Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Sunday he's confident there'll be 60 votes in the Senate to pass a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure deal, praising the plan as having “so much good."
In an interview on ABC News’ “This Week,” Manchin warned, however, “we cannot continue to add on things that we can’t pay for” in a second “human infrastructure” bill.
“Absolutely,” Manchin said of chances for passage of the bipartisan package. “This is the largest infrastructure package in the history of the United States of America. And combined there's no doubt in my mind, never has been a doubt in my mind that [President Joe Biden] is anxious for this bill to pass and for him to sign it. And I look forward to being there when he does. I can tell you there's so much good being done.”
Manchin said he hopes his Senate colleagues “will look at it in the most positive light.”
“It has got more in there for clean infrastructure, clean technology, clean energy technology than ever before, more money for bridges and roads since the interstate system was built, water, getting rid of our lead pipes,” he said. “It's connecting in broadband all over the nation, and especially in rural America, in rural West Virginia,’ he said. “So much good in this.”
But he conceded— and batted back against — there’s criticism of his moderate position within his party.
“I’ve not voted any differently than I voted for 10 years. I’ve always been very moderate, very centrist,” he said. “I tell people, I’m fiscally responsible and socially compassionate. And I want to find that middle. And I think there’s always a middle to find…. I’m willing to meet everybody halfway.”
He added that if Republicans “don’t want to make adjustments to a tax code which I think is weighted and unfair, then I’m willing to go reconciliation.”
“But if they think in reconciliation I’m going to throw caution to the wind and go to $5 trillion or $6 trillion when we can only afford $1 trillion or $1.5 trillion or maybe $2 trillion and what we can pay for, then I can’t be there,” he warned.
Manchin said he wants progressives in his party to “just look at the bill.”
“We have two tracks. And that's exactly what I believe is going to happen,” he said. “And we've worked on the one track. We're going to work on the second track. There's an awful lot of need. And everything they talked about is something that we need…. I think we need to make some adjustments. And I'm willing to step forward to make those adjustments. I've been very clear about that.”
“But we also have to take into account where we are in this country, what our debt structure is,” he said. “We're [at] $28.5 trillion, we cannot continue to add on things that we can't pay for. I've always said this, we're writing checks our kids can't ever cash.”
About the “human infrastructure” package, Manchin said it’ll address what “has fallen by the wayside,” including “helping middle class hard-working people have a chance to get ahead and enjoy the American dream.”
“To what degree, we'll see what we're able to pay for,” he asserted.
Manchin also argued for a higher corporate income tax rate.
“I never thought that the net corporate tax should have been 21%,”he said. “I always felt that 25% was very fair and balanced. So I’m willing to go to 25%. I think that basically capital gains should be at 28%, not at 21%.”
According to Manchin, the infrastructure and tax changes all have to be designed to keep the nation competitive.
“I’m not going to be supportive in voting for things that does not …make us competitive. We’re in a global economy,” he said. “I want to make sure that we’re the leader of the free world, that we can still compete, that we can still manufacture and create great jobs and pay good salaries with benefits. That’s what I want to make sure happens.”
And, he added: “I want to make sure we pay for it. I do not want to add more debt on.”
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Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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