Sen. Joe Manchin Balks at Global Minimum Tax Championed by Biden

Wall Street Journal ^ | July 16, 2022 | Richard Rubin

[karpov]

The Biden administration’s international tax agenda suffered a setback when Sen. Manchin rejected a 15% minimum tax on multinational companies this past week, dimming prospects of turning last year’s global tax agreement into reality.

Biden administration officials had planned to use Democratic fiscal legislation to enact the U.S. piece of the deal struck last year by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and more than 130 other countries. They wanted quick action to set a 15% minimum tax on U.S.-based multinational companies in each country where they operate, a move aimed at showing international leadership and prodding other countries to follow suit.

Mr. Manchin (D., W.Va.) was the pivotal vote, and he explained during a radio interview Friday his reluctance regarding the U.S. going first. His comments don’t officially kill the international tax changes. The White House has said talks will continue, though President Biden on Friday urged adoption of a narrower package focused on prescription drugs and healthcare.

Mr. Manchin has shifted his position at times during a long stretch of negotiation with Democratic leaders. As Democrats run out of time before November’s midterm elections, Mr. Manchin’s statements make it much less likely that the U.S. will adopt the 15% rate soon.

...

Legislators and negotiators around the world had been waiting to see what the U.S. Congress would do. Mr. Manchin’s comments and his broader objections to his party’s legislation will now reshape the global discussions, putting pressure on other countries to go first in imposing minimum taxes.

“We’re not going to go down that path overseas right now, because the rest of the countries won’t follow,” Mr. Manchin told the radio host Hoppy Kercheval. “And we’ll put all of our international companies in jeopardy, which harm the American economy. Can’t do that. So we took that off the table.”

[BenLurkin]

bttt

[Alas Babylon!]

FJB!

I shouldn’t have to pay a single cent for his RELIGION climate change.

[iamgalt]

“Its simply amazing how much utter ruin was avoided by the margin of one Democrat Senator from West Virginia and one from Arizona.“

You are so right. As bad as things are we would be facing a complete catastrophe had it not been for those two. HR1, two new rat states, a packed SC, a near ban on cars the list goes on. Manchin is not one of us but he kept the country from going into the abyss.

[Vision]

Biden is insane. Simply sit down and ponder what he has done and what he wants to do. At what point is there an intervention? Will someone stop him from starting a war with Russia?

[17th Miss Regt]

And treaties must be approved by 2/3 of the Senate, not by simple majorities.

2/3 majority? Where did you get that crap? It is not in the constitution.

What? It's in there? Where?

Hmmm. So it is. But the constitution was written by a bunch of old, dead white men, quite a few of whom were slave owners. So we should ignore that clause.

Uhhh, did I remember to call you a racist and a homophobe?

[TexasGator]

“The UN probably.”

Bad Guess.

[TexasGator]

“Which companies pay less than 15%? In which countries?”

Long list but I know Ireland is one.

[Seaplaner]

Analysts should read carefully.

Any "juice" for Dem pals and pet causes?

[Obadiah]

Fact check true.

[Jim W N]

Sen. Joe Manchin Balks at Global Minimum Tax Championed by Biden OBAMA, Biden's master.

[Amendment10]

The Supreme Court has clarified constitutional division of federal and state powers limits on Congress's power to appropriate taxes.

• "Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States." —Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.

• "From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added]." —United States v. Butler, 1936.

I wish that post-17th Amendment ratification Manchin would start reading Free Republic so that he can get himself up to speed with the fed's constitutionally limited powers and effectively exercise majority power to stop Constitution-ignoring Democratic and RINO lawmakers in their tracks, especially where unconstitutional federal taxing and spending is concerned.

Insights welcome.

On second thought, why wait for Manchin to help Trump drain the swamp?

More specifically, Trump's red tsunami of patriot supporters are reminded that they must vote twice this election year. Your first vote is to primary career RINO incumbents in federal and state governments. Your second vote is to replace outgoing Democrats and RINOs with Trump-endorsed patriot candidates.

Again, insights welcome.

[escapefromboston]

Even if EVERYONE agrees to the 15% minimum tax rate , countries would just toss in some loop holes in their tax code to get around it .

[BobL]

Obviously Manchin is the best Democrat in the horrible bunch in the Senate...but never forget that Roe would still be the ‘law’ of the land if he got his way on Supreme Court picks.

...and no, it hasn’t always been this bad. Even Clarence Thomas got Democrat votes to make it to the Supreme Court*, even with an all-out assault on him during the confirmation process. Today’s Democrats, Manchin included, would NEVER, EVER, support a conservative to the top court.

Things have changed...it’s even worse now than in the early 1990s.

*in fact, the Democrats were the majority in the Senate at the time, so they could have blocked him or easily filibustered him. They chose not to.

[Bratch]

Cunning Senator Manchin Tricks West Virginia Voters, Senator Stalls $500 Billion Green New Deal Energy Legislation, Democrats Demand Removal from Chair of Energy Committee

July 15, 2022 | Sundance | 197 Comments

Joe Manchin didn’t completely torpedo the $500 billion in Green New Deal climate change spending, but he did stall it for a month saying he would not support the climate change spending until he sees July’s inflation numbers in August, which should be a warning.

If you think carefully about it, it’s a classic Manchin head-fake.  The July and August inflation numbers, to be released in August and September respectively, are almost guaranteed to be lower than June.

July/Aug are the two months we are in right now where inflation is hitting a plateau.  Gasoline prices are dropping due to a drop in demand. This is the period before prices start rising again in September and October when the energy farming costs start to roll out with the next harvest.

Senator Manchin isn’t stupid; in fact, he is quite Machiavellian, he knows this… thus, his position.

Manchin can give the illusion of prudence, but he knows the July inflation rate will show a decrease for two reasons.

First, in the month-to-month comparison, July will not carry the same scale of gasoline and energy increases as June.  Second, in the year-over-year comparison, July ’22 will be comparing to July 2021 when prices already started skyrocketing.  Bottom line, July inflation will give the illusion of dropping, which gives Manchin a shield to support the spending…. and he will.

WASHINGTON DC – Joe Manchin is forcing Democrats into a brutal choice: Take a deal now to lower the costs of health care premiums and prescription drugs, or try to negotiate a larger bill in September that includes climate and tax reform with no guarantee it will pass.

The West Virginia Democrat said Friday that he wants to see another month of inflation numbers before considering legislation that might increase taxes on some higher-income Americans and plow hundreds of billions of dollars into the energy sector. On Thursday Manchin “unequivocally” rejected July or August approval of Democrats’ proposed energy investments and tax increases in a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, according to a person briefed on the meeting.

[…] Democrats are reeling after Manchin’s communication to Schumer indicated that climate change and tax provisions are unworkable for any party-line bill considered this summer. Fury is building within the party, with Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) questioning whether Manchin should continue to chair the Senate’s Energy committee.

[…] Manchin had sought to shave down an energy package originally set at more than $500 billion to $300 billion or less. He balked privately at sending money to the EV industry and the Direct Payment program. (Read More)

While you won’t see a single MSM analyst, financial pundit or mainstream political commentator point out what Manchin is doing, his strategy is cunning.

Right now, conservatives are calling Manchin a hero for blocking the GND spending while progressives attack him.  This gives the impression that he is a centrist, above the fray, and wise in his outlooks toward the economy and budgeting.   However, it’s a ruse.  Joe Manchin knows, just like you do, that the next inflation report will be much lower.  He is positioning to support the climate change spending in September.

Watch.

Bookmark this.

The scheming strategery of Joe Manchin is as predictable as the scheming strategery of Mitch McConnell.

The two wings of the UniParty duck seem still on the surface.  This type of ploy is exactly how DC is able to operate, paddling forward furiously, just below the surface; and almost no one can see what is happening.

Once you see the strings on the political marionettes, you can never return to that moment in the performance when you did not see them.  However, because too few people see them, almost everyone congregates in the lobby during the mid-term intermission asking, “hey, when did Texas become dependent on windmills?”

[Toddsterpatriot]

Thanks. So we just need to force Ireland to raise their rates. No need for a “global” treaty.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Low Corporate Tax Rates In addition to the mostly Caribbean countries with no corporate taxes, many countries in Eastern Europe have lower than average corporate tax rates, including: Hungary 9% Montenegro 9% Andorra 10% Bosnia and Herzegovina 10% Bulgaria 10% Gibraltar 10% Macedonia 10% Moldova 12% Cyprus 12.5% Ireland 12.5% Liechtenstein 12.5% And these ones.

Investopedia

[dforest]

We are already going broke. We will own nothing but we will not be liking it.

[lewislynn]

I still don't want him to change parties.

We have enough Democrats pretending to be Republicans.

[Oak007]

Manchin is still a Dem, and the fact that he would even engage in discussions on raising taxes and new spending is reason enough not to relax until we take either or both the House and Senate.

[dljordan]

From The Washington Standard:

What was interesting was to see David Rockefeller launched Kissinger and to know that Kissinger is the one that launched Klaus Schwab, who is pushing the Great Reset.