Democrats’ most at-risk senators want to transform the artist formerly known as “Build Back Better” into an inflation-buster, just in time for the midterms.
It’s a gambit that could jump-start President Joe Biden’s stalled domestic agenda by helping Democrats cut a deal with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), sell the legislation as a cost-cutting package and run on it in the fall. That would give the party’s most vulnerable incumbents a potent message to help keep their seats, and keep the majority for two more years as a result.
“That obviously would have an effect on helping people in their reelections,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), who defeated an incumbent GOP senator in 2020….
If all Democrats stick together, they could pass a tax reform, climate and prescription drug package without Republican support. Manchin envisions half of the revenues from the bill going toward deficit reduction and fighting inflation, which he believes is “very popular” among voters.
Still, it could be a tough sell for some progressives, who envisioned a broader package spending literal trillions of dollars. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is pushing for a floor vote on legislation to lower the cost of prescription drug prices, regardless of whether it has the votes to pass the Senate.