Democrat West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin has offered an olive branch to his party after torpedoing the Biden administrationâs Build Back Better plan.
Never forget that Manchin is a Democrat and as a Democrat the tax cuts that former President Donald Trump created are against everything he stands for.
That is likely why, in an effort to save his reputation with his own party, he has offered to be on board with axing those tax cuts, The Washington Examiner reported.
The West Virginia Democrat has told colleagues the divide over Mr. Bidenâs $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act should not be seen as intransigence toward big policy changes. Rather, the packageâs defeat presents an opportunity for Democrats to reorient their agenda to a few key priorities.
One such priority, according to Mr. Manchin, should be the repeal of former President Trumpâs signature tax cuts. Democrats have long lambasted the corporate and income tax cuts as a âgiveaway to the rich.â
âThe only reason I even voted to [advance the Build Back Better Act] was to fix the tax [system] so that everybody paid their fair share,â he said. âThe ultra-wealthy, the corporations that werenât paying anything, everyone should pay their fair share.â
âIf youâre going to negotiate, then negotiate,â the senator said. âDonât start picking and choosing and playing games.â
Manchin was attacked by many of his fellow Democrats when he torpedoed the Build Back Better agenda.
âLetâs be clear: Manchinâs excuse is bulls**t. The people of West Virginia would directly benefit from childcare, pre-Medicare expansion, and long term care, just like Minnesotans,â far-left Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar tweeted.
âThis is exactly what we warned would happen if we separated Build Back Better from infrastructure,â she added, in reference to the âbipartisanâ infrastructure measure that was rescued by a handful of Republicans and in which leftists warned should have come after the âBBBâ votes.
Letâs be clear: Manchinâs excuse is bullshit. The people of West Virginia would directly benefit from childcare, pre-Medicare expansion, and long term care, just like Minnesotans.
Letâs be clear: Manchinâs excuse is bullshit. The people of West Virginia would directly benefit from childcare, pre-Medicare expansion, and long term care, just like Minnesotans.
This is exactly what we warned would happen if we separated Build Back Better from infrastructure. https://t.co/dhzcSk0qUV
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) December 19, 2021
She later appeared on MSNBC â where else? â to say essentially the same thing.
âWe all knew that Senator Manchin couldnât be trusted. The excuses that he just made, I think, are complete bulls**t,â she said.
Another progressive, Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, added: âHe has continued to move the goalposts, he has never negotiated in good faith and he is obstructing the presidentâs agenda, 85 percent of which is still left on the table. And in obstructing the presidentâs agenda, he is obstructing the peopleâs agenda.â
Indeed, a recent NPR/Marist poll found that only a 41 percent plurality of voters actually support the legislation.
âManchin is Manchin. But what kind of healthy democracy is structured in a way that can allow one man elected by 290,000 voters in one of the least populous states to thwart the agenda of his party and the President who was elected with 81 million votes. We need structural change,â tweeted Sherrilyn Ifill, head of the NAACPâs Legal Defense Council.
https://twitter.com/Sifill_LDF/status/1472586851814981641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1472586851814981641%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fconservativebrief.com%2Fmanchin-5-57160%2F
And he did not do himself any favors with his party when he said he would join Republicans in opposing Bidenâs vaccine mandates.
Tonight I voted to prevent a government shutdown and fund the federal government through February 18th, 2022 through a continuing resolution. My full statement: pic.twitter.com/UBicLvMpeq
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) December 3, 2021