Governor Jim Justice, a West Virginia Republican, argued Monday that fiscal concerns should be set aside as the country struggles to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, putting pressure on the centrist senator. Joe Manchin
Joseph (Joe) Manchin Manchester Couldn’t Believe He Saw Harris’s West Virginia TV Interview Congress Democrats Are on Wrong Side of Impeachment Policy Progressives Push Controversial Budget Reconciliation Proposal MORE (DW.Va.) in support of a large COVID-19 emergency bill.
“We have to understand that at this point we insist on being fiscally responsible for what we have going on in this country – if we really throw some money away, what else?” Justice told CNN in an interview.
“We really need to move and take care of people,” he said.
Justice doubled down on his statement in a follow-up interview with MSNBC urging Congress to “get big.”
“I absolutely believe we need to be big,” he said, punishing Washington lawmakers during the months-long standoff before Congress approved a $ 900 billion compromise in December.
“I forever believe it was incredibly ridiculous to have Democrats and Republicans fighting and not being able to pass on a stimulus package for months,” he said. ‘It was horrible. That’s just all there is to it. You had people who had to pay their utility bills, rent or pay for their car.
“At the moment in this country we have to become big. We have to stop counting the cows’ egg-sucking legs and counting the cows and just moving. And now go ahead and go now, ”he added.
Justice’s sharp statements put pressure on Manchin, who is negotiating with a group of Senate Republicans to pass on a smaller aid package to support President Biden’s call to approve a package worth about $ 1.9 trillion .
Vice President Harris told WSAZ, a Charleston NBC subsidiary, last week that West Virginia would benefit from Biden’s plan.
So far, in West Virginia, 1 in 7 families describe their household as hungry, 1 in 6 can’t afford the rent, and 1 in 4 small businesses are closing or have already closed, so it’s a big deal in West Virginia and the whole country, “Harris said.” And that’s why the president and I are offering the American bailout. “
Manchin was shocked by the pressure and later told WSAZ he couldn’t believe Harris made her statement on his own property without giving him a heads-up.
“I saw [the interview]. I could not believe it. Nobody called me [about it], ”Manchin told WSAZ. ‘We are going to try to find a two-pronged way forward, but we have to work together. That is not a way of working together. “
Manchin has raised concerns about the tax implications of sending $ 1,400 checks to individuals across the country, which, combined with a law passed in December, would increase the total size of the rebate to $ 2,000.
“I don’t know where the $ 2,000 came from,” Manchin said earlier this month. ‘I swear to God I won’t. That’s another $ 400 billion. “