Perspectives: Joe Manchin’s Opposition to Democrats’ $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill
Summary from the AllSides News Team
On Sunday, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin reasserted his opposition to spending $3.5 trillion over ten years on Democrats’ budget reconciliation bill, instead suggesting a $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion figure. “It's not going to be at 3.5, I can assure you. But, with that, whatever it is, once you have a competitive tax code that you can compete globally, and then you should look at what the need is,” Manchin told CNN’s Dana Bash. With a narrow majority and unanimous opposition from Senate Republicans, Democrats need Manchin’s vote to pass their bill. On Sunday, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said Manchin’s position was “absolutely not acceptable,” adding, “This is a consequential bill. It is hard to put a bill like this together. At the end of the day I believe we will.”
Voices in left-rated outlets were more common on Monday and tended to express frustration with Manchin. Voices right-rated outlets tended to praise Manchin’s opposition to Democrats’ spending plans, calling on other Democrats to block the bill.
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How do you solve a problem like Joe Manchin? This is the question angry Democrats have been asking themselves ever since the senator from West Virginia said it was time to take a “strategic pause” on plans to pass a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package.
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When a moderate goes against his party, the political media are drawn like moths to a flame. Such was the case with Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) on Sunday, as he appeared on NBC’s, CNN’s and ABC’s Sunday talk shows to explain his opposition to the budget reconciliation bill at the center of President Biden’s legislative agenda.
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If Kyrsten Sinema was the first Democrat to breach the gates of the Biden administration’s domestic agenda, Joe Manchin kicked the door wide open and showed others the way.
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