, “I’ve never been a liberal in any way shape or form. “I suppose we’ll have to elect more liberals in order for them to get what they want. I’m not pleading with them to alter their behavior. My willingness to go from 0 to 1.5 trillion dollars is unquestionable.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), the other significant holdout in the Senate,
has been negotiating with Vice President Biden and White House officials at dizzying speed. In terms of spending, she agrees with Manchin largely,
although she has voiced more anxiety about Democratic tax ideas than the senator has.
Prior to the Senate’s ratification of the bipartisan infrastructure measure, Senator Sinema stated publicly that she would not support a bill with a price tag of $3.5 trillion. In August, she met with Senate Majority Leader Schumer and the White House to discuss her concerns and priorities in detail, including cash amounts. Sinema’s office denied that the senator had not shared her views with Vice President Biden or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Her efforts to establish a middle ground with Vice President Biden and Senator Schumer continue.
For the Senate’s reconciliation measure, Manchin said on Wednesday that tax reform should be the number one priority. His approach is broadly supported by most Democrats, albeit it falls short of Vice President Biden’s and House Democrats’ ideals. Manchin isn’t the only one who thinks this way: In an interview this week, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) stated that he too favors a corporate tax rate of 25%.
To that purpose, Manchin calls for “targeted expenditure limitations on existing programs,” “no further freebies or transfer programs,” and “a means test on as many new programs as feasible.” Manchin has consistently expressed alarm about the creation of a “entitlement culture” by Biden’s idea.
Coal-state Democrats want their panel to have sole authority over any clean energy norm,
and they want “innovation, not elimination,” when it comes to new energy sources. He also wants help for carbon capture and sequestration technologies, which trap and store emissions from power plants underground.
The senator also wants assurances that fossil fuel subsidies will not be withdrawn if tax credits for wind and solar power are included in the legislation,
as well as the inclusion of hydrogen-powered cars in the tax credits for electric vehicles.
