Congress’ far-left “Squad” was fuming Thursday at Sen. Joe Manchin III for refusing to spend more than $1.5 trillion on an expansion of the welfare state.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, quipped that $1.5 trillion was enough to last “for one year.”
The limit set by Mr. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who is one of the party’s most conservative members in the upper chamber, lops off more than half of President Biden’s $3.5 trillion liberal wish list of education, child care, health care and climate change spending.
Rep. Cori Bush, Missouri Democrat, said the reduced spending plan would send a heartbreaking message to the poor and underprivileged.
It would be the same as telling low-income Americans “you all don’t deserve the investment in climate. You all don’t deserve two years of college,” Ms. Bush said. “Who is he taking the money from?”
Mr. Manchin’s top line for extra spending shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Democratic leaders.
He said he privately warned since July that $1.5 trillion is his limit, and reiterated that to Mr. Biden in the past week. He signed a document July 28 with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, that outlined his spending limit and other conditions for his support, as first reported by Politico.
In the document, Mr. Manchin proposed raising the corporate tax rate to 25% from 21%, and the top tax rate on income to 39.6%. He said any revenue from the bill beyond $1.5 trillion must go to deficit reduction.
• Kery Murakami can be reached at kmurakami@washingtontimes.com.
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