President Biden planned a gigantic spending program that his party colleague, Senator Manchin, blocked for a long time. Now he agrees to a much more economical one: 430 billion dollars are to flow into climate protection and health insurance.
After a long struggle, the US Democrats have agreed on a legislative package for healthcare, climate protection and higher corporate taxes. The design includes approx $430 billion for investments in energy technologies, health insurance and subsidies for electric vehicles, said Senator Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The spending would more than pay for itself by raising minimum taxes for large corporations and enforcing existing tax laws.
The draft is much smaller than the project that US President Joe Biden and the Democrats had planned last year. Still, it’s a significant step forward for Biden’s political agenda — particularly in light of the Nov. 8 midterm elections, which could decide whether Democrats retain control of Congress.
Manchin had blocked Biden’s plans for a long time. According to his own statements, he fears that further government spending could fuel inflation even more. Biden has now declared that he supports the agreement. If the law is passed, it will be of “historic importance”. Schumer now wants to push the package through the Senate with a simple majority using a special process for budget bills called “reconciliation.”
Manchin is connected to the coal industry
In a statement on the agreement, Manchin clearly followed suit. “Contrary to popular belief, America cannot spend out of debt or out of inflation,” he wrote. The US must not undermine its “superpower status by phasing out reliable and affordable fossil-fuel energy before new technologies are ready to reliably shoulder the load.”
Senator Manchin comes from the state of West Virginia, which is one of the largest coal producers in the country. He himself is connected to the coal sector and earns ancillary income through dividends from a coal company. Referring to Biden’s original plans, he declared, “Build Back Better is dead.” That was the name of Biden’s big investment package.
Biden had tried to convince Manchin of the package in several personal rounds of negotiations. For this he also clearly reduced the scope. But Manchin remained skeptical. Because of their wafer-thin majority in the Senate, the Democrats depend on every vote in their own ranks. Manchin’s behavior fueled infighting and a crisis of confidence within the Democratic Party. Biden also put the tugging in a bad light – after all, he hadn’t managed to keep his own party together. Manchin now said that “reasonable solutions” had been agreed.