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The Manchin moment

The Manchin moment

In the near future, America will learn if West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is a statesman or just another hack politician.  

Manchin has made it clear that he opposes President Biden’s highly partisan and very expensive Reconciliation Bill on the grounds that it is too expensive and includes unacceptable programs.  He has also indicated that in view of Biden’s two previous multi-trillion-dollar packages, the federal spending machine should take a pause.  

He proposed that Congress and the President wait until the impact of the previous spending be determined before piling on trillions of more dollars that are likely to produce deficits, add to the National Debt and trigger serious inflation.

There is also a problem with the cost of the Reconciliation Bill and how it will be paid for.  Most independent analysis of the bill – as it is slowly being revealed – put the actual cost closer to $6 trillion – almost double the $3.5 trillion claimed by the White House.  And while Biden claims the cost is paid for, that is simply not true.  It is not true by real accounting and by the history of legislation to produce more expenses than promised and less revenue than promised.

Much of the so-called payment is based on increased taxes on corporations.  That is a scam.  Corporations do not pay taxes; they pass the cost on to the consumer.  Taxing corporations is literally a regressive tax on the people.

Manchin also said that he believes that anything of this scale MUST have bipartisan support.  It is politically perilous to fundamentally change the foundation of the American economic system, the federal form of government and a successful free-market economy for partisan political gain.

Whether one agrees with Manchin or not, it cannot be denied that he has clearly stated his principles and his concerns.  He would not bow to pressure to eliminate the filibuster for the sake of short-term partisan gains.  Because of that – and his efforts to reach across the aisle – the Senate was able to pass a trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill that deals with real infrastructure.

Unfortunately, that bill is being held hostage by the House Democrat progressive caucus in order to force passage of the BIG so-called “human infrastructure” bill.

If Manchin – and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema — maintain true to their convictions, Biden’s huge partisan Reconciliation Bill will go down to defeat.  If the left-wing Democrats in Congress successfully tie the two bills together – the Infrastructure Bill could fail, too.

That is because the House progressives will not support the Infrastructure Bill until the Senate passes the huge Reconciliation Bill.  Manchin has the ability and the reason to not allow the House to blackmail the Senate.  Manchin should not allow such legislative skullduggery.

Given the clarity of Manchin’s opinions on the legislation, there is no way he can support the Reconciliation Bill without rejecting his own principles.  It means all his statements over the past months were simply lies told for some crass bargaining advantage.  Manchin risks losing the integrity of a statesman only to reveal himself as just another partisan hack.  

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.

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