Joe Biden took shots at Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema at a fundraiser on Friday, seeming to give up on any possible compromise with the maverick Democrat duo.
Manchin and Sinema have held up Biden’s biggest policy goal to this point, the insanely expensive and further-inflation-inducing “Build Back Better” agenda. Things crescendoed late last year after the two senators made it clear they would not vote to end the filibuster and would not support another bloated boondoggle.
For his part, Biden apparently hasn’t forgotten, telling the crowd of suckers…eh, I mean donors…that “We need two more senators.”
“We need two more senators,” the president said, referencing Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia — the two moderate lawmakers who have upended some of his biggest domestic policy items since the beginning of his term…
…The president did not call out the lawmakers by name, but said that they’re “slowing up what we’re able to do.”
It’s ironic that Biden feels that way when it’s obvious that Manchin and Sinema have actually saved the president from himself. Given what the $2 trillion “American Rescue Plan” has done to the economy, exploding inflation and crashing the stock market, there’s no doubt a $2+ trillion reconciliation bill would good and fully collapse things. They won’t ever be thanked for it, but the senators from Arizona and West Virginia have done Biden an immense favor, limiting what has already been an immensely painful time politically for the White House.
Yet, it’s obvious that Biden has learned nothing from his current situation, and his stumping for two more senators isn’t just to pass more social spending. Rather, it’s to kill the filibuster and essentially make him king as far as pushing through his policy initiatives. Everything from a federal elections takeover to strict gun control would pass without the current buffer.
Of course, it’s delusional to think that money is going to buy the Democrats two more senators, and Biden is doing nothing more than playing the role of grifter at fundraisers like this. The electoral environment is absolutely brutal for the left going into November, and even if Republicans underperform all expectations, they’ll still end up with at least a 50/50 Senate. More likely, they pick up at least two seats and cement a majority.
With that reality staring Biden in the face, it seems like a rather stupid move to throw dirt at the two senators he’s going to need going forward if he’s to get anything done over the next two and a half years. But since when has strategic competency been part of the president’s portfolio of abilities?