Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., went on Fox News Sunday to declare that after months of negotiations he has determined that there is no way he can support the massive social
spending bill known as the Build Back Better Act, or as one of our friends suggested, the Budget Busting Behemoth Act.
But we’re not quite ready to declare Joe Manchin a hero or a conservative, so please read on.
Sen. Manchin said that between ongoing inflation, the national debt, "geopolitical unrest," and the COVID-19 pandemic, the bill being pushed by his fellow Democrats was too much.
"When you have these things coming at you the way they are right now … I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation," he said, stating that if he cannot explain to his constituents why he would vote for a bill, then he cannot vote for it, despite all the work he and other Democrats have put into trying to make it work.
"This is a no," he said. "I have tried everything I know to do."
But let’s parse Sen. Manchin’s words carefully.
In his interview with Fox Manchin acknowledged that there were aspects of the bill he was in favor of, but it was just too hefty for him to justify voting for it.
"There’s a lot of good, but that bill is a mammoth piece of legislation," Manchin said, pointing out that it is not even being voted on like a normal bill, but being pushed through budget reconciliation.
Translation: If you break the elephant down into smaller pieces, and do it through regular order, I can swallow it.
We can all breathe a sigh of relief that a pre-Christmas rush to pass a bill that no one has read has apparently been avoided, but conservatives should not be deluded into thinking the danger of the policy prescriptions at the core of the Biden, Pelosi, Schumer agenda are dead, because they aren’t.
Mitch McConnell has given Democrats a huge increase in the debt ceiling and until February 18, 2022 to craft a budget reconciliation package or more likely another continuing resolution that Manchin CAN vote for, and once that is done his job will be to bring Republicans along with him to make the budget busting mess look “bipartisan.”
Our take on West Virginia’s Democrat Senator Joe Manchin is that his job in the Democratic Party is to be the Judas Goat that leads principle-free Republicans like Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski into phony “compromises” that lead to more spending, less liberty and the growth of government.
But some of our Republican friends have sent us anguished emails saying, “On no, Joe Manchin is a hero for standing up to Biden on BBB” and against all sorts of other bad stuff Democrats who are further to the Left than he is keep pushing.
But when you look at the record, this is Democrats compromising with themselves over how much spending should increase and liberty should recede – there is no conservative principle being defended.
In the matter of taxes and spending in our article “When $3 Trillion Isn’t Enough” we reviewed what we considered the phony disagreement between Socialist Democrat Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Manchin – Bernie wanted to spend more like $6 trillion, Manchin was allegedly contending that $3 trillion was too much, unless it was “paid for” by new taxes.
The “compromise” they appear to have worked out is $3.5 trillion, the planned pay-fors may include raising income tax rates for the wealthiest Americans and raising the minimum corporate tax rate, no one knows for sure because the bill hasn’t been written or made public yet.
And Joe Manchin’s answer was more taxes to “pay for” the spending. According to CBS News, Manchin told reporters he thought the legislation should be fully financed. "Everything should be paid for," Manchin said. "How much debt can y'all handle?"
Of course, the other way to not go into debt is not to spend, but that doesn’t give Joe Manchin any of your money to “compromise” with.
In our eyes Joe Manchin is no hero. He is, on the matters of taxes and spending, once more acting the part of the Judas Goat trying to lure enough dumb Republicans into voting for a bill that will result in higher taxes, less liberty and more government. The toll-free Capitol Switchboard is (1-866-220-0044) we urge CHQ readers and friends to call their Senators and Representative to demand they vote NO on any last-minute spending “compromises” proposed by Joe Manchin.
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Build Back Better