West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin did the “Full Ginsburg” on Sunday’s political talk show circuit, promising that his surprise support of a new spending bill won’t cause added taxation on the average household.
The term “Full Ginsburg” refers to a person who appears on the five major Sunday morning talk shows on the same day, including ABC’s This Week, Fox News Sunday, CBS’s Face the Nation, NBC’s Meet the Press, and CNN’s State of the Union.
Manchin stuck to his message on the shows, claiming the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” will decrease price inflation and will not raise taxes on the average American household. That assessment has been challenged by Republican and in a report by the nonpartisan congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.
“I agree with my Republican friends,” Manchin told NBC’s Chuck Todd on Meet the Press. “We should not increase taxes. And we did not increase taxes.” .
For Fox News Sunday, Manchin assured, “I’m just going to fight like the dickens to make sure this piece of legislation gives us relief and fights inflation and is great for America.”
Among the Inflation Reduction Act’s more controversial clauses is an increase in the corporate tax minimum to 15 percent. Manchin cited it as a way to close loopholes for companies avoiding their fair share. Others have contended it will put the brakes on hiring and other expansion as the nation is in an economic recession.
Manchin said negotiations have been going on for months regarding the spending bill. The West Virginia Senator was one of two Democrats to oppose the original $2 trillion “Build Back Better” plan, which Manchin and another critics saw as highly inflationary.
“On this one here, we started in April and kept working, and working, and working and back and forth. And all of a sudden, inflation went from six, to 8.1, to 9.1 and I said, ‘Hey. Chuck (Senator Schumer of NY), listen, we’d better wait and let’s see what’s coming in July, numbers coming in August before we do anything more,’” Manchin said on NBC.
“But the bottom line was we reduced it and scrubbed it clear down to 739 (billion). Nothing inflammatory in that piece of legislation,” Manchin said.
President Joe Biden did not participate in the talks on the new bill, Manchin said.
Democrats will try to pass the spending plan through reconciliation, a legislative tactic that will allow them to bypass the usual 60-vote threshold for approving legislation.
A key will be Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who joined Manchin in opposing the original “Build Back Better” plan. If she sides with fellow Democrats and approves the package, then the anticipated 50-50 vote tie would presumably be broken by Vice President Kamala Harris.
Sinema has yet to comment on the legislation. Manchin called her “a friend of mine” and claimed the new bill contained provisions she would approve.