CNN reports Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have finally detailed what they want cut from the Build Back Better bill. I am appalled.
Manchin and Sinema detail key disagreements over Biden agenda
Among the red flags: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona told lawmakers on a call that she would be hesitant to endorse a final deal on the social safety net plan until the House first passes the Senate's $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. Sinema indicated there had been a "breach in trust" following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to punt a vote on the infrastructure bill earlier this month after she had assured moderates her chamber would hold a final vote on the measure, one of the sources said.
So, there’s that. But it gets worse.
Sinema and Manchin both made clear this week that they had disagreements with their party on some of the central components of the larger package, the clearest sign yet that Democratic leaders' goal of passing both bills by their self-imposed October 31 deadline seems doubtful at best.
On a call with a small group of fellow Democrats this week, neither Sinema nor Manchin endorsed the $1.9 trillion-$2.2 trillion price tag that Biden has privately floated as a new topline number…
Sinema said both she and Manchin told Biden they "cannot guarantee" they would get behind even $2.1 trillion, as she reiterated that the infrastructure bill should pass first to make progress on the larger plan
The two senators said they believed that their party should drop some programs offered in the larger package to cut its cost, breaking with progressives who want to maintain an array of programs but limit the number of years in which people would receive benefits. The senators indicated they should focus on a handful of new programs instead.
That’s bad enough. More than bad enough. But no, that’s not the worst news here in my humble view.
Manchin raised concerns over the proposed expansion of Medicare to include dental, vision and hearing coverage -- something that Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, has contended is a red line for him and other progressives.Manchin made clear he opposed new paid family and medical leave provisions that Democrats are trying to get into the bill while renewing his deep concerns over including a plan to provide tuition-free community college.
Perhaps what could emerge as the biggest sticking point: Manchin roundly rejected calls by Democrats to include aggressive climate measures -- namely to substantially slash greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. He said the goal laid out by the White House to cut greenhouse emissions by half in that timeframe simply would not happen.
"We are in the middle of an energy crisis," Manchin, who hails from a coal-producing state, told his colleagues, one of the sources said.
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