President Manchin Finally Kills The Bill

Merry Christmas to Joe Biden, as President Manchin went on FOX News this morning to announce he will now vote against the Build Back Better plan, effectively killing the legislation.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said he will not be voting for President Biden's Build Back Better Act on Sunday, citing his continued concerns on inflation.

Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Manchin said his concerns surrounding the massive social spending and climate bill have not been assuaged.

"I've always said this Brett, if I can't go home and explain to the people of West Virginia I can't vote for and I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't. I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there," Manchin told host Bret Baier.

"This is a no."

 

This is not only Manchin saying he's a no right now, this is Manchin giving up on getting to yes.

 

He's prepared to be the bad guy here, along with all 50 Republican senators.

 

So what happens now?  There certainly won't be a vote on the bill with Manchin a hard no now, and if you noticed, I called this months ago. Once the Senate infrastructure bill was passed and signed into law, Manchin was going to kill the BBB bill. He went on FOX News Sunday specifically to drive the knife in Biden's back.

Biden won't give up completely, but at this point any more cuts in the legislation destroys its chances completely in the House, which is the point. Ideally for Manchin, the chopped bill ends up failing on the House floor, and the game ends where House Progressives are the bad guys for making the good the enemy of the perfect.

 

Again, the real bad guys are the GOP, but Manchin benefits personally from joining them here.  His nuclear option of switching parties remains in play, too. He was always holding the high hand, and he played it to perfection. Dems need to operate under the assumption that they need 52 Senate seats in 2022, minimum. The only way to remove Manchin's (and Sinema's)  power is to make his vote symbolic and irrelevant to passing actual legislation.

It's still possible that Manchin does cut some sort of deal with one or two "priorities" but of course those will be fashioned the way President Manchin wants. Again, the most likely outcome is "nothing." Manchin's position is untenable with 48 other Democrats. He got 100% of what he wanted in the Senate bill he helped create five months ago. Everything else has been kabuki.

But the Biden administration is making it very clear that there's not going to be a deal soon, if ever.

Senator Manchin’s comments this morning on FOX are at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances. Weeks ago, Senator Manchin committed to the President, at his home in Wilmington, to support the Build Back Better framework that the President then subsequently announced. Senator Manchin pledged repeatedly to negotiate on finalizing that framework “in good faith.”

 

On Tuesday of this week, Senator Manchin came to the White House and submitted—to the President, in person, directly—a written outline for a Build Back Better bill that was the same size and scope as the President’s framework, and covered many of the same priorities. While that framework was missing key priorities, we believed it could lead to a compromise acceptable to all. Senator Manchin promised to continue conversations in the days ahead, and to work with us to reach that common ground. If his comments on FOX and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate.

 

Senator Manchin claims that this change of position is related to inflation, but the think tank he often cites on Build Back Better—the Penn Wharton Budget Institute—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, in the long run, the policies it includes will ease inflationary pressures. Many leading economists with whom Senator Manchin frequently consults also support Build Back Better.

Build Back Better lowers costs that families pay. It will reduce what families pay for child care. It will reduce what they pay for prescription drugs. It will lower health care premiums. And it puts a tax cut in the pockets of families with kids. If someone is concerned about the impact that higher prices are having on families, this bill gives them a break. Senator Manchin cited deficit concerns in his statement. But the plan is fully paid for, is the most fiscally responsible major bill that Congress has considered in years, and reduces the deficit in the long run. 

The Congressional Budget Office report that the Senator cites analyzed an unfunded extension of Build Back Better. That’s not what the President has proposed, not the bill the Senate would vote on, and not what the President would support. Senator Manchin knows that: The President has told him that repeatedly, including this week, face to face. Likewise, Senator Manchin’s statement about the climate provisions in Build Back Better are wrong. Build Back Better will produce a job-creating clean energy future for this country—including West Virginia.

Just as Senator Manchin reversed his position on Build Back Better this morning, we will continue to press him to see if he will reverse his position yet again, to honor his prior commitments and be true to his word.

In the meantime, Senator Manchin will have to explain to those families paying $1,000 a month for insulin why they need to keep paying that, instead of $35 for that vital medicine. He will have to explain to the nearly two million women who would get the affordable day care they need to return to work why he opposes a plan to get them the help they need. Maybe Senator Manchin can explain to the millions of children who have been lifted out of poverty, in part due to the Child Tax Credit, why he wants to end a program that is helping achieve this milestone—we cannot.

 

I was right all along, folks. The bill as it is now is dead. If the BBB passes at all, it will be much smaller.

Anyone surprised at coal in everyone's stocking from the coal state senator was never paying attention.

Nobody say that you weren't warned.