Democratic Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema is scheduled to host a fundraiser in Washington D.C. tomorrow with several groups opposing her own party’s $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package.
According to the New York Times, the “moderate” Democrat will host a fundraiser on Capitol Hill tomorrow afternoon with several political action committees, some of which oppose the Democrats $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill containing several key items for the agenda of her party, and President Joe Biden, the Times reported.
Among the PACs invited to the event, the NGA Grocers PAC has been publicly critical of the spending bill, which Democrats hope to pass on their own through Congress, implementing their key agenda items, like free college and healthcare.
“To put the $3.5 trillion number into perspective, if President Biden, (House) Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi, D-Calif., and (Senate) Majority Leader (Chuck) Schumer, D-N.Y., can keep their members in line, this will be largest spending measure ever enacted,” NGA Grocers PAC Director of Governmental Relations Robert Yeakel said in a Sept. 2 letter to members. ”What makes ‘paying for it’ so difficult – as many Democrats have claimed they would like to do, in full – is that there just aren’t a whole lot of new revenue trees that tax hikes can shake down. This is even more reason why we’re likely to see a variety of tax increases. Adding to the difficulty is President Biden’s promise that anyone making less than $400,000 per year will not see their taxes go up.”
Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., have both been resistant about passing the huge bill because both represent fairly conservative states, and could see their political fortunes evaporate in the coming midterm elections by supporting the package.
Sinema, according to the Times story, has said she would not support that large a bill in the Senate, creating a dilemma for Democrats who need all their 50 votes in that chamber for it to pass with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.
She has also said she opposes raising individual and corporate tax rates to pay for the plan.
All Republicans oppose the bill and are threatening to vote down a debt ceiling raise unless the bill is killed.
Both the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill and a separate $1.2 infrastructure bill that does have 11 Senate Republicans supporting it represent the bulk of the Democratic agenda since winning the House and presidency in 2020, while also creating a 50-50 even split in the Senate.
“Even if a handful of moderates’ balk at many of these hikes (Sens. Sinema and Manchin have already publicly opposed the $3.5 number), grocers and other industries are still going to see a jump in their tax bill,” Yeakel wrote.
