Democrat Senator Joe Manchin is proving to be the biggest thing standing in the way of a quick passage for Joe Biden's $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan.
Manchin is holding discussions with Republicans on a better, scaled down infrastructure package and how it should look. Many GOP senators are holding on to hope that he can be persuaded to block the efforts to raise the corporate tax rate.
That would force Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to wait for negotiations to reach a conclusion on the plan rather than just moving forward with the budget reconciliation process.
Senate Republicans proposed a $568 billion infrastructure counteroffer last week. Now, bipartisan talks on a compromise proposal between $600 billion and $1 trillion are just getting started.
Manchin wants time for the talks to build momentum.
“For the sake of our country, we have to show we can work in a bipartisan way,” he said on Monday. “I don’t know what the rush is.”
“Stay here a little bit, work a little bit,” Manchin added.
But Democrats are getting nervous about an extended timeline and worry that splitting Biden’s infrastructure agenda into two or three pieces of legislation might mean that a substantial part of it gets left behind.
“I’m the most anxious member of the Democratic caucus. I want to get it done and done quickly,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Monday when asked how long Democrats are willing to wait on bipartisan infrastructure talks.
Manchin said over the weekend that he wants to focus on “conventional infrastructure” such as roads, bridges, water projects and expanded broadband internet, and he proposed splitting off about $400 billion in funding for home- and community-based caregivers for the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as billions of dollars for child care.
While Manchin said such priorities are “needed,” he added that doesn’t want to lump too many of them in a broad bill because he thinks it would be tougher to sell to the public.
His remarks dealt a blow to other Senate Democrats who want to pass as large a package as possible and who called the $568 billion Republican proposal “totally inadequate” and a “slap in the face.”
Continue reading on The Hill
Trending Stories
[Yes or No] Can Trump Save America?
Reserve Your FREE Blue Trump 2021 Flag!
Go here now to Claim Your FREE 'TRUMP 2021' Flag while supplies last!
BLM Blast Pelosi for George Floyd Comments: ‘So Damn Disrespectful’
Following the guilty verdict for former officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thanked Floyd for "sacrificing" his life for justice. Now Black Lives Matter activists are blasting her, calling her comments “so damn disrespectful.”
“This is so damn disrespectful. George Floyd didn’t choose to die @speakerpelosi. He was murdered by a killer cop operating through white supremacy,” wrote the official Black Lives Matter Twitter account, “There isn’t justice here”:
George W. Bush Reveals Who He Voted For in 2020 Election
There are many people who probably assumed that noted Never Trumper and establishment politician George W. Bush voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 eleciton. During an interview with People magazine, the former president revealed who he voted for: Condoleezza Rice.
"She knows it," Bush told the magazine, referring to Rice, . "But she told me she would refuse to accept the office."
Cincinnati Bar Won't Play NBA Games Until LeBron James is 'Expelled'
A West Side Cincinnati bar has announced that they will no longer show NBA games on their televisions due to the comments that LeBron James made about the fatal police shooting in Columbus.
Owner Jay Linneman said that they will resume showing games at Linne's Pub when James get "expelled" from the league.
MSNBC’s Reid: Gov. DeSantis Is ‘Modern-Day George Wallace’
Everything, and I mean everything, is about race when it comes to Democrats!
On Thursday, MSNBC host Joy Reid declared that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is a "modern-day" version of segregationist Governor George Wallace. Her grossly false description is in response to the state's new anti-rioting law.
Biden Halts Fining Illegal Aliens, Cancels Their Debt
The United States is probably the only country in the world where you can break the law and be rewarded for it....at least when Democrats are in charge anyway.
According to reports, President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will no longer fine illegal immigrants who refuse to leave the United States.
Maskholes: Pregnant, Nursing Mom Escorted from Church by Police for Not Wearing Mask
A pregnant Texas mother was escorted from the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Dallas and slapped with a trespassing warning, all for not wearing a mask like an obedient little sheep.
“I mean, you’re going to arrest a 28-year-old nursing mom who’s already socially distanced? I mean it proves that it’s not really about the health. It’s just about control,” said Deirdre Hairston.
Fauci: Wearing Mask is a 'Symbol' of Your Obedience
On Wednesday, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci said on CNN's "Newsroom" that he wearing a mask is a "symbol" of what we "should be doing" in public. In other words, wearing a mask shows just how obedient you are.
Fauci said, “I think we should be recommending it. As you know, I wear it whenever I’m outside. We can try and keep the usual distance, but sometimes it is out of your control. So there are some fundamental things that we can do, we’re very aware of and sensitive to the need to try and make those steps towards reopening."
Florida House Moves to Ban Abortions Based on Disability
Florida's House is moving to ban abortions based on disability. This means that doctors in the sunshine state will be banned from performing abortions if the woman getting the procedure is doing so because of a disability diagnosis of the baby.
If a doctor does perform an abortion based solely on physical or mental disability, then they will be guilty go a third degree felony, which is punishable up to five years in prison.
Leave a Reply