Joe Manchin fought his reconciliation bill on Sunday by doing something called “Full Ginsburg” — meaning he’s been on all five major networks’ morning shows over the weekend.
The moderate Democratic senator from West Virginia has appeared on CNN’s State of the Union, Fox News Sunday, ABC’s This Week program, CBS News’ Face the Nation and NBC’s Meet the Press. He is only the 31st major newsmaker to have accomplished this feat.
The message was similar across the board – that the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will bring down inflation and not raise taxes for the average American household.
But the bipartisan Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation released a report estimating that taxes will rise for Americans. In addition, the report found that more than half of the tax hikes will go to those earning less than $400,000 a year — not to the top earners.
“I’m just going to fight like Dickens to make sure this bill gives us relief and fights inflation and is great for America,” Manchin said in his appearance on Fox.
The 2022 Anti-Inflation Act also calls for an increase in the corporate tax minimum to 15 percent, meaning some of the country’s best job creators will be hit hardest by the proposal.
Manchin claims the corporate tax hike is a way to close “loopholes” for companies not paying their fair share, insisting many companies are already paying that rate or more.
The moderate senator finalized his deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and last week from COVID-19 isolation announced the slimmed-down version of Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan — to the ire of Republicans.
“I agree with my Republican friends,” Manchin told NBC’s Chuck Todd Sunday morning. “We shouldn’t raise taxes.
“And we haven’t increased taxes,” he assured.
Senator Joe Manchin accomplished what has been dubbed “Full Ginsburg” on Sunday when he appeared on Sunday morning shows from all five major networks in defense of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
On CNN, Manchin declined to comment on the 2024 election and whether he would support President Joe Biden in a re-election bid, saying, “That’s what I’m focusing on right now.”
“We scrubbed that from that Thursday when we closed until we started talking again on Monday,” the West Virginia Democrat explained. “All we’ve done is basically say that every company worth $1 billion or more in America should pay at least 15 percent of a minimum corporate tax. Many people in West Virginia couldn’t believe that companies pay nothing, and some of the largest in the country.’
“Most companies and all corporations that I know pay 21 percent,” he continued. “So this is not a tax increase. It closes a gap.”
Manchin’s gauntlet of Sunday morning shows, known as “Full Ginsburg,” is named for Monica Lewinsky’s attorney, William Ginsburg, who first appeared on all five Sunday morning talk shows.
Since then, the “full Ginsburg” treatment has been reserved for high-level government officials during massive news events – evident by the fact that the last person to finish the round, Dr. Anthony Fauci at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that swept the US in March 2020.
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Manchin did not comment on the 2024 presidential election and potential candidates to Jake Tapper, saying Biden is “my president right now and I’m working with him.”
“I’m not focused on 2022 or 2024,” he added. ‘I’m concentrating on that right now.’
He also told Fox News Sunday host Bret Baier that he wasn’t “getting to 2024” when asked if he had signaled a potential White House bid to his donors.
When asked by Todd on Meet the Press if he would like Democrats to retain control in general when the midterms come in November, Manchin declined to comment.
Manchin insisted at every show that his deal would help ease record inflation and not raise taxes on the average American household
Rather than answer, the senator said people are “tired of politics” and want their representatives in Washington to put the country ahead of the party.
“I’ve always taken the approach, whoever you send me, that’s your representative and I respect them and I respect the state for the people they send and I do my best to work with them and do the best to do for my country.” Manchin said.
The moderate Democrat faces re-election in 2024 in the deep red state of West Virginia.
“We don’t work for any party,” emphasized the senator on Sunday. “We do not work for political idealism.”
Manchin told ABC host Jonathan Karl on Sunday morning that the point of his 10-month deal with Schumer is to fight inflation.
“Inflation is real and I hear from West Virginians every day how inflation is affecting their lives,” Manchin tweeted Sunday morning. “The Anti-Inflation Act will help West Virginia’s seniors, increase our energy security and ease pressure on our supply chains – while reducing our federal deficit by $300 billion.”
Details of the Anti-Inflation Act 2022
Senators Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer’s new bill would generate $739 billion in new revenue through a variety of proposals:
$313 billion by introducing a 15 percent minimum corporate tax
$288 billion from Medicare’s authorization to negotiate lower drug prices
$124 billion from strict tax enforcement by the IRS
$14 billion to close the carry interest loophole for asset managers
It also includes $433 billion in new spending:
$369 billion for energy security and climate change
$64 billion to expand health care subsidies for the Affordable Care Act
All of this would leave $300 billion to reduce the deficit
The deal was announced at the same time the Commerce Department released gross domestic product (GDP) figures last week that showed a second straight quarter of contraction — fitting the traditional and widely accepted definition of an economy in recession.
GDP shrank 0.9 percent in the second quarter of the year, after a 1.6 percent contraction in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.
However, President Joe Biden and his officials insist there is no recession, claiming that other numbers such as job growth must be considered when declaring a recession.
Technically, a recession must be officially declared by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Law was announced on Wednesday. It’s a stripped down version of the previously proposed and rejected $3 trillion Build Back Better deal.
The new package aims to cut carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030, cut healthcare costs and provide a lump sum payment to reduce the deficit to combat record-breaking inflation spikes.
The bill aims to generate $739 billion in new revenue through a variety of proposals, including bringing in $313 billion by introducing a minimum corporate tax of 15 percent and an additional $14 billion by closing carried-interest loopholes for asset managers.
Also proposes to bring in $124 billion from stronger tax enforcement by the IRS and $288 billion from empowering Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.
But the Inflation Reduction Act also includes $433 in new spending, including most of it — $369 billion — on energy security and climate change, and another $64 billion on expanding health care subsidies for the Affordable Care Act.