Despite Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) was a hard “no” on the proposed $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill on Sunday, his colleague, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), thinks Manchin will vote for the bill when it is at a much lower price tag.
During an appearance on Fox Business Network on Monday, Tuberville told FBN’s Maria Bartiromo, based on his conversations with Manchin, that the West Virginia Democrat will come around to support the legislation pushed by his Democrat colleagues.
“We’ve got 10 million jobs open, eight million people out of a job,” Tuberville said. “That doesn’t add up. Here’s what — here’s what we need to make sure we do. We need to make sure that we watch what goes on with Joe Manchin in terms of the money that he’s going to sign on. Now he’s going to sign this bill. He’s going to sign on. I’ve talked to him several times. But he says it’s not going to be probably $1.5 or $2 trillion.”
“That’s still too much,” he continued. “They are proposing 30 new taxes, Maria. Joe Biden has proposed 30. Now, that doesn’t mean he’s going to do all 30, but he’s got them in the plan. They’re going to throw amnesty in. And heaven forbid they get this passed through the parliamentarian — this voting rights act. If they get that done, this might be Katy bar the door for the United States of America that you and I both grew up in and that we know very well.”
Bartiromo asked Tuberville if he was specifically referring to the $3.5 trillion proposal on Manchin’s support.
“He’s going to vote for the infrastructure bill,” he replied. “Of course, they voted for that in, and, of course, it passed through the Senate. He will vote for part of the $3.5 [trillion]. It won’t be $3.5 [trillion]. There’s no way. But there’ll be a fight between him and the very far-left. But he understands. He understands that we cannot keep throwing money in this economy because inflation is already the highest it’s ever been in 20 years. He understands that.”
“He’s been a governor,” Tuberville added. “He’s been a governor. He actually has some common sense. But he will vote for it at some part. I just hope that we don’t get all that other stuff involved — amnesty and the voting rights act — in this reconciliation. That’s a big key to watch over the next week or two.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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