/Manchin Touts Inflation Bill but Says He Wont Get Involved in Midterms

Manchin Touts Inflation Bill but Says He Wont Get Involved in Midterms

Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.V., made the morning talk show rounds on Sunday to talk about the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a revival of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better economic bill that collapsed earlier this year.

The inflation bill, which Democrats are attempting to pass through reconciliation, aims to reform the tax code, cut health-care costs and fight climate change. It will invest more than $400 billion over a decade by closing tax loopholes, mostly on the largest and richest American corporations. It would also reduce the deficit by $300 billion in the same decade-long timeframe.

“This is all about fighting inflation,” Manchin told Jonathan Karl on Sunday’s “This Week” on ABC.

Manchin insisted that the bill isn’t a spending bill, but instead is focusing on investing money.

“We’ve taken $3.5 trillion of spending down to $400 billion of investing without raising any taxes whatsoever, we closed some loopholes, didn’t raise any taxes,” he added.

He further explained the closing of tax loopholes, which will raise taxes on certain American companies. Any tax increase could jeopardize full Democratic support of the legislation, which it needs to pass through reconciliation – Senator Kyrsten Sinema, D-A.Z., may not support this provision.

“The only thing we have done is basically say that every corporation of a billion dollars of value or greater in America should pay at least 15% of minimum corporate tax,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

During his Sunday interviews, Manchin repeatedly evaded answering questions about who he supports in upcoming elections – the 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential election.

“I’m not getting involved in any election right now,” he said on “State of the Union.”

He reiterated that he would work with anyone that voters elect and specifically wouldn’t answer if he wants Democrats to keep control of Congress come November.

Read more on CNBC.