According to this from Sahil Kapur and Benjy Sarlin, Build Back Better is still dead but some kind of un-dead version might be possible under another name. Yeah, we’ve heard that before. But Manchin has “hinted” that he may be willing to talk about “some things” and has everyone in DC is on tenderhooks waiting for his latest utterance. Well, here they are:
In an interview Wednesday, Manchin said his priority is to “fix the tax code” — and he’s willing to bypass Republicans and use the filibuster-proof reconciliation process to do it.
“It’s the reason we have reconciliation. And everyone’s talking about everything but that,” he said. “Take care of the debt. $30 trillion should scare the bejesus out of your generation.”
Manchin once again said this week that the Build Back Better Act is “dead,” referring to the $2 trillion-plus bill that passed the House. A nonnegotiable red line for him is that all new programs must be permanent and fully financed.
But even as he says there are no “formal talks” going on about a sequel, he keeps dropping hints about which policies might be worthy pursuits in some hypothetical future bill, perhaps one with a different name.
Clean energy? “We believe that basically, yes, we can do something,” Manchin told reporters, even as he stressed the need to maintain enough fossil fuels for “reliability.” More subsidies for the Affordable Care Act? “Anything that helps working people be able to buy insurance that’s affordable, I’ve always been supportive of,” he told NBC News. Extending coverage in states that limit Medicaid? “I’ve been very receptive on Medicaid expansion to the states that got left behind,” as long as there’s an incentive to expand, he said.
Democrats are listening. Discussions about Biden’s agenda inside and outside Washington are increasingly games of Manchinology, in which policymakers pore over his every pronouncement and look for a new package that succeeds where Build Back Better failed.
“That old name needs to go in the trash can,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “I’m not very good at naming things or slogans, but Joe Manchin has been pretty clear he’s not voting for Build Back Better. So we need to work on something else.”
Democrats have already begun to discuss putting some revenues and savings in a new bill toward deficit reduction to attract his support, according to Senate sources.
“That’s music to my ears,” Manchin said. “Deficit reduction, inflation, being fiscally responsible — sounds like something we should be talking about!”
Yes, Deficit reduction is back on the agenda. However, in Manchin’s defense, he doesn’t seem to be talking about cuts:
Manchin said he would support a corporate tax rate hike to 25 percent, a 15 percent corporate minimum tax, a 28 percent capital gains tax “all in,” an elimination of “tax loopholes such as carried interest” and higher rates for the wealthy.
“High-income earners — they should be paying their fair share,” he said. “And there should be a way to do it that’s fair and equitable.”
If they have to do deficit reduction at least he isn’t talking about taking it out of the hides of average working people. Raising taxes on the wealthy is a good move regardless, although I think most Democrats would prefer that it be used to pay for necessary programs. But if we want to fix the insane wealth inequality in this country, this is necessary no matter what the stated purpose.
So, this sounds better than nothing, right? Some climate suff, some health care stuff and raising taxes on the wealthy are all good policies. Let’s do it!
Oh Jesus, I forgot about her:
Some of his tax ideas could crash into objections from centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., another difficult vote to lock down, who has told party leaders she won’t support rate hikes.
She’s been collecting millions from Republican donors and I’m fairly sure this is why. And she is in for three more years.
The only thing that could make a difference is for the Democrats to win a couple more seats in November. It’s not impossible. But it’s a very heavy lift. Still… let’s keep hope alive.