Posted on 10/21/2021 1:29:51 PM PDT by MNJohnnie
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tacitly confirmed reports that have long circulated regarding moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (D-Ariz.) opposition to raising corporate tax rates.
Though her colleague Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) has controlled headlines for months, Sinema has joined with Manchin on a number of key issues. Because of the Democrats’ razor-thin one-vote majority in the upper chamber, Democratic leadership cannot spare a single defection; But Sinema, like Manchin, has broken with the party on a laundry list of issues.
Yet Sinema, as has been her tendency, has been unwilling to give her opinion on various issues to the press. A spokesman for Sinema summed up this attitude, telling reporters that “we do not negotiate through the press.”
Even some congressmen have been in the dark on Sinema’s position. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) admitted to reporters “I have no sense of what Sinema wants.”
This uncertainty has led to some frustration among Democrats.
At a press conference, Senate Budget Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) demanded that moderate holdouts give clear answers about what they want and do not want in the final package.
President Joe Biden also expressed frustration. “I was able to close the deal with 99 [percent] of my party,” Biden said during a press conference. “Two. Two people.”
Given Sinema’s importance to Democratic aspirations, reports have still trickled out about the senator’s position on various issues.
One such issue has been taxation.
A report from the New York Times claimed that Sinema had told colleagues that she would not support her party’s reconciliation bill if it raised corporate or income tax rates. As is her wont, Sinema did not comment on these reports publicly.
But at her weekly press conference, Pelosi finally gave a tacit confirmation to these rumors. Asked about Sinema’s rejection of increased tax rates, Pelosi said only that “[Sinema’s] committed position is well known.”
Since the introduction of the budget resolution in the Senate, Democratic proponents of the bill have assured skeptics that the legislation would be completely paid for by increasing taxation on the wealthy and corporations after congressional Republicans used their majority during President Donald Trump’s term to significantly cut these rates.
In 2017, Republicans used the reconciliation process—the same filibuster-proof process that Democrats are using now—to pass the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. The legislation lowered the corporate tax rate from its previous 35 percent flat rate to a substantially lower 21 percent flat rate.
The bill, which critics nicknamed the “GOP tax scam,” has frustrated Democrats since the bill was first passed. Now that Democrats are in the majority, the party is trying to abandon the flat corporate tax rate altogether in favor of a marginal tax rate, the same scheme used by the IRS to collect income taxes.
Democrats’ proposal adjusts the tax rate to 18 percent on the first $400,000 of income, 21 percent on income up to $5 million, and 26.5 percent on all income after $5 million.
Sinema’s opposition to these increases could put Democrats’ “paid for” promise in jeopardy.
But Pelosi insisted that she was not concerned about this. Asked whether the bill could be entirely paid for if tax rates were not increased, she assured that “the bill will be fully paid for.”
Sinema and other moderates have been in constant negotiations with the White House. Because these meetings are closed-door affairs, it is not clear whether Sinema has offered a compromise or if the senator has relaxed her demands on taxation.
In the past, Sinema has broken with her party over a slew of other issues.
In August, Sinema told the press through a spokesman that she would not support any budget reconciliation bill costing $3.5 trillion, a position held by Manchin as well. Despite efforts by the White House to sway the two moderates, they have persisted in their opposition to such a high price tag on the bill.
This has forced Democrats including Pelosi and Biden to hesitantly admit that $3.5 trillion will not be possible.
Sinema’s rejection of Democrats’ taxing plan could throw another wrench into her party’s plans, forcing them to whittle down the bill even further to meet their commitment to a fully paid-for bill.
Sanders blasted Sinema’s positions, telling reporters “I’m surprised there is anyone in the U.S. Senate not prepared to do what the people want, and that is to demand that the wealthiest people in this country start paying their fair share of taxes.”
The Epoch Times contacted Sinema’s office for comment.
WUT? When did she start opposing this piece of garbage. She has them tied in knots. Thank you Ms. Sinema. Or Mx. or whatever you prefer.
LOL, yea - Over at DU they hate Sinema with a seething unrestrained hatred. There must be a dozen Sinema hate threads going over there. Which tells me Sinema may not be half bad.
The enemy of my enemy is my... well, not necessarily my friend, but useful.
Surely they can drag up a few loser RINOs to vote for their tax bill - so we can get past budget issues and start working on issues that real conservatives care about /sarcasm
I don’t think there’s any RINOs for the second bill. 19 R Senators did vote for the actual infrastructure bill, but zero for the larger welfare bill.
But Pelosi will go through a back door and promise three scoops to Murkowski and Collins.
mittens, murkyCOWski, collins..............
Pelosi once again speaking for someone else.
So the RINOs are pure anti-socialist crony capitalists, which is a logical construct only an alcohol brain rotted RINO could hold on to without doing convoluted back flips. True communists have no problem with crony capitalism until they need to proceed to the next step, behead the crony and take over the enterprise a a state owned entity.
taxes are a cost of doing business
they are “passed along” to the consumer
all soxialists know this
and yet people think its a great thing when it actually takes more money out of their own pockets for goods and services
Sounds to me like the 3.5 (actually 5) trillion taxpayer ripoff is dead in the water.
Wonder if Pelousi is willing to bet her speakership on taxes for folks earning below $400,000/yr will not go up?
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