While Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) caved, coming to a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) which they have falsely named the “Inflation Reduction Act,” they haven’t gotten across the line quite yet. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) isn’t on board yet.
Manchin has been talking to her, trying to work her, but so far she’s not talking. She claimed she would like to read the text but was still waiting for the parliamentarian.
“Taking my time,” Kyrsten Sinema says when asked about the reconciliation bill that Dem leaders want to pass by this weekend, per @morgan_rimmer. She has not commented on the bill since it was released, and her office says she’s waiting for the parliamentarian ruling
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 3, 2022
Let’s hope that she holds out. But she’s not the only possible objection. There are other possibilities, particularly as more information comes out on how it doesn’t reduce inflation and that it will raise taxes on people across all income strata, including the middle class, according to the Joint Commission on Taxation. These are in addition to the fact that last week’s official recession saw the economy enter a new phase. Manchin previously stated that he wouldn’t raise taxes in a recession. But here we are. Manchin told Fox’s Harris Faulkner that the assessment by the JCT and others that said taxes would go up was just wrong. Faulkner attacked Manchin on all issues related to the bill. If the assessments are correct, Joe Biden is also violating his promise not to increase taxes on those below $400,000
There is another possibility of House holdouts. Fox reached out to 20 Democrats who are in vulnerable races to see if they would comment on the bill — if they were going to sign aboard a tax and spend bill in the middle of a recession.
The 20 Democrats Fox News reached out to in order to see if they would support the bill, and if they found it wise to raise taxes during a recession included Reps. Sharice Davids (KS), Jared Golden (ME), Elissa Slotkin (MI), Dan Kildee (MI), Angie Craig (MN), Annie Kuster (NH), Chris Pappas (NH), Dina Titus (NV), Susie Lee (NV), Steve Horsford (NV), Marcy Kaptur (OH), Matt Cartwright (PA), Elaine Luria (VA), Abigail Spanberger (VA), Kim Schrier (WA), Cindy Axne (IA), Henry Cuellar (TX), Susan Wild (PA), Tom Malinowski (NJ), and Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ).
They didn’t respond to any of the questions. That says a lot about the position they know they are in if they aren’t even willing to go on the record with supporting it.
“If Democrats believe their tax and spending plan is a win for Americans, why don’t they want their constituents to know that they support it,” said Cally Perkins, the press secretary for the Congressional Leadership Fund, about their silence. “Every House Democrat needs to answer if they’ll vote to double down on more of the same reckless spending that set off inflation to begin with.”
This could mean there may be some people with some sense.
Now, they might eventually cave but it’s going to be a tough bill to vote on if they’re going to be raising taxes on people — they’re going to have to justify themselves. Meanwhile, the Republican Whip, Sen. John Thune (R-SD), said they were going to argue to Sinema “and everybody else for that matter, that it’s just that this is a bad time with inflation and a wobbly economy to be raising taxes.”
Keep your hats on, Democrats might not yet have it.
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