Manchin Drops The Hammer
After weeks of speculation about the position of Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), the Senator made the following statement about the proposed $3.5 trillion dollars worth of Biden’s new spending:
“Every Member of Congress has a solemn duty to vote for what they believe is best for the country and the American people, not their party,” Manchin said. “Respectfully, as I have said for months, I can’t support $3.5 trillion more in spending when we have already spent $5.4 trillion since last March. At some point, all of us, regardless of party must ask the simple question — how much is enough?
“What I have made clear to the President and Democratic leaders is that spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can’t even pay for the essential social programs, like Social Security and Medicare, is the definition of fiscal insanity. Suggesting that spending trillions more will not have an impact on inflation ignores the everyday reality that America’s families continue to pay an unavoidable inflation tax.
“Proposing an historic expansion of social programs while ignoring the fact we are not in a recession and that millions of jobs remain open will only feed a dysfunction that could weaken our economic recovery. This is the shared reality we all now face, and it is this reality that must shape the future decisions that we, as elected leaders, must make.”
“While I am hopeful that common ground can be found that would result in another historic investment in our nation, I cannot — and will not — support trillions in spending or an all or nothing approach that ignores the brutal fiscal reality our nation faces,” Manchin said. “There is a better way and I believe we can find it if we are willing to continue to negotiate in good faith.
“If there is one final lesson that will continue to guide me in this difficult debate ahead it is this: America is a great nation but great nations throughout history have been weakened by careless spending and bad policies. Now, more than ever, we must work together to avoid these fatal mistakes so that we may fulfill our greatest responsibility as elected leaders and pass on a better America to the next generation.”
We applaud Senator Manchin’s courage and common sense. The fact we could be inches from fiscal disaster is a testament to the insanity of the current Democrat Party. What will be the position of Senator Sinema from our state? She now has political cover to vote NO as well. While it takes less courage than Manchin just displayed, it would be nice to see more moderate Democrat voices be heard.
Manchin is absolutely correct that we cannot pay for our current commitments, with both Medicare and Social Security just a few years from insolvency. He is also correct that inflation, or depreciation of the currency, is a form of tax, and a very regressive tax we might add that particularly hurts the poor that don’t own appreciating assets like stocks and real estate.
There likely will still be a fight over the debt limit. Democrats have steamrolled Republicans as they try to pass essentially 100 bills wrapped in one giant appropriations measure and Republicans need to stand up and resist further spending by not voting for a higher debt ceiling. As Senator Kennedy points out in the accompanying video on this site, the Democrats can raise the debt limit all by themselves. Republicans should resist so the Democrats own these tax increases, inflation, and economic instability that will follow their wild spending. Besides, the President says all this spending does not cost anything. Therefore, under his own twisted logic, a hike in the debt ceiling is not necessary.
