(The Guardian) Kyrsten Sinema was among the reasons why Joe Biden’s marquee spending package, Build Back Better, did not pass last year. The massive bill would have spent money on fighting climate change and poverty, creating more affordable housing and potentially even changing the immigration system. But with Republicans opposed, Democrats needed every single one of their 50 votes in the Senate to get it passed, and Sinema resisted increasing corporate taxes to pay for it. Negotiators couldn’t find a way to get her to agree with senator Joe Manchin, the other holdout vote, while a group of House Democrats demanding their own tax changes threatened to complicate its passage in that chamber. The whole effort collapsed in the final weeks of 2021.
The same cast of characters is back as Congress considers the Inflation Reduction Act, the surprise successor to last year’s effort that is dramatically slimmed down but, if passed, would nonetheless represent a major effort to reduce America’s emissions. This time, the dynamics are more favorable. Manchin has become a major booster for the bill, and Democrats in the House seem to be on board.
That leaves Sinema. The senator rarely talks to the press and has become a bit of an enigma in Washington - a vulnerable Democrat representing a swing state whose background as a Green Party member would make one think she’s a liberal, but who has instead turned out to be a fiscal hawk, resistant to raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy to pay for new spending. Those demands have reemerged when it comes to the Inflation Reduction Act, according to reports, with Sinema skeptical of its tax hikes on corporations and wealthy fund managers. We’ll see whether Democratic negotiators have better luck getting her to agree this time.
The same cast of characters is back as Congress considers the Inflation Reduction Act, the surprise successor to last year’s effort that is dramatically slimmed down but, if passed, would nonetheless represent a major effort to reduce America’s emissions. This time, the dynamics are more favorable. Manchin has become a major booster for the bill, and Democrats in the House seem to be on board.
That leaves Sinema. The senator rarely talks to the press and has become a bit of an enigma in Washington - a vulnerable Democrat representing a swing state whose background as a Green Party member would make one think she’s a liberal, but who has instead turned out to be a fiscal hawk, resistant to raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy to pay for new spending. Those demands have reemerged when it comes to the Inflation Reduction Act, according to reports, with Sinema skeptical of its tax hikes on corporations and wealthy fund managers. We’ll see whether Democratic negotiators have better luck getting her to agree this time.
