Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) on Wednesday slammed the brakes on negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) over a budget reconciliation bill, warning that it “needs to be cleaned up much better ‘ after new The report shows that inflation reached 9.1 percent in June.
Manchin told reporters Wednesday that he wasn’t sure if he could agree to anything beyond the prescription drug reform component of the bill, which has already been sent to the lawmaker’s office in the Senate and has the support of all 50 members of the Senate. The Democratic Group.
“We know that what we can accept is basically drug pricing, OK, on Medicare,” he told reporters. “Is there anything else we can do? I don’t know, but I’m very, very cautious.”
“And I’m going to make sure that I have every contribution to scrubbing out anything possible that could be considered inflammatory,” he said.
He said “deficit reduction will be 50 percent” of new revenue derived from savings on prescription drugs and tax reforms, such as a 3.8 percent tax on wealthy individuals and couples earning more than 400,000 or $500,000 from pass- through the business.
He said the latest inflation report, showing prices were up 9.1 percent from a year ago, meant negotiators would have to slow down and proceed more cautiously in crafting the budget bill.
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“Basically, take the time and make sure we do it, and do it right. We cannot afford mistakes with the highest inflation we have seen in 40 years,” he said.
Manchin has pushed back against a goal set by other Democrats to pass the bill before the August recess, saying he sees Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, as the deadline.
But Manchin did not rule out including a provision to continue subsidies to health insurance plans provided under the Affordable Care Act, explaining that whether he could agree to expanded subsidies would depend on how they are designed and paid.
“It depends on whether we can look at things and find a way forward that is not inflammatory,” he said.
But the West Virginia senator also emphasized that he is more inclined to keep spending in the bill as modest as possible to avoid further stimulating an overheated economy.
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“Anything that could lead to inflation right now at 9.1 percent has got to be a red herring because we can’t fuel this inflationary position that we have right now with the difficulties it has for everybody in the country, especially in my state,” he said.
Manchin said there has been no talk of raising the cap on the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT), something two Northeast Democrats, Reps. Josh Gottheimer (N-J) and Thomas Swasey (N-Y) have been pushing for.
“SALT was not involved in the negotiations at all,” he said.
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