Sen. Joe Manchin expressed concern on Monday about soaring inflation after a key measure of consumer prices hit a 39 year record last week, but kept the door open to passing President Biden's sprawling social and climate plan.
The West Virginia Democrat, who told reporters he will talk with Biden later in the day, said Congress needs to be cognizant of the nation's debt as Democrats rush to pass the president's roughly $1.7 trillion economic plan before a self-imposed Christmas deadline.
It's alarming. We're concerned about that, and I think that should be something we're concerned about. D-W. Va. said Russia's build up of troops on Ukraine's border was a factor in the geopolitical fallout.
Manchin, a linchpin in the 50-50 Senate, has repeatedly refused to say whether he supports the latest version of Biden's Build Back Better bill and has maintained that he wants to see the text before deciding whether he supports the measure or not. He sounded skeptical about the Democrats' Christmas deadline, which would give the Senate just two weeks to pass a massive piece of legislation.
I know people have been in a hurry for a long time to do something, but I think we're seeing things unfold that allows us to prepare better, Manchin said.
Consumer prices increased by 6.8% in November from the previous year, the fastest pace since June 1982, when inflation hit 7.1%, according to a new Labor Department report. In the month of October, the CPI, which measures a lot of goods, jumped by 0.8%, from gasoline and health care to groceries and rents.
Manchin has used budget gimmicks to hide the real cost of the legislation, while Democrats have brought down the price tag of the social spending bill to $1.7 trillion from $3.5 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office, at the request of Republicans, released a new analysis of the bill on Friday that assumes that the programs are permanent, and found that the legislation would add $3 trillion to the federal budget deficit.
Democrats have made it clear that by taking an across-the- board cuts approach to the spending package, they intend to force a future Congress to extend popular programs in a few years. Whether or not they will be able to do so depends on the 2022 midterms and 2024 presidential election.
He said that they were going to talk about exactly what happened on Friday with the CBO score and inflation reports and things of that sort.
The CBO previously estimated that the legislation would increase the nation's deficit by $160 billion over the next decade. The bill would cost $4.9 trillion if the measures were not implemented in a few years' time.
The $1.7 trillion Build Back Better bill passed by House Democrats last month would establish universal preschool, expand provide new funding for child care and give green energy tax credits, though it omits progressive priorities like free community college and coverage of dental and vision. It relies on $1.95 trillion in new taxes, including a 15% corporate minimum and a surcharge aimed at ultramillionaires.
The party cannot afford not to lose a single vote because Senate Democrats are using a procedural tool known as budget reconciliation to pass the package without Republican support.