Kyrsten Sinema Holding Fundraisers With Groups Looking To Block Reconciliation Bill
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., is scheduled to host a fundraiser Tuesday with five different lobbying groups opposed to President Biden's $3.5 trillion human infrastructure project.
The New York Times obtained an invitation that was sent to lobbying firms such as The National Association of Wholesale Distributors & Grocers PAC along with other lobbyists for roofers and electrical contractors, and a small business group called the S Corp political action committee. The invited members will attend the event Tuesday afternoon for 45 minutes where they will write checks between $1,000 and $5,800 payable to Sinema for Arizona, the Times reported.
The lobbyist meeting comes at a make-or-break time for Biden’s economic agenda and Sinema’s corruption could potentially derail all of it. If the reconciliation package fails to pass the Senate or becomes too watered down, House Progressives are determined to kill the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that aims to nominally improve the nation’s roads, highways, bridges, airports, waterways, and broadband.
Sinema has emerged as a critical voice against the ambitious price tag of what could be the largest expansion of the social safety net since the 1960s. Progressives such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., have insisted the floor for the bill should remain at $3.5 trillion because the starting point was originally $6 trillion. Meanwhile, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., has agreed with Sinema that the reconciliation bill should be between $1 and $2 trillion.
Eric Hoplin, chief executive of the National Wholesaler-Distributors, has criticized the reconciliation bill.
“Passing the largest tax increase in U.S. history on the backs of America’s job creators as they recover from a global pandemic is the last thing Washington should be doing,” Hoplin said.
Biden has said he would not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 annually as he plans to tax the wealthiest Americans more. Under Biden’s plan, the corporate tax rate will increase to 26.5% from 21%, and the capital gains tax rate would rise from 20% to 25%.
A coalition was formed by “Leading U.S. Job Creators” and has spent $1 million on advertising in order to kill the bill and avoid paying higher taxes. House Democrats proposed a plan to pay for their ambitious budget bill where taxable income over $450,000 or $400,000 for an unmarried person would be 39.6%. Under the plan, there will be a 3% surtax on any income over $5 million and the estate tax would apply to people with an income of $12 million. The proposed tax plan would raise $2.1 trillion, according to the Times.
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