The one news story I did keep up with over the weekend was on Sen. Joe Manchin's scandalous betrayal of his president, party, home state and, above all, country. To announce his betrayal on the nation's anti-democracy network was only fitting; for Joe there was no place like home: "Fox News Sunday."
When President Biden campaigned on his ability to work across the impassable aisle — a mere bobble for the bipartisanship-loving masses — I doubt he ever imagined that his real problem would be one man in his own party. Who also just happens to be a liar.
In Sen. Manchin's words, "I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation, I just can't.... This is a no." His stated reasons? Inflation, a fresh coronavirus variant, and the growing national debt. Not one of them is valid, and given all the information a U.S. senator has on hand, he knew better.
Inflation has stabilized, there are some signs it's decreasing, and the Fed — possibly prematurely — is already taking steps to rein it in. The Build Back Better plan was not economic stimulus, as March's $1.9 trillion pandemic package was often framed, and which Manchin voted for. Some of BBB's money, such as the expanded child tax credit, would go directly into people's pockets, but the rest would take time to filter through the economy, such as spending on universal preK.
Manchin's home state needed BBB's social benefits more than most, which of course are now closely related to the pandemic. In 2020, West Virginia ranked 47th in healthcare and 45th in education. His state did score well in one ranking: It had the 6th highest poverty rate — before the covid pandemic. Well done, Senator.
Nationally, with respect to the coronavirus, Sen. Ron Wyden observed: "I’m concerned that you’re going to have many, many vulnerable Americans, Americans with young children for example, falling between the cracks. January looks like a tough month with respect to omicron." Manchin's murder of BBB meant the end of federal payments to roughly 35 million American families with children. The last checks were sent last Wednesday. So, Merry Christmas, America.
As for red ink, did Manchin vote against the infrastructure bill? Did he vote against the latest defense authorization? Both of which expanded the federal debt? You know the answers. When it comes to lying's close cousin, hypocrisy, Manchin's reaches Republicans' megaproportions.
To cut Manchin some slack he doesn't deserve, some of this one-man clusterfuck is actually a threesome. I shall never understand why President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer failed to break up the massive BBB bill weeks or even months ago, pass pieces of it throughout next year — a far simpler political challenge for Manchin (in FY2022, for instance, BBB's child care package totaled only $24 billion) — and, in the interim, work on blocking Republican efforts to outright steal coming elections.
Meanwhile, this "transformational" presidency is on hold — Build Back Better having been its centerpiece. I also never bought into that premature legacy-making. BBB was the Holy Grail of Biden's agenda; the left played it up as "transformational," and the press went along with it. But Biden's majorities were always too small, the left's eyes always too big, and Manchin was the wrench in it all.
Perhaps the president can still be transformational, however, in a defensive kind of way. If he can now persuade Manchin to jerry rig the filibuster and then deny Republicans' machinations to deny the will of voters, that would be one for the history books — a sort of anti-transformation achievement for the ages.