When Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin announced a breakthrough agreement last week and unveiled the Inflation Reduction Act, there were sighs of relief throughout the progressive political world — followed by a nagging question:
Is Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on board?
In the days that followed, Democratic leaders proceeded to work through the process, meeting with the parliamentarian’s office, scheduling votes, and expressing great optimism that this hard-fought reconciliation package would finally cross the finish line, delivering a landmark victory, not just for President Joe Biden and his party, but for the whole country. And yet, there was no shaking the unanswered question:
Is Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on board?
It took a while, but last night, Democrats were finally able to answer the question in a satisfying way. NBC News reported:
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema signed off on sweeping Democratic legislation Thursday that would provide new spending to mitigate climate change and extend health care access while taxing corporations. The Arizona Democrat’s announcement likely unlocks the votes needed to pass the bill in the Senate.
The sticking point was a relatively obscure tax break called the “carried interest loophole,” which is sometimes referred to as “the carry.” In case anyone needs a refresher, this is the tax break that taxes private equity and venture capital income at a lower, 15 percent rate, unavailable to the rest of us. Hedge-fund managers and Wall Street executives have fought tooth and nail to protect this loophole, especially as the Obama White House tried to eliminate it.
Many Democrats continued to work on this, and both Schumer and Manchin made a point to include it in their revamped Inflation Reduction Act. Sinema, however, has consistently said she’d oppose closing the loophole — at least in this bill — and yesterday, she successfully had it removed from the pending reconciliation package. Democratic leaders also tweaked the structure of a 15 percent corporate minimum tax and threw in some drought relief funding to benefit Arizona.
Sinema endorsed the package soon after.








