Manchin Backs Spending Caps

The Hill reports:

Freshman Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Tuesday will announce his support for strict spending caps that put him at odds with his party's leadership and President Obama.

Manchin is expected to give a speech in his home state where he will endorse the "CAP Act," which sets a tighter spending limit than the president's budget calls for, as well as a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution.

The senator, a centrist who is expected to face a tough reelection campaign in 2012, said that both items, which have bipartisan support, could help foster a deal to pass the debt-limit increase. He said he would not support measures that make significant changes to popular entitlement programs.

"Today, I will be announcing my support for two proposals that I believe provide a good starting point and framework from which we can move forward," he will say, according to excerpts released by his office. "But let me be also clear — one of my top priorities will be to make sure that whatever final debt fix emerges, it will keep our promises to our seniors by protecting Social Security and Medicare. I believe we can do this and cut our debt and deficits over time."

Manchin has already indicated he won't support a debt-limit increase unless it is tied to a long-term deficit-reduction plan, and his comments Tuesday shine more light on how leaders might obtain his support for a plan.