Democrats say they’re closing in on a deal with President Joe Biden’s massive spending plan. The president met with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Sunday.
Senate Republicans are united in their opposition, but Sen. Manchin has been the key opponent within the Democrat Party because he doesn’t support the idea of spending trillions of dollars that the government doesn’t have.
Biden called Schumer and Manchin to his Delaware home, wanting to nail down the details on his social spending and climate change package.
Manchin appears to be willing to agree with the White House plan for new taxes on billionaires and some corporations, according to The Associated Press. But the senator from West Virginia is pushing back on the president’s climate change agenda.
Now a proposal that would make utility companies switch to clean energy has been dropped from the plan. That’s leading some to wonder how Biden can meet his emission reduction goals.
Democrats say even a cutdown spending plan will lead to important changes for the country.
“We can afford to do this. We can’t afford not to do it,” said the president.
Other items, including expanding Medicare for seniors to include free dental, hearing and vision coverage, are still being negotiated.
“Dental is very expensive – so hearing and visual and dental – but dental will take a little longer to implement,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Pelosi says Democrats will find a way to pay for the whopping spending plan which still could be near $2 trillion. They’re mulling over new taxes on the nation’s billionaires.
Progressive leaders now say if a deal is hammered out with the social spending plan, they’ll be ready to give the nod to the president’s other huge spending bill that pays for upgrades to traditional infrastructure.
“The president looked us in the eye, and he said, ‘I need this before I go represent the United States in Glasgow; American prestige is on the line,'” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) on “Fox News Sunday.”
“Many members understand that. We’re working very hard to get a deal,” he continued. “I understand we’re close, and I’m confident we’re going to get there.”
Democratic lawmakers say they hope to vote on the infrastructure bill by the middle of this week. The White House would like for the president to be able to attend the UN climate summit with wins on the homefront.
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