MANCHIN’S HAS POOR EXCUSES AGAINST “BUILD BACK BETTER”

 

                   …Here is Senator Joe Manchin as he returns to the U.S. Senate

 

Manchin’s reasons for not voting for the BBB bill are ridiculous,

 

When the only Democratic votes in the House against the bill came from the infamous “Squad”, who are six of the party’s most progressive voices. They did not buy the assurances that the Build Back Better Act would pass without the infrastructure bill as leverage.  The Squad wanted more, and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), his former statements proved that the Squad was correct.  Manchin has once again announced that “If he can’t explain his vote to his West Virginia voters, then he cannot vote for the social spending bill.”

Let’s be clear: Manchin’s excuses for opposing this bill, which would expand child-care and Medicare benefits, fight climate change and provide other supports for low-income Americans.  The excuses are all total nonsense. Wouldn’t you know that to make his “no” announcement, he went on “Fox News Sunday” and said : “If I can’t go home and explain it to the people of West Virginia, I can’t vote for it,”and he said this on nation-wide TV. 

Trying to understand why he couldn’t explain the bill to his voters is very confusing.  That’ is because all the polls have shown that most West Virginians support the BBB.  It is pretty obvious that for one of the poorest states in the nation, most West Virginia voters would most likely vote to approve this social spending bill.  In fact, it is well known that the bill would likely help the state of West Virginia, a whole lot more than most other states.. The idea that Manchin, who’s won a statewide Senate election six times, can’t “explain” a popular and useful bill for his constituents is, more than laughable.

Perhaps the reason for his not being able to vote for the BBB is because of his reliance on those donation from the coal and petroleum industries.  It’s interesting that Manchin has raised more money than he has ever received because of his the many earnings and donations from his coal business and the industry’s lobbying efforts.

Manchin’s rationalizations are ridiculous.  For instance: “The inflation that I was concerned about… it’s not transitory, it’s real. It’s harming every West Virginian,” he told this directly to Fox News.  But numerous economists have said the BBB won’t affect inflation.  As White House press secretary Jen Psaki noted in an attacking statement against Manchin, “The Penn Wharton Budget Model, of which Manchin is very fond of citing, they issued a report less than 48 hours ago that noted the Build Back Better Act will have virtually no impact on inflation in the short term and over the long run.”  The policies the BBB includes will actually ease inflationary pressures.  Notably, Manchin did not cite any expert to rebut that view in either his Fox appearance or the statement announcing his negative stance.

As if he were a Republican, Manchin invoked the “good ole national debt” (which was of no concern for his supporting the bipartisan trillion dollar infrastructure deal).  This is, as he accused the bill’s supporters of hiding the true cost, (which is not true), and he suggested focusing on the omicron coronavirus variant instead (which is only in play because Manchin delayed this bill for months).

Lastly, Manchin predicted that the bill’s climate provisions would have “catastrophic consequences.”  Left unmentioned, as usual, is that those provisions would be a massive blow to his family’s coal business , which paid Manchin nearly $500,000.00, last year alone.  (It must be noted that the coal business that Joe Manchin's family owns is considered the dirtiest coal operation in the industry.)

Manchin certainly bears much of the responsibility for this major bill debacle, but unfortunately, not all of the responsibility.  Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) spent much of the year confusing everyone about what she would or wouldn’t support. (Sinema and her staff has insisted that the White House knew her priorities.  But somehow her priorities were leak-happy Washington’s best-kept secrets.)

House holdouts such as Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), also delayed the bill to reinstate the state and local tax deductions for wealthy constituents.  And other Democratic objectors such as Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) watered down the bill’s attempt to lower prescription drug prices, originally one of its most popular provisions.  (You can guess which donors and lobbyists caused all of that to occur.)

Finally, a hefty chunk of the blame must be placed at the feet of the president and congressional leadership.

They all chose to split the infrastructure and social spending measures into separate bills. Senate Majority Leader, Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) chose to let other Democrats waste weeks on a spending package in the $3 trillion range, when he and Manchin had both signed a letter over the summer saying Manchin wouldn’t go over $1.5 trillion.  And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the White House chose to ditch the two-track strategy and fatally weaken the BBB’s chances.

And lets not forget all those Republicans, many of whom have supported some of BBB’s key issues in the past, as they all sit on their hands and refuse to support it for their own constituents.

No wonder the United States continues to decline in its status as a democratic nation. 

Copyright G. Ater 2021