West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin held a press conference moments ago to say he’s done with the insufferable chicanery within the legislative social spending bill, also called the “human infrastructure bill” or Biden’s “build back better” bill, or the “reconciliation bill”.
Nancy Pelosi has been sitting on the previously passed $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that was passed by the House and Senate {Go Deep} but has refused to allow a vote until a bigger social spending bill -constructed using the reconciliation process to radically change the U.S. by the AOC radical communists in congress- can be attached. For months the debate over how far the communists can push the social spending package has been argued and debated, today Joe Manchin tapped out.
Manchin has done today what he was always likely to do, and two issues triggered today as his moment. The cherry in his construct is Biden’s current location. WATCH:
Now, let’s get to the politics of why Manchin is making his move….
It is not coincidental that Manchin makes this statement today, as the NBC poll showing massive drops in support for Joe Biden is being discussed widely. Manchin knows he is sitting in a spotlight of an inflection point; Manchin is politically astute and cunning to the ways of politics. Manchin comes across as meek and mild-tempered, a man of reasonable disposition… but that doesn’t accurately portray his cunning. This is his chance to make a big move.
Senator Joe Manchin also knows that Democrats are going to implode as the Obama allied communist puppet masters behind Biden have a one term agenda to exploit their control over the dementia patient currently occupying the White House. Manchin knows the collapse of the Democrat Party is his opportunity; he also knows THE REALITY behind the released Marist Poll [data here] showing a majority of non-communist Democrats want nothing to do with the senile occupant of the White House.
Manchin is making a BIG club move by positioning himself as reasonable right now.
Manchin is testing his strength against the strength of Nancy Pelosi.
Manchin will likely be the #1 contender in 2024, he knows it.
Manchin is cunning.
Manchin is not only reaching out to ‘moderate’ registered Democrats….
Manchin is reaching the minds of registered Republicans
Manchin is a very worthy adversary…
At 1:00am on August 25th, Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats came to an agreement on a massive spending proposal. The Senate previously passed a $1.5 trillion “infrastructure” bill, and a group of 9 House moderates -led by Josh Gottheimer- wanted to see it pass. However, the far-left progressive caucus wanted their $3.5 trillion spending package which includes Green New Deal spending passed as part of the total budget agenda.
Representative Gottheimer’s group did not concur with the House $3.5 trillion spending proposal and saw no way for it to pass the Senate.
An internal deal was struck amid the Democrats for Gottheimer’s coalition to agree to advance a rules change with two conditions on that August 25th late night discussion {GO DEEP}:
(1) Pelosi would have to promise to bring the $1.5 infrastructure bill to a vote on September 27th; and (2) Any larger GND/”Human Infrastructure” bill ($3.5 spending package) would need to be structured to pass the Senate.
Again, back on August 25th, the ‘moderate’ Marxists (for lack of a better term) could see that AOC’s progressive caucus spending bill was unlikely to pass the Senate in its current form. To get the Gottheimer group on board, House Speaker Pelosi agreed to the two conditions, as negotiated. To appease the AOC nuts, everyone agreed to tie both the $1.5 trillion infrastructure and the $3.5 trillion spending boondoggle together.
Fast forward through the next eight weeks. The Senate struggled to come to any agreement, as Senator Manchin (WV) and Senator Sinema (AZ), along with others, balked at the insufferable nature of the $3.5 trillion radical change blueprint that would remake the entire U.S. economy and end up with a massive $5+ trillion deficit.
Because the second point in Gottheimer’s deal (House bill must be able to pass the Senate) was not met, the entire process came unraveled. Pelosi reneged on the promise to bring the $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill to a vote on September 27th. As the deadline passed, Pelosi tried to save face -en process- by saying the vote would be likely on Friday October 1st, that never happened. Deadlines came and went without progress.
With public support for the office of the President collapsing at an astounding rate, Joe Biden attempted to insert himself and his weak-sauce leverage at the last minute. It didn’t help. The $3.5 trillion spending priority quickly turned into a dead fish, rotting in blueprint outline form without ever making it to ‘reconciliation’ legislative language.
Today, Joe Manchin moved to put Nancy Pelosi and the communists in check.
Manchin has the support of the House Democrats and House Republicans but not the communists or AOC.
Knight took queen off the board….
Like a fox…
With everything going on in Virginia between Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin, the battle over Joe Biden’s agenda had taken a backseat in the news, but that may have changed in a big way today.
Late last week, a vote to push through the bipartisan infrastructure bill was scuttled after progressives refused to vote for it without more than a framework on the “Build Back Better” boondoggle. That was the second time in a month Nancy Pelosi had to pull the plug at the last minute. Yet, by Saturday, Democrats were projecting confidence again. Word was that both bills would be voted on as soon as Tuesday.
But then Joe Manchin came busting in the room like the Kool-Aid man today.
That second tweet should actually read “BBB,” which stands for “Build Back Better.” What Manchin is doing here is hitting the brakes on the progressive bill completely because it contains a variety of ridiculous budget gimmicks where programs are only funded for a few years while claiming they are “paid for.”
Here are some of the choice quotes via National Review.
Manchin reiterated his concerns about “exploding inflation,” the debt, the potential for rising interest rates, and the creation of new social spending programs. “How can I in good conscience vote for a bill that proposes massive expansions of social programs when vital programs like Social Security and Medicare face insolvency and benefits could start being reduced as soon as 2026 in Medicare and 2033 in Social Security?” he asked rhetorically. “How does that make sense? I don’t think it does.”…
…But then Manchin took things a step further.
He said, “As more of the real details outlined in the basic framework are released, what I see are shell games — budget gimmicks that make the real cost of the so-called $1.75 trillion bill estimated to be almost twice that amount if the full time is run out. If you extended it permanently. And that we haven’t even spoken about.”
Well, that escalated quickly.
While Democrats were optimistic earlier today, this represents a major gut-punch to their hopes and dreams. If Manchin isn’t on board with the sleight of hand they plan to do with the reconciliation bill, he’s essentially dooming Biden’s agenda to failure because there is no world in which that bill is actually paid for in a responsible way.
Instead, what Democrats had hoped to do was fund their entitlement programs for a limited number of years while the CBO scored the bill over a ten-year period. The game being played there is to get Americans used to the free stuff so that Congress is forced to extend the programs down the road. And just like with the re-upping of Obamacare subsidies we’ve seen in the past, “paying for it” would no longer even be a discussion once the public is fully invested. It’s a cynical game and Manchin seems to be announcing that he’s not down to play.
Is the West Virginia senator looking for an escape hatch here? It kind of feels like it. He’s strung these negotiations out for months, and after the progressives finally bent the knee, he’s kicking them in the face again. Perhaps he wants to see how tomorrow’s election goes? Or maybe he sees the writing on the wall back home? Whatever it is, the White House has to be furious. Where do they go from here if Manchin won’t accept their budget gimmicks? The answer is nowhere.