Date: 2024-10-19 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00021081 | |||||||||
US Politics | |||||||||
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) // CBS News Original article: https://www.alternet.org/2021/10/manchin-sanders/ Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | |||||||||
| Sanders hits Manchin over demand to drop child, Medicare provisions: 'Explain that to the people of West Virginia' Igor Derysh and Salon October 07, 2021 Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is pushing to drop many of the Democrats' key priorities from President Biden's Build Back Better plan — but has drawn a harsh rebuke from Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for playing coy about what provisions he would actually support. Manchin is pushing Democrats to pick just one of their three major proposed policies to help families, which include an extension of the enhanced Child Tax Credit, paid family medical leave, and subsidies for child care, according to Axios. Democrats are scrambling to find a compromise between Manchin's $1.5 trillion counteroffer and Biden's $3.5 trillion BBB plan. Manchin and centrists in the House want to cut the number of programs included in the bill while progressives are looking to include as many of their priorities as possible, but are willing to shorten the timespan of programs in order to reduce the overall cost. Biden is seeking a compromise at around $2 trillion. Manchin has also balked at the Democrats' proposal to expand Medicare coverage to hearing, dental and vision, arguing that Congress first needs to 'stabilize' the existing Medicare program. Manchin, who holds a large investment in a coal company and is a top recipient of campaign donations from energy firms, has also pushed back on Democrats' proposals to combat climate change. But months into these tense negotiations, other Democrats are getting restless at Manchin's apparent refusal to say exactly what he would support. 'The time is long overdue for him to tell us with specificity, not generalities, we're beyond generalities, with specificity what he wants and what he does not want,' Sanders said at a news conference on Wednesday. 'And to explain that to the people of West Virginia and America.' Sanders had similar criticism for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who has refused to talk to the press or her constituents about what she would accept but has ruled out supporting the $3.5 trillion price tag. Sinema, a top recipient of donations from pharmaceutical companies and industry groups lobbying to kill the bill, reportedly opposes the Democrats' proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, and also opposes tax increases on corporations and the wealthy. Manchin has also expressed concerns about proposed tax hikes, but has signaled a willingness to reverse some Trump-era corporate tax cuts and supports the prescription drug bill, which could further complicate negotiations. 'Sen. Sinema's position is that she doesn't quote-unquote negotiate publicly,' Sanders said Wednesday. 'I don't know what that means. We don't know where she's coming from. Tell us what you want.' | |||||||||