Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia pushed back Thursday against Republicans criticizing his support for a party-line tax-and-spend agreement that he reached with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer.
The centrist Democrat defended the legislation’s tax increases on the wealthy and large corporations as fair and necessary measures that will reduce the deficit. Mr. Manchin also charged his GOP colleagues with playing politics by opposing the bill that he asserted they would otherwise support if it were not for the tax provisions.
“It’s just a shame that the politics on both sides — if you do something good and I’m a Democrat, and you’re a Republican, I’ve got to be absolutely against it.