Joe Manchin told NBC's "Meet the Press" he is a "hard no" at $3.5 trillion and said he will not be the "lone vote" against it.
"I've said if I can't go home and explain it, I'm not going to vote for it," Manchin told host Chuck Todd.
Manchin who launched his opposition to the bill with an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, says he does not support the measure because the nation's debt has reached "record levels" and the nation's overheating economy is imposing an "inflation tax" on middle-and working-class Americans.
"At $28.7 trillion and growing, the nation’s debt has reached record levels," he wrote. "Over the past 18 months, we've spent more than $5 trillion responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Now Democratic congressional leaders propose to pass the largest single spending bill in history with no regard to rising inflation, crippling debt, or the inevitability of future crises.
"I, for one, won't support a $3.5 trillion bill, or anywhere near that level of additional spending, without greater clarity about why Congress chooses to ignore the serious effects inflation and debt have on existing government programs."
One Democrat has a brain
One Democrat has a brain
Dan Steffens
Energy Prospectus Group
Energy Prospectus Group
Re: One Democrat has a brain
Thank God, maybe that accounts for the market being up pre market