AOC tears into 'Conservative Dem' Manchin for not backing Biden's spending plan saying: 'You can either feed your kid, recover from your C-section, or have childcare so you can go to work — but not all three'
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted her fellow Democratic lawmaker Sen. Joe Manchin on Thursday, condemning him as a 'Conservative Dem' for reportedly saying progressives must pick only one from three of President Biden's spending proposals.
She delivered her broadside as Democrats fight over their massive multi-trillion dollar bill.
Manchin has said he is only prepared to back $1.5 trillion of spending - far less than his party's $3.5 trillion proposal - and is pushing progressives to choose from expanded child tax credits, paid family medical leave or subsidies for child care, according to Axios.
Ocasio-Cortez delivered her verdict in a tweet.
'Ah yes, the Conservative Dem position: "You can either feed your kid, recover from your C-section, or have childcare so you can go to work - but not all three. All 3 makes you entitled and lazy," she wrote.
'But fossil fuel $, keeping Rx prices high,& not taxing Wall St are "non-negotiable."'
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted centrist holdout Sen. Joe Manchin, calling him a 'Conservative Dem' for urging progressives to pick one from three of their spending priorities
AOC's tweet reflects the deep divide between centrist Democrats who are holding up President Biden's spending plans and progressives urging action
President Biden made a rare visit to Congress last week after his huge legislative agenda stalled a night earlier as progressives and centrists in his own party went to war
Biden last week proposed cuts to the plan as he tried to keep his agenda on track. He floated a final bill in the range $1.9 to $2.2 when he met Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week.
But so far Manchin is sticking to his $1.5 trillion ceiling.
As her tweet made clear, progressives like Ocasio-Cortez want to keep all three programs but have suggested they can be funded for shorter durations in order to trim the price tag.
The result is a stand-off between Manchin and his centrist ally Kyrsten Sinema and a progressive wing emboldened by Biden's support for a huge spending plan.
Their opposition also meant House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week had to abandon plans for a vote on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan, as liberals refused to push it through until there was progress on the bigger bill.
This week, socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders slammed the pair for being the only two members of their party's 50-person caucus to stand in the way of Biden's proposal.
'Two people do not have the right to sabotage what 48 want – what the president of the United States wants. That, to me, is wrong,' the far-left Vermont Senator said during a press conference Wednesday.
Sanders pointed out that 96 percent of both the Senate and House's Democratic caucuses support the plan, with 210 out of 220 members voting 'yes' in the House. 'And, by the way, the president of the United States supports this bill,' he said.
'Let me tell you who is vigorously opposed to this legislation and I think that it's important that the American people understand,' he noted before digging into lobbyists in the pharmaceutical, health insurance and fossil fuel industries who he said are pouring resources into blocking the plan.
'And it goes without saying that the billionaire class and large corporations are spending a fortune in opposition to this bill because they love the idea that [they] don't pay a nickel in federal income tax,' he added.
Explaining his view to reporters on Capitol Hill, Manchin, a moderate from West Virginia, has warned key welfare provisions could generate an 'entitlement mentality.'
At times Manchin has seemed to suggest he might support a package in Biden's range of $1.9 trillion to $2.2 trillion.
'I'm not ruling anything out, but the bottom line is I want to make sure that we're strategic and we do the right job and we don't basically add more to the concerns we have right now,' he said Tuesday.
But a day later he returned to his previous limit.
'My number has been 1.5' he said. 'I’ve been very clear.'
But Sanders lambasted Manchin's position in a play-by-play of the bill's plans and who they would be benefitting, first citing the proposal to extend $300 direct child tax payments, which have helped cut childhood poverty, through 2025.
Sanders asked, 'Is protecting working families and cutting childhood poverty an 'entitlement? Does Senator Manchin think we should once again have one of the highest levels of childhood poverty of any major country on Earth?'
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