As the fate of two massive bills hangs in the balance this week, the political spotlight shines on a pair of Democratic Senators – West Virginia Senator Joe Machin and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema – who have resisted their party’s support of President Joe Biden’s agenda.
With a barely-there majority, the Democratic Party needs both holdouts to come into the fold and ratify a $3.5 trillion dollar social spending package. Without that support, progressive in the House are threatening to derail an infrastructure bill that includes $550 billion in new spending.
So if you’re a Democrat scrutinizing Manchin and Sinema’s every move, here’s cause for concern: Sinema is having a fund-raiser Tuesday afternoon with business groups that fiercely oppose the new spending bills.
From The New York Times:
Under Ms. Sinema’s political logo, the influential National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors and the grocers’ PAC, along with lobbyists for roofers and electrical contractors and a small business group called the S-Corp political action committee, have invited association members to an undisclosed location on Tuesday afternoon for 45 minutes to write checks for between $1,000 and $5,800, payable to Sinema for Arizona.
Leaders from the groups have expressed strong misgivings about the $3.5 trillion dollar bill, in particular, which includes tax increases on the wealthiest Americans and on rich corporations to cover new spending on initiatives like universal pre-k, free community college, increased childcare, increased eldercare, and clean energy programs.
“Passing the largest tax increase in U.S. history on the backs of America’s job creators as they recover from a global pandemic is the last thing Washington should be doing,” said Eric Hoplin, the chief executive of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, in a statement last month.
Similarly, Robert Yeakel, the director of government relations at the National Grocers Association, warned members of his group of the “laundry list of tax hikes that Democrats are contemplating.”
The Times reports:
John LaBombard, a spokesman for Ms. Sinema, would not comment on the fund-raiser but said the senator “voted yes in August on the budget resolution” that paved the way for a social policy and climate bill that cannot be filibustered by Republicans. He added that she was “working directly, in good faith, on the legislation with her colleagues and the administration.”
