Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., assured corporate donors on Tuesday that she would fight her party’s efforts to unwind their tax breaks as Democrats try to revive portions of President Joe Biden’s stalled Build Back Better plan.
Sinema, who received more than $900,000 in donations from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups opposing Biden’s plan, attended an event held by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Phoenix to assuage donors’ concerns that the renewed spending negotiations may threaten their low tax rates.
“What I can’t tell you is if negotiations will start again or what they’ll look like,” she said. “But what I can promise you is that I’ll be the same person in negotiations if they start again that I was in negotiations last year.”
Sinema assured them that she would not support raising taxes for corporations thanks to her pivotal vote at the 50-50 Senate.
“You all know, the entire country knows, that I’m opposed to raising the corporate minimum tax rate,” she said, adding that she opposes “any tax policies that would put a brake on any type of economic growth or forestall business and personal growth for America’s industries.”
Yesterday’s Arizona Chamber of Commerce annual meeting was a great time for Kyrsten Sinema. She was even greeted with a standing ovation when she promised to not support raising taxes on large corporations. pic.twitter.com/q8YnulYtto
— Jordan Zakarin (@jordanzakarin) April 13, 2022
Sinema has repeatedly held talks with donor groups that oppose key parts of Biden’s proposal throughout negotiations even as she largely avoided discussing the bill with journalists or constituents. The latest comments threaten to disrupt negotiations over a reduced spending package, before they even start. She has privately stated to donors that a revival is possible of the spending bill. “unlikely,” According to Axios.
The other holdout, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who ended all negotiations in December, last year, was also a member of the opposition. floated a revised $1 trillion proposal If other Democrats agree that they will use the remaining $500 billion to reduce the deficit or approve new drilling permits, this would provide $500 million in funding for climate programs. But Manchin’s proposal would be funded by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices — a provision Sinema and other pharma-backed Democrats dramatically watered down in talks last year — and rolling back the Trump tax cuts on the wealthy and corporations. Sinema has repeatedly rejected rolling back Trump’s tax cuts despite being a vocal opponent. previously criticizing corporate tax breaks and demanding big companies “pay their fair share.”
“We’ll just see if there’s a pathway forward,” Manchin told reporters on Tuesday. “We don’t know if there’s a pathway forward yet.”
Sinema said this week to another industry group that she is “always willing” to engage in negotiations but is focused on making sure any spending proposal is “responsibly offset and that new revenue provisions protect qualified small business income where possible.”
“I work every day to ensure any government spending is targeted and thoughtful because a lean, efficient government helps avoid price hikes,” she said at a National Federation of Independent Business event.
Republicans who roundly opposed Biden’s proposal have expressed confidence that Sinema would block any Democratic plans to undo the tax breaks for corporations and wealthy donors.
“Sinema is unenthusiastic about tax hikes. Hopefully that will be enough to keep this thing underwater permanently,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said At a Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Event on Tuesday. “I don’t know if it’s dead yet,” he added. “I’d like to smother it if I knew how to do it.”
This dynamic has frustrated Democrats for months.
“The fact that we haven’t been able to come up with something that we can agree on yet — it’s just shocking to me,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Insider. “I think we need to get a deal.”
Sinema’s role in the stalled Democratic agenda has also baffled supporters back home, where numerous efforts have been launched to back a potential primary challenger to the first-term senator.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., has emerged as a leading potential progressive primary foe after repeatedly calling out Sinema, though he would have to compete with a well-funded effort backed by Sinema’s many corporate supporters if he chooses to challenge her in 2024.
Gallego, who is expected to win his re-election bid easily, has raised $510,000 more than he did last year. According to Gallego, this number is more than fourfold the amount he raised in the same period last year. Insider. In 2020, he raised $1.8 Million.
Supporting a primary challenger have reported receiving hundreds of thousands of donations.
Speculation about Sinema’s political future has continued to mount. Sinema is opposed to Trump’s tax cuts and has also opposed Democratic efforts to repeal filibuster legislation to pass legislation relating to voting rights, LGBTQ protections, raising the minimum wage, and union protections.
According to a January survey, only 19% of Arizona Democratic primary voters are favorable about Sinema. Data for Progress poll78% was for Senator Mark Kelly, D. Arizona. Gallego was rated 58% favorably by the poll, and Sinema was ranked second by a margin 74-16.
“In the wake of her recent vote to preserve the filibuster and kill voting rights legislation — and after months of her repeated obstruction of the president’s Build Back Better agenda — it’s clear that Sinema’s continued obstruction has only served to lower her support,” the pollsters’ analysis warned. “And it may well be to the benefit of Rep. Gallego, who has been courting calls to run for Senate for months, that Arizona Democratic primary voters are so prepared to unseat her.”
