Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan appears to have hit a wall. That wall’s name is Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Manchin’s refusal to play along with the radical wing (comprising nearly the whole) of his party has sparked a backlash from nearly every quarter of the Democrat Party, including the White House. The Republican Party is seizing the moment by inviting Manchin to cross the aisle and join their ranks.
After indicating that he would try to find common ground and room for a negotiated compromise that would allow him to support Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill, Manchin seems to have come to the realization that for the Biden administration, the bill was an all-or-nothing proposition. There would be no negotiated compromise. On Sunday, the senator appeared on Fox News and told anchor Bret Baier that he was a solid “no” on the bill.
Manchin’s decision scuttles the plan — at least for now. While the Build Back Better bill passed in the House earlier this year, it needed all 50 Democrat votes in the Senate since no Senate Republicans support the bill.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued an official statement, which said, in part,
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.
Psaki went on to say that the administration would press forward with a campaign to pressure Mancin to change his mind, saying, “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.” Her statement included the requisite unfounded cheap shots appealing to emotion instead of facts, saying, “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.”
She also stated that the administration will continue to fight for “Build Back Better” — saying, “We will find a way to move forward next year.”
But the White House’s push may have had the exact opposite effect of what Psaki and her bosses intended.
Manchin fired back, saying:
They figured surely to God we can move one person. We surely can badger and beat one person up. Surely we can get enough protesters to make that person uncomfortable enough that they’ll just say, “OK, I’ll vote for anything.”
Well, guess what? I’m from West Virginia. I’m not from where they’re from [where] they can just beat the living crap out of people and think they’ll be submissive, period.
In response to the White House attack on his character, Manchin — who cited concerns over rising inflation and government debt among his reasons for standing against the bill — said, “I figured they would come back strong.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) fired his own salvo at Manchin, saying Monday, “The Senate will, in fact, consider the Build Back Better Act, very early in the new year so that every Member of this body has the opportunity to make their position known on the Senate floor, not just on television.”
Given that this issue shows that Manchin is out of step with the direction of his party, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told The Guy Benson Show that perhaps Manchin should consider crossing the aisle and joining the GOP. He said he was “shocked at the vitriol” aimed at Manchin by his own party over his principled stand on this one vote. He added, “And basically it seemed to me that they were calling Sen. Manchin a liar. I think that was not smart. This is a 50/50 Senate. It’s going to be 50/50 for another year, and believe me, this is not how I would handle a disappointing vote like that.”
And so, McConnell — never one to miss an opportunity to score political points — offered Manchin an invitation, saying, “He doesn’t fit well over there, but that is a decision ultimately that he has to make. We certainly welcome him to join us if he was so inclined.”
That defection is a long shot. Manchin appears to be solidly in the Democrat camp, this vote notwithstanding. In all likelihood, Manchin simply realizes that a “yes” vote on a bill that would rework huge swaths of the national fabric while plunging the economy into deeper debt and driving already high prices even higher would not play well with his constituency.
Manchin is not alone in reading the direction of the political winds. McConnell pointed out what many already seem to know: Democrats have pushed too far, too fast, and they are paying for it. “The American people have seen what true liberalism looks like. Actually, I’d say more accurately what socialism looks like, and we’re headed toward a very significant midterm election next year. And we should, in all likelihood, flip both the House and the Senate to the Republican Party,” he said.
