Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., explained why he agreed to support a new spending package, promising not to raise taxes or worsen inflation, while admitting he was wrong about a previous spending bill. In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” host Bret Baier pointed out that last year, Manchin appeared on the same program and said a previous Democratic spending bill, the American Rescue Plan, would not lead to inflation. On Sunday, Manchin admitted he was wrong about that. “Why should Americans believe you now when you say this new bill won’t make inflation worse?” Bayer asked. “I’m going to make sure I don’t make that mistake again,” Manchin said. “Bottom line, I’ll make sure I don’t make that mistake again.” House Democrats Move to Reject China Antitrust Bill After Manchin, Schumer Agree to Reconciliation Deal WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 06: Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks at a press conference outside his office on Capitol Hill on October 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Manchin talked about the debt limit and the infrastructure bill. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) Manchin also emphatically said the new bill would not raise taxes, even though groups like Americans for Tax Reform claim it would. “It doesn’t raise taxes,” Manchin said, explaining that “all it does is close loopholes.” Manchin said he doubted he could ever reach an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and that when he did reach an agreement, he “made sure there was no tax increase.” The new bill, known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, is significantly scaled back from the Build Back Better Act that Democrats failed to pass. That bill would cost about $3 trillion, while the current bill would cost $433 billion. MUNICH, SUMER AGREE TO FULLY REBUILD BACK EDITION OF BUILD BACK BETTER The new bill includes a minimum corporate tax of 15% for businesses worth more than $1 billion, which is estimated to raise $313 billion. Increased IRS tax enforcement, estimated to raise $124 billion. and will close the carried interest gap, estimated to raise $14 billion. The senator insisted that this is not the same as raising taxes. “All it does is close loopholes,” he said. Another part of the bill Manchin discussed Sunday is a subsidy for people making up to $300,000 a year who buy an electric car. The provision has been criticized for forcing the general public to pay for wealthy Americans to buy expensive vehicles. Manchin himself has shot down the idea in the past, pointing out how the vehicles were already in high demand, so the incentives didn’t make sense. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Today, Manchin says he still holds the same belief, but claims the current bill is not just about buying electricity, but about supporting American manufacturing. To qualify for the subsidy, a car’s battery must be manufactured in the US as opposed to China. “We shouldn’t be looking to China to make sure they have an absolute stranglehold on us and that’s what we’re trying to break. And we’re going to break that as fast as we can, because we’re incentivizing,” he said. Fox News’ Jason Donner and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
