Rep. Rashida Tlaib ‘Fearful’ ‘Corporate Dems’ Will Threaten Biden's Social Spending Bill in Senate
© Paul Sancya
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Joe Biden's revamped social spending bill was passed on Friday in a 220-213 vote in the House of Representatives, having shrunk from its whopping $3.5 trillion price tag to a slightly less ambitious $1.75 trillion after moderate Democrats, including Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Az), voiced concerns over “excessive spending.”
As Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion social spending package – the Build Back Better bill – moves to the Senate after passing the House last week, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) has voiced fears over its future.
.@jonathanvswan asks Rep. @RashidaTlaib which Senate Democrats she thinks don’t have Americans’ best interests at heart.
— Axios (@axios) November 21, 2021
Tlaib: We have corporate Dems.
Swan: Is that Manchin & Sinema?
Tlaib: It’s those two, but I think there are some others.
👀 Watch tonight at 6. #AxiosOnHBO pic.twitter.com/lpApk0B5fu
Speaking in a Sunday interview on "Axios on HBO," Tlaib appeared to be particularly concerned about the spending package falling into the control of people she referred to as "corporate Dems" in the Senate, in a perceived nod at Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).
Vehement opposition from moderate Democrats Manchin and Sinema has already resulted in the size of the package, originally conceived as a $3.5 trillion plan, being dramatic drastically slashed.
"I know that they've been influenced and guided by folks that don't have the best interests of the American people in mind, so I'm fearful. I'm fearful that those groups are going to guide this agenda," said Rashida Tlaib, adding: "It's going to be the people that are gonna continue to profit off of human suffering."
Emphasising that, unlike others, she does not have special interest groups "lining out outside my door," Tlaib stopped short of acknowledging that her criticism was targeted at the afore-mentioned two senators.
Claiming that opposition to the bill was "bipartisan," the lawmaker said: "I can't just say it's those two… We have corporate Dems… It's those two, but I think there are some others. They seem to be leading the fight, but I wouldn't be surprised if folks are hiding behind them."
The Build Back Better Act – born of a combination of Biden’s American Families Plan and a portion of the climate platform he had campaigned on – was originally intended to be paired with his American Jobs Plan, or the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, that he recently signed into law.
Democrats had hoped to hold a vote on both bills together, counting on Republican support for the infrastructure bill to pressure them into supporting the so-called BBBA.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill represents a historic investment in West Virginia’s infrastructure – around $6 billion over the next 5 years. Here are some of the investments that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill will bring to #WV: pic.twitter.com/pyRF3MyHox
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) November 6, 2021
Late last month Joe Biden relented on the plan, with the infrastructure bill passed separately.
‘Build Back Better’ Facing Uphill Battle
The Build Back Better bill stipulates more spending on certain social welfare and climate change programmes. Therefore, among other provisions, it includes funding for paid family and medical leave, expands the Obamacare health programme, as well as universal pre-kindergarten care for three- and four-year-old children.
As it heads to the upper chamber it “faces an uncertain future in the evenly divided 50-50 Senate,” the New York Post (NYP) earlier reported. The Democrats cannot afford to lose a single vote if they hope to pass the bill through budget reconciliation. Neither Manchin, reportedly opposed to including paid family leave in the package, nor Sinema have yet given any indication they would approve it.
“No, no, I’m still looking at everything,” the West Virginia senator was quoted by The Hill as saying.
For her part, Sinema was said to have reiterated a desire to ensure that, "any spending that we do is targeted, so that it's efficient and effective" and "fiscally responsible."
Canceling the U.S. House vote on the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act denies Americans millions of new good-paying jobs and hurts everyday families.
— Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) October 2, 2021
Full statement ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/BM7hrUL3KK
Democrats are hoping to pass the bill by Christmas, with President Biden, who touted the Build Back Better Act as "fiscally responsible," arguing it would reduce the US budget deficit over the long-term, intent on signing it even if it is further trimmed by Senate Democrats.
"I'm going to sign it, period!" Biden told CBS News when asked whether the Build Back Better package would go ahead if stripped of paid family and medical leave.
