Just over 48 hours ago, I had posed a question on whether Senator Joe Manchin had the courage of his conviction to vote against Biden’s Build Back Better bill, withstanding the ensuing onslaught from irate progressives that would surly follow the fiasco.
On Sunday, Senator Manchin appeared on Fox News Sunday (minus Chris Wallace) and after months of speculation and negotiations, a measured and subdued Manchin had finally come to a final decision.
The West Virginia lawmaker, when asked by interim host Bret Baier if he would be able to support President Biden’s Build Back Better bill, responded that he could not support the $1.75 trillion package. The bill would surly increase the national debt and raise taxes on middle income wage earners, despite Biden’s claim that only those earning over $400,000 annually would see an increase in their taxes.
Manchin stated, “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.”
BREAKING: Joe Manchin on Build Back Better: “This is a no on this legislation.”
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) December 19, 2021
America has a dodged a serious bullet. BBB is dead.
Merry Christmas!
The Build Back Better legislation got shelved because it ignored both science and economics. Manchin did his homework and called them out. That's the entire story.
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) December 20, 2021
The White House and the “squad”, along with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (the true architect of the massive bill), quickly went public vilifying the moderate West Virginia legislator.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki immediately attacked Manchin’s credibility, suggesting that the 74 year-old lawmaker had somehow reneged on his promise to vote for the bill. Manchin had never publicly supported the bill, only pieces of legislation that he supported within the bill, but never the “price tag”.
Nevertheless, Psaki issued a blistering formal rebuke accusing Manchin of violating a commitment to continue engaging in talks over the legislation. “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,” Psaki wrote.
Psaki continued, suggesting that Manchin had brought the president a proposal last Tuesday that he would be able to support, stating it “was the same size and scope as the President’s framework, and covered many of the same priorities.” She added that the White House “believed it could lead to a compromise acceptable to all,” and that Manchin “promised to continue conversations in the days ahead, and to work with us to reach that common ground.”
“If Manchin’s comments Sunday signify an end to those talks”, Psaki wrote. “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.”
Meanwhile, infamous members of the “squad” and other House progressives took to social media blasting Manchin.
Rep. Pramila Javapal was one of the first House members to condemn Manchin’s decision.
“Today, Senator Manchin has betrayed his commitment not only to the President and Democrats in Congress but most importantly, to the American people,” Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in a statement. “He routinely touts that he is a man of his word, but he can no longer say that. West Virginians, and the country, see clearly who he is.”
Squad leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., also criticized Manchin, along with senate leaders within her party. “When a handful of us in the House warned this would happen if Dem leaders gave Manchin everything he wanted 1st by moving BIF before BBB instead of passing together, many ridiculed our position,” Ocasio-Cortez said on a series of tweets. “Maybe they’ll believe us next time. Or maybe people will just keep calling us naïve.”
A fired up Bernie Sanders also went public, appearing on CNN instructing his fellow Democrats to put Biden’s bill up for a vote, regardless of Manchin’s Sunday announcement and daring him to actually vote “no.”
Manchin is a principled moderate and has no future within the Democratic Party, which is now run by crazy American hating extremists. He should consider perhaps taking a page out of New Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew’s playbook and become a Republican. He would certainly be welcome.
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