Manchin told White House he would support version of billionaire tax: report

Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) reportedly told the White House last week that he was prepared to back some version of a billionaire tax as part of the party’s social spending and climate package before effectively slashing taxes. Democrats’ chances of passing the legislation. announcing that he would not support the effort.

The Washington Post, citing three people familiar with Manchin’s private bid, reported on Friday that the centrist Democrat had listed a tax on billionaires’ wealth as a potential way to fund the party’s investments in the Build Back Better Act.

A billionaire wealth tax reportedly appeared at the bottom of a list of spending and revenue proposals backed by Manchin. It’s unclear whether Manchin wrote an earnings estimate in his offer, according to the Post.

The billionaire tax was reportedly part of Manchin’s $1.8 trillion counter-offer the West Virginia Democrat presented to the White House before ending negotiations on Sunday. His proposal included universal preschool for a decade, an expansion of ObamaCare and hundreds of billions of dollars to fight climate change, according to the Post.

It did not, however, include an extension of the expanded child tax credit, which is set to expire this month if no action is taken, according to the Post.

Manchin made his counteroffer days before effectively crushing the party’s chances of passing the roughly $2 trillion bill, announcing on “Fox News Sunday” that he could not support the bill. law and that it was a “no” on the packet.

The announcement follows months of negotiations between White House officials and congressional lawmakers.

Manchin’s openness to implementing a tax on billionaires appears to be a shift in his stance. He said in October he didn’t like the idea of ​​targeting just the richest 700 Americans to fund much of the party’s spending.

His comments came after Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) unveiled legislation that called for taxing billionaires and people who earned $100 million or more in three years. consecutive.

” I do not like it. I don’t like the connotation that we’re targeting different people,” Manchin said when asked about Wyden’s legislation.

He said very wealthy people “bring in a lot of jobs, invest a lot of money and give to philanthropic activities.”

“There’s a lot going on. There’s a lot going on with this. It’s very complicated,” he added at the time.

The Hill contacted Manchin’s office for comment.

–Updated Dec. 25 at 7:29 a.m.