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Manchin strikes again
OK, so Joe Manchin torpedoed progress on climate change using various excuses: either other countries won't do the same, so US companies will be at a disadvantage, or moving to clean energy over the next ten years will exacerbate current inflation problems. Both of which are BS; his real objection is that progress on climate change requires reducing the use of coal, and he makes a lot of money on coal (while vanishingly few of his constituents work in that industry).
And then two days later he also torpedoed the international tax reform treaty that Janet Yellin and her opposite numbers in other countries worked out, which would have reduced the US budget deficit and probably persuaded big corporations to move some of their foreign jobs back to the US. Again, the excuses are that other countries won't do the same, so US companies will be at a disadvantage, or making big companies pay their taxes fairly will exacerbate current inflation problems. Which are also BS: I gather that the way the treaty is written, countries that do implement it will surcharge businesses from countries that don't to make up for the taxes they're not paying. Every country in Europe except Hungary has agreed to the treaty, and if Robert Reich is to be believed, Hungary said no because US Republicans asked them to. I'm not sure what Manchin's real motive here is: perhaps just to prove that he's important because he can block any progress he wants to in Congress.
Incidentally, the tax reform treaty would cost my employer money, but nonetheless my employer and most other big tech companies support it, because it sets up a consistent set of rules that they can follow across national borders rather than having to weigh the changing tax conditions in every country in the world.
And then two days later he also torpedoed the international tax reform treaty that Janet Yellin and her opposite numbers in other countries worked out, which would have reduced the US budget deficit and probably persuaded big corporations to move some of their foreign jobs back to the US. Again, the excuses are that other countries won't do the same, so US companies will be at a disadvantage, or making big companies pay their taxes fairly will exacerbate current inflation problems. Which are also BS: I gather that the way the treaty is written, countries that do implement it will surcharge businesses from countries that don't to make up for the taxes they're not paying. Every country in Europe except Hungary has agreed to the treaty, and if Robert Reich is to be believed, Hungary said no because US Republicans asked them to. I'm not sure what Manchin's real motive here is: perhaps just to prove that he's important because he can block any progress he wants to in Congress.
Incidentally, the tax reform treaty would cost my employer money, but nonetheless my employer and most other big tech companies support it, because it sets up a consistent set of rules that they can follow across national borders rather than having to weigh the changing tax conditions in every country in the world.
Manchin the Damnable
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I have been wondering for some time if Manchin is really just doing all this stuff to inflate his own ego, or if there is some rationale that has been eluding me. The longer I go without finding hints of that rationale, though, the more it seems like the first is correct. :-(