By Denny Gulino
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The shock wave from what many Democrats see as Sunday’s betrayal by their own Sen. Joe Manchin, killing the Build Back Better bill supporting Democratic hopes for next year’s mid-term elections, triggered anger and despondency on one side of the aisle and rejoicing and hallelujahs on the other side.
That Manchin chose to make his blockbuster announcement on the Fox network added what many Democrats considered to add deep insult to shockingly sudden injury.
“If I can’t go home and explain it to the people of West Virginia, I can’t vote for it. And I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can’t,” were the words Manchin dropped on Fox News Sunday’s moderator, Brett Baier.
“You’re done? This is – a no?” a surprised Baier asked. From the viewpoint of a news purveyor, this was a bombshell that Baier could only dream of as he made a debut performance as a follow-on to Chris Wallace, who jumped to CNN the week before, having missed out on such a breakthrough story.
From a political perspective, using Fox to trigger a partisan earthquake under the White House was an unexpected blow on many levels. Only days before Manchin had presented President Biden with an alternative to Build Back Better that cost less, $1.25 trillion, accomplished less yet offered the hope of getting something done.
The White House had already been rocked by having to swallow a failure to get the legislation done before Christmas in the Senate.
The immediate reaction from White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki used uncharacteristically sharp language, unprecedented for the Biden White House when addressing the actions of a Democratic senator. And it wasn’t brief.
“Senator Manchin’s comments this morning on FOX are at odds with his discussions this week with the president,” she wrote. “Weeks ago, Sen. Manchin committed to the president, at his home in Wilmington, to support the Build Back Better framework.”
“At his home in Wilmington” were words that seemed to make Manchin’s move a personal jab at the president. Psaki countered Manchin’s arguments that the measure’s expansive spending would only exacerbate inflation and said his assertions about its climate provisions “are wrong,”
“Maybe Sen. 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,” she said.
After essentially calling Manchin a heartless liar, in a statement tinged with bitterness, Psaki ended the statement saying, despite Manchin and his crucial missing vote, “We will find a way to move forward next year.”
The cascade of similarly worded denunciations of Manchin from Democratic lawmakers soon followed Manchin’s cratering of Build Back Better. An independent who votes with Democrats, Sen. Bernie Sanders, over on CNN, said, “I hope that we will bring a strong bill to the floor of the Senate as soon as we can and let Mr. Manchin explain to the people of West Virginia why he doesn’t have the guts to stand up to the powerful special interests.” Manchin, who earns millions through various coal industry ventures, has repeated the citizens of his state hate expanding fiscal deficits more than they appreciate benefiting from expansive government spending.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was among the many Republicans who viewed Manchin’s declaration to be an early Christmas gift. “I very much appreciate Senator Manchin’s decision not to support Build Back Better, which stems from his understanding of the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the bill,” he said.
Another Republican, Sen. John Cornyn, tweeted, “Christmas has come early for all the hardworking Texas families that would have been saddled with higher taxes, child care costs, & prices at the pump if Build Back Bankrupt had passed.”
Senate Minority Whip John Thune tweeted, “Let’s leave Biden’s reckless tax-and-spending spree on the ash heap of history and put our nation on a path toward prosperity and personal freedom – not socialism and government overreach.”
The CBO had extrapolated what the BBB’s provisions would cost if all were extended 10 years and found hundreds of billions in additional deficits. The White House called it a “fake” analysis of provisions not yet reduced to legislative language and therefore invalid.
The Twitter torrent of criticism and support continued through Sunday. Democrat Rep Barbara Lee at first tweeted that 350,000 West Virginia children “will be deprived of food, clothes and more.” She then issued a lengthy statement agreeing with Sen. Sanders, saying a bill should be brought to the Senate floor anyway so everyone can see Manchin vote no.
Progressive Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal had relented, backing the effort to separately pass the bipartisan “hard” infrastructure bill after many of her colleagues had insisted it be kept as leverage tied to BBB in the House, saying she believed President Biden would eventually bring Manchin around.
“Senator Manchin has betrayed his commitment not only to the president and Democrats in Congress but most importantly, to the American people.,” she said Sunday. “He routinely touts that he is a man of his word, but he can no longer say that.”
CNN’s Jim Acosta summed it up, saying Manchin not only put a lump of coal in Biden’s stocking, but “a whole West Virginia coal mine.”
For those asking “Now what?’ the path ahead for the White House is fraught with pitfalls. Republicans will mock the president for his failure, Democrats are likely to be fighting each other over relinquishing the leverage they could have retained had they kept the bipartisan infrastructure bill hostage that Biden had urged be passed.
The remaining Democratic optimists looked to perhaps getting Manchin to offer the White House his vote for voting rights legislation, a measure which could help stem the tide of Republican alterations in voting laws across the country.
But all the legislative hills President Biden has yet to climb have now gotten steeper as Republicans brag they, with Manchin’s help, have killed any White House momentum toward building a legacy of major accomplishment.
Contact this reporter: denny@macenews.com
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