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Dear Friend,
Senator Joe Manchin has finally named his requirement for passing the reconciliation package: Sacrifice the climate.
Not only is Manchin demanding that the budget for the bill be cut by more than half, he says that any environmental portion must exempt coal, oil, and gas from penalties and must preserve subsidies for the polluters.1
This comes as no surprise, considering Manchin has received more campaign donations from the fossil fuels sector than any other senator and owns up to $5 million in a coal-based corporation.2
Manchin must not be allowed to drag the Senate into betraying the climate and the country. We’re rallying grassroots pressure on Congress to stand up to not only Manchin, but all the other corporate Democrats, and demand that they pass bold climate action this year. And we’re letting the public know just which industries each of them are beholden to and calling out their motives.
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The proposal that Manchin put forward is barely a quarter of what President Biden originally announced in his Build Back Better agenda, and doesn’t go nearly far enough to help the American people solve the problems highlighted by the pandemic.
No funding for free community college, no universal pre-K. And a huge step backward in fighting the climate crisis.3
Manchin is bolstered by a small handful of other Democrats in the House and Senate who have been blocking the reconciliation process as well. The media is framing this as “moderates” versus “progressives,” but that’s not what is happening.
What is happening is that there are Democrats in the pockets of Big Business, whether it’s Big Tech, Big Oil, or any of the other industries working to keep America corporate-friendly. And those Democrats are fighting the policies that will actually protect our environment, provide health care, and generally make our lives better.
At Demand Progress, we’re calling out these Democrats and the other representatives letting their agendas be driven by corporations, and we’re certainly not calling them “moderate.” There is nothing moderate about letting millions of people suffer.
Demand Progress members have sent tens of thousands of messages urging Congress to be bold on the climate and pass this progressive agenda. It’s had an impact, and now we need to continue the campaign into these crucial days before key votes.
Will you donate to Demand Progress today?
Thanks for standing with us.
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
PS: Your contributions are what keep us nimble and prepared to take on important fights like these as they happen. Will you become a monthly donor to keep our work going?
Sources:
1. The Wall Street Journal, "Joe Manchin Says His Spending, Climate Stance Should Be No Surprise," September 30, 2021
2. The New York Times, "This Powerful Democrat Linked to Fossil Fuels Will Craft the U.S. Climate Plan," September 19, 2021
3. The Wall Street Journal, "Joe Manchin Says His Spending, Climate Stance Should Be No Surprise," September 30, 2021
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