Sinema Threatens Climate Bill to Save Loophole for Super Rich
August 4, 2022
Because of course she is.
The former “Green Party” member showing her true sympathies.
Kyrsten Sinema is seeking a couple changes to Democrats’ climate, health care and tax bill, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
The Arizona Democrat, who has not weighed in on whether she will vote for the legislation, wants to nix language narrowing the so-called carried interest loophole, which would change the way some investment income is taxed. Cutting that provision would ax $14 billion of the bill’s $739 billion in projected revenue.
Sinema also wants an add. She’d like roughly $5 billion in drought resiliency funding added to the legislation, a key ask for Arizona given the state’s problems with water supply. A Sinema spokesperson declined to comment.
Will Dems go for it? There’s no word yet from Democratic leaders but this is a relatively modest ask in the grand scheme of the legislation. Still, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said narrowing carried interest was included at the behest of Manchin, who said it would make the tax code more fair.
UPDATE:
Climate Denial Crock of the Week 
August 4, 2022 at 3:38 pm
Nuccitelli is saying that we should just change the bill. But here’s the hitch – Manchin almost certainly won’t agree to the bill if the closed loophole is removed. He’s said as much. It’s like I wrote in a comment here earlier – Manchin is very likely just doing this for political cover – he gets to say he was always for the bill while actually putting something in it (the closed tax loophole) that will kill it. It’s difficult for me to believe this isn’t the strategy here. Sinema is also working to run out the clock by not saying anything explicitly, probably until the last minute when it’s absolutely impossible to introduce anything else before the Congressional break and then the mid-terms.
I can hope I’m wrong – I might be – but I suspect I’m right about this.
August 4, 2022 at 10:00 pm
Sinema just approved it by taking out the carried interest part and adding a few things. Now, the question is if Manchin will still support the bill with those changes. I don’t trust him at all – so my conspiracy theory is that he’ll say the bill won’t work for him anymore with the Sinema changes. He would then get to go on tv and say how he’s fighting against corrupt interests on Wall Street by insisting the bill remains unchanged, and everything gets deadlocked before the Congressional break.
Or, I’m totally wrong, he supports it with the changes, and the bill gets approved quickly. We’ll see.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/politics/chuck-schumer-economic-bill-saturday/index.html
August 7, 2022 at 2:39 pm
Just approved in the Senate:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/07/politics/senate-democrats-climate-health-care-bill-vote/index.html
Manchin had been screwing the process for over a year, and I was suspicious he had another wrench in his pocket to use at the last moment. Didn’t happen. I suppose he got enough of what he wanted in the bill to vote for it in the end.