Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he would not vote for a $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill, but backed down when asked to name his number on CNN.
Joe Mansion can’t name a spending amount for the settlement bill
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CNN’s Dana Bash asked Manchin to be specific and asked if he had a specific number in mind.
Manchin said he wants to increase the corporate tax to 25%.
Bash asked again, “So what’s the number?”
Manchin said, “The result is what would be a competitor in our tax code. I think the company should be twenty-five, not twenty-one.
“So what is the total budget number?” asked Dana Bash for the third time.
Senator Manchin replied, “I think you’ll be able to look at it and decide what you can do in a reasonable and responsible way.”
Joe Manchin . game has been revealed!
Senator Manchin never said it was a blanket vote against the bill. He wants to be able to go back to West Virginia and pretend he got a spending cut on the bill.
When Senator Manchin was asked what he thought the law should cost him, he received no answer.
$3.5 trillion is an arbitrary number. The Democrats were ready for someone to do exactly what Senator Manchin would do. There is always room for maneuver built into budget bills.
The Democrats will likely sit down with Manchin, show him how the bill is paid in full, lower the total cost a bit, and the bill will be passed.
Joe Manchin has finally been called
It was good to see Manchin finally stuck, rather than having the press take his statements at face value in order to create the drama.
Note that Senator Manchin never said he would not vote for any bill.
Manchin plays games to protect himself politically in West Virginia, but it was refreshing to see him scramble for details he didn’t have.
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