Opposing Biden’s Agenda More than ten years after the struggle to pass the popu

Opposing Biden’s Agenda
More than ten years after the struggle to pass the popular health care reform bill proposed by the Obama administration, the economic-political power of large corporations was in plain sight behind the difficulties two popular pieces of legislation faced in the U.S. Senate. Koch Industries was opposed to the voting rights bill. A number of major corporations were also against raising corporate taxes envisioned in the infrastructure bill. The provisions of the voting rights bill were supported by 60% to 80% of the public (therefore a cross-section of both Democrats and Republicans). The infrastructure bill had the support of 58% of the population and would have resulted in many good-paying jobs that would have created consumer demands, boosting business’ bottom line and enhancing business legitimacy in the eyes of the public.
For most of 2021, Senator Joseph Manchin III (D-W. Virginia) had opposed Biden’s legislation containing green infrastructure spending in addition to the voting rights bill. He is from a coal-producing state which can explain some of his reluctance. Yet, in the long run “going green” will help his voters given the rapid decline of coal. But the Senator may have had personal financial reasons as well. He is a large investor in fossil fuel stocks, having created two coal companies in the 1980s which are now run by his son. Koch Industries who are heavily invested in fossil fuel also lobbied Manchin heavily which can explain in part his opposition to that piece of popular legislation.
The “Inflation Reduction Act,” signed into law in August of 2022 was a watered-down version of Build Back Better legislation, providing less than one-third of BBB’s original proposed funding and included major concessions to two Democratic Senators, Joe Manchin, and Kyrsten Sinema.
In the House, the Democrats who tanked their party’s 2021 proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, Scott Peters and Kurt Schrader, together had received $1.7 million in contributions from Big Pharma.
Questions:
1. Should corporations have the right to influence the formulation of public policy?
2. Is it possible for corporations to exercise political influence over policymaking without infringing on public interests?
3. Why corporations would oppose legislation that expands the economy or protect the ability of people to exercise their basic democratic right, an unhindered ability to vote in elections?
Sources:
https://www.vox.com/2021/5/3/22406391/hr1-poll-for-the-people-actLinks to an external site.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/inside-the-koch-backed-effort-to-block-the-largest-election-reform-bill-in-half-a-centuryLinks to an external site.