Senator Joe Manchin hit back at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, stating his claim that he has a ‘weekly tussle’ with Exxon executives is ‘completely false’.
appeared munchkin CNNState of the Union on Sunday to clarify its concerns with the President Joe Biden$3.5 trillion plan for social and environmental spending, saying it would not support even half of that amount.
After Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat whose vote is equally divided managing committee, first airing her concerns in an op-ed last week, Ocasio-Cortez claimed on Twitter that her fellow Democrat is ‘killing people’ with her objections.
“Munchkin has weekly huddles w/ Exxon and is one of several senators who give their pen to lobbyists to write so-called ‘bipartisan’ fossil fuel bills,” wrote the New York Democrat. ‘Sick of this ‘bipartisan’ corruption, which masquerades as clean moderation.’
When CNN host Dana Bash asked him about his claims, Munchkin hit back at Firebrand Progressive, saying: ‘I keep my door open to everyone. This is a complete lie.’
‘Those kinds of exaggerations, it’s awful. And keep on dividing, divide, divide,’ said Manchin.
Senator Joe Manchin hits back at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, says his ‘weekly squabble’ with Exxon officials is ‘completely false’
Ocasio-Cortez claimed on Twitter that her fellow Democrats were ‘murdering people’ with their objections to Biden’s social and environmental spending plan.
‘I don’t know that young woman exactly, I really don’t know. I met him once here in the middle of the set, but that’s all. We haven’t had any conversation. She’s guessing and saying things,’ said Munchkin.
Asked if he opposes Biden’s spending plan because of donor influence, Munchkin retorted: ‘I’m opposing it because it doesn’t make sense.’
Munchkin’s support is crucial for Democrats if they want to implement Biden’s massive ‘Build Back Better’ agenda, with the Senate split 50-50 and Vice President Kamala Harris being the tiebreaker if there is no Republican support.
With congressional committees working toward Wednesday’s goal set by party leaders to draft the bill, Munchkin made his view clear, in a series of television interviews, that there was “no way” that Congress could hold the House. Speaker Nancy will meet the end-September target. Pelosi to pass.
But the moderate Democrats continue to reject his party’s plan not to pass a separate infrastructure package without a progressive reconciliation package.
‘No, I can’t support $3.5 trillion,’ Manchin told NBC’s Chuck Todd on Meet the Press.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said Sunday he will not back his party’s $3.5 trillion reconciliation package as progressives say they will not vote without passing a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.
“If I had been writing this from the beginning, I would be the first to see me adjusting the tax code,” Manchin continued. ‘I’ve always said so. I said that originally the 2017 tax code was weighted incorrectly for the wealthy. We need to change it. So I agreed to go for reconciliation.
‘But I’m not going to get into a position or shoot myself in the foot and am not globally competitive. I think corporations should pay. No one can escape by not giving their fair share. I think the IRS should be able to do its job, all those things,’ he said.
“I can’t support $3.5 trillion,” Manchin said, citing specifically his opposition to a proposed increase in the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent and huge new social spending.
‘We must see everything, and we are not. We don’t need to rush into it and complete it within a week because there is some deadline that we are meeting, or someone is going to fall through the cracks,’ he said.
Repeatedly pressing about total support, Munchkin said, ‘It’s going to be $1, $1.5 (trillion)’. He later suggested that the limit was based on a modest 25% increase in the corporate tax rate, a figure he believed would keep the US globally competitive.
‘Is the number they want to pay and the tax changes they want to make competitive?’ Manchin asked. ‘I believe some changes have been made that do not keep us competitive.’
But Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who is developing the budget bill, said he and other members of the liberal bloc in Congress had initially urged an even stronger $6 trillion package.
“I don’t think this is acceptable to the president, the American people, or the overwhelming majority in the Democratic caucus,” Senator Bernie Sander said.
“I don’t think it’s acceptable to the president, to the American people, or to the overwhelming majority of people in the Democratic caucus,” Sanders said.
He added: ‘I believe that we will all sit together and work together and come up with a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill that deals with the most unmet needs of working families.’
The current blueprint proposes to rebuild infrastructure, tackle climate change and expand or launch a range of services, from free preschool to dental, vision and hearing aid care for senior citizens.
Manchin voted last month to approve a budget proposal that set the figure, though he and Senator Kirsten Cinema of Arizona Democrats have expressed reservations about the topline amount. All of this would be paid for with taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
Congressional committees are working hard on a slice of a 10-year proposal this month to meet this week’s deadline to draft a bill from Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Pelosi is seeking a House vote by October 1. The September 27 target is to vote in favor of the moderates to vote on a slimmer infrastructure plan.
Munchkin, who in an op-ed earlier this month urged a ‘strategic pause’ on the law to reconsider the cost, called the timing unrealistic.
He has urged Congress to act on a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill already passed by the Senate.
But Liberal House Democrats have threatened to withhold support for the infrastructure bill unless it passes a $3.5 trillion spending bill.
Neither side disclosed on Sunday how they hope to quickly bridge the divide among Democrats.
“If we do our job, there is no way to get it done by the 27th,” Manchin said. ‘There are so many differences that we have so much more in here – there is so much more than where we are. … I am working with people. I am ready to talk to people. It makes no sense at all.’
Manchin spoke on CNN’s State of the Union, NBC Meets the Press and ABC This Week. Sanders was on CNN and ABC.
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