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Manchin and Sinema should kill the Reconciliation Bill

Manchin and Sinema should kill the Reconciliation Bill

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has two problems with President Biden’s $3.5 trillion dollar Reconciliation Bill.  First is the total cost — and secondly the provisions in the Bill he will not support.

Arizona Senator Krysten Sinema has not detailed all her oppositions to the big Bill.  She does not like the size but has not been as specific as Manchin in indicating what her ceiling is or which provisions she will not support.

Manchin had notified Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer early on that he would not support a bill in excess of $1.5 trillion.  That has led to Washington-style speculation that a final compromise Bill would be in the $2.0 to $2.5 trillion range.  Manchin will come up from his ceiling, they assume.  But maybe not.  So far, he is sticking to his $1.5 trillion number.

This has put Vermont’s Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders into a frenzy.  And why not?  Sanders has wanted a $6 trillion package.  He considered the $3.5 trillion Bill as a final compromise.  On the other hand, Manchin may see his $1.5 trillion as a compromise from his initial position that only the bi-partisan physical Infrastructure Bill should be passed this year.  

Manchin proposed that the bigger Bill should be put on pause and not even considered until next year.  He said that Congress should wait until we can ascertain the effects of the initial $1.9 trillion Stimulus Bill that passed in January – and until the backlog of unspent money gets into the economy.  His point is well taken.  If Biden got all his proposals through Congress, that would be an expenditure of $6.4 trillion over the next ten years – and a lot more fuel to the inflation that is already raging.

It is only the astronomically high cost of the initial proposals that makes Manchin’s $1.5 trillion line-in-the-sand reasonable.  It is not.  It is still too much money spent for too many wrong reasons.  

On the other hand, a $1.5 trillion package is a defeat for the Biden and the Progressives agenda.  Oh, they will call it a great victory, but losing more than half of his proposal – and some of the core programs – is more of a defeat than a victory.  But it still gives Biden too much.

So, there ‘tis.

About The Author

Larry Horist

So, there ‘tis… The opinions, perspectives and analyses of businessman, conservative writer and political strategist Larry Horist. Larry has an extensive background in economics and public policy. For more than 40 years, he ran his own Chicago based consulting firm. His clients included such conservative icons as Steve Forbes and Milton Friedman. He has served as a consultant to the Nixon White House and travelled the country as a spokesman for President Reagan’s economic reforms. Larry professional emphasis has been on civil rights and education. He was consultant to both the Chicago and the Detroit boards of education, the Educational Choice Foundation, the Chicago Teachers Academy and the Chicago Academy for the Performing Arts. Larry has testified as an expert witness before numerous legislative bodies, including the U. S. Congress, and has lectured at colleges and universities, including Harvard, Northwestern and DePaul. He served as Executive Director of the City Club of Chicago, where he led a successful two-year campaign to save the historic Chicago Theatre from the wrecking ball. Larry has been a guest on hundreds of public affairs talk shows, and hosted his own program, “Chicago In Sight,” on WIND radio. An award-winning debater, his insightful and sometimes controversial commentaries have appeared on the editorial pages of newspapers across the nation. He is praised by audiences for his style, substance and sense of humor. Larry retired from his consulting business to devote his time to writing. His books include a humorous look at collecting, “The Acrapulators’ Guide”, and a more serious history of the Democratic Party’s role in de facto institutional racism, “Who Put Blacks in That PLACE? -- The Long Sad History of the Democratic Party’s Oppression of Black Americans ... to This Day”. Larry currently lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

2 Comments

  1. Joseph S. Bruder

    Both Manchin and Sinema seem to be holding out for their wealthiest contributors – Manchin wants nothing in the bill to do with global warming or any kind of energy efficiency bills. He’s from coal country, even if it’s a dying industry, harms or kills most of its employees, and there are clean energy alternatives that are already contributing more to his state. It’s in his DNA, and lining his pockets, and he’s not going to change.

    Sinema, on the other hand, ran as a progressive. Now that she’s in office, she’s taking the position that anything that taxes the rich is the worst possible outcome. I don’t know what to think about her – either she got a huge payoff (or maybe the promise of a future lush job-for-life) to represent the rich in Congress, or she was already a Republican in sheeps clothing lying and misrepresenting herself just to win an election.

    In truth, no candidate represents all constituents, no matter how much they try. They present their positions to the people, and whatever is closest to what most people want is what is chosen. Some candidates try to lie or even hide their obfuscate their positions to gain a little more of the vote share. Or they object to good legislation to make it look to the voters they disagree with like they’re with them.

    In the end, I think Manchin will cave. He’ll get some of the energy stuff removed from the bill, and the country will suffer for it. Since Sinema won’t actually say what she thinks except she’s protecting rich people, I think she will cave too. The bill is still going to pass in some form, and it’s still going to tax the wealthy in some form.

    I also believe that both Manchin and Sinema will pay the next time they’re up for re-electlion. No matter what they do, neither is going to get Republican support, and Democrats hate them. They’ll get killed off in primaries, and I think that Democrats can still win those seats back.

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