He and other Republicans have sought to put pressure particularly on Manchin, who doesn’t face re-election this year but represents a heavily Republican state.
“And in West Virginia -- just to pick another state out of the blue -- in West Virginia a whopping 95% of businesses are pass-throughs,” McConnell said about Manchin’s state.
In addition to debate over the tax increase on pass-throughs, progressives are urging Senators to preserve other tax increases that would affect the wealthy.
One focus for progressives is the millionaires’ surtax, which would put a 5% surcharge on incomes over $10 million and an additional 3% levy on incomes over $25 million, which is at risk of being cut from the package. Other tax hikes, such as raising the top tax bracket or increasing capital gains rates, were eliminated from the negotiations last year amid concerns from some vulnerable Democrats.
Progressives fear that dropping proposals like the pass-through tax expansion and a surcharge on the ultra-wealthy, would mean that rich Americans would face little-to-no tax increases in a bill initially envisioned as a major tax hike on top earners.
The millionaires’ surcharge is “the only tax increase specifically designed to tax the very wealthy,” the Patriotic Millionaires, a progressive group of wealthy Americans, said in a letter to senators Wednesday. “It would be very unfortunate and a missed opportunity if Congress were to pass such important legislation and not specifically increase tax rates on billionaires and the ultrarich.”
Schumer has said he wants to pass the bill by early August, a tight deadline for legislation that has languished for months. Manchin has suggested the negotiations could go up to the Sept. 30 deadline, when the Democrat’s ability to fast-track the bill in the Senate expires.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.