Andrew Trunsky
West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin told the White House last week that he was willing to endorse some type of billionaire tax in President Joe Biden’s domestic spending package before coming out against it days later, The Washington Post reported.
Manchin said that a tax on billionaires’ wealth could be a means to pay for the package, according to the Post, citing three people familiar with his offer to the White House. The outlet reported that it was unclear whether Manchin provided an estimate of how much money the provision would raise.
Programs in Manchin’s $1.8 trillion counteroffer included universal pre-K for ten years, expansions to the Affordable Care Act and billions of dollars for climate change mitigation measures, according to the Post, but it did not include the child tax credit, which many Democrats have touted as one of the single biggest policy achievements of the year.
Days after Manchin presented his offer, however, he came out as a “no” on the bill as he expressed concerns over its price tag and decades-high inflation levels, leading to a tense back and forth with the White House after it accused his public comments of contradicting what he said during private negotiations.
And while Manchin has said that he may be open to continuing negotiations on the package, which contains the bulk of Biden’s domestic agenda, it is unclear when or if it will ultimately receive the near-unanimous support from Democrats that it needs to pass.
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Cut all spending and focus on the pandemic.