With Sen. Joe Manchin, the conservative Democrat from West Virginia, finally striking a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., last week, all Republicans can do is "keep our fingers crossed" as they watch the other party sort out their differences, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., tells Newsmax.
"That's pretty much all we can do," Tuberville said Monday on "Spicer & Co." "We thought we had this stopped. Manchin ... he did one great thing, not just for a country but for our world when he blocked the so-called filibuster from happening back about six months ago, and that would have been a huge disaster."
Now, Tuberville said, "it looks like they've just pretty much just talked him into something that I don't know whether he even believes in it, because you know he's from an energy state. ... He's the chairman of the Energy Committee here in the Senate."
The bill, dubbed by Democrats "The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022," but touted by Republicans as another effort to pass Biden's already failed Build Back Better agenda, would raise $739 billion in revenue over 10 years, mostly from a 15% corporate minimum tax that Biden has pushed since entering office.
"Inflation is rampant," Tuberville said. "I was in Alabama this weekend, and you know, we talk about 9%, 10%, 15% inflation? We're talking about 25% 30% inflation on most items, groceries. Rent anything energy, anything that people really have to use, inflation just out the roof."
The real pain for consumers, he said, will be adding the 15% tax on manufacturing.
"President Trump had 'em moving back to the country; now [Democrats are] trying to run them back overseas," he said. "That's exactly what'll happen and it's just the exact opposite of what we need to do."
Tuberville had praise for Biden's actions allowing more oil production, but questioned other areas.
"What about the 80,000 IRS agents that they're going to hire?" he asked. "They're going to have one for every Republican in this country if they keep on with this scenario."
Manchin's move to join his party on the vote came after he obtained assurances from Schumer that the bill "would dedicate hundreds of billions of dollars to deficit reduction by adopting a tax policy that protects small businesses and working-class Americans while ensuring that large corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share in taxes."
But Democrats still need the vote of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who so far has not indicated how she intends to vote on the bill.
"This will be a fight this week," Tuberville said. "but we'll just sit back and watch the Democrats fight amongst each other because we have no say so. It's only a 50-vote count."
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