Joe Manchin: I Might Quit the Democrat Party

RedState has this quote from David Corn from Mother Jones:

In recent days, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) has told associates that he is considering leaving the Democratic Party if President Joe Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill do not agree to his demand to cut the size of the social infrastructure bill from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion, according to people who have heard Manchin discuss this. Manchin has said that if this were to happen, he would declare himself an "American Independent." And he has devised a detailed exit strategy for his departure.

Manchin also said he would not support any Green New Deal tax on carbon:

Manu Raju @mkraju

Manchin tells a group of us he's NOT in favor of a carbon tax. And that's not being discussed right now. Says he wants infrastructure billl passed and talks ongoing

"No, no we are not talking about that," Manchin said. He added later: "A carbon tax is not on the board at all."

Democrat Senator Jon Tester also said he wasn't sold on a carbon tax.

Note that the Democrats' spending plans also include huge tax increases. And it's the tax increases which give them the space to claim the spending will not add to the deficit. If the taxes are cut, then the spending must be cut as well.

At least, a naive person would imagine that. A less naive person would say the Democrats would just keep their spending at historic levels and add to the deficit and just stop saying the bill will not add to the deficit.

A non-naive person would say they'll spend, add to the deficit, but continue to insist the bill does not add to the deficit anyway, knowing the DNC operatives in the media will never contradict them.

Democrats have suddenly lowered their demand from $3.5 trillion to a mere $2 trillion.

Maybe due to realizing that Manchin isn't budging, and if he does budge, it's to abandon the party.

"We're getting there. The gaps are closing. The vibe in our caucus is different. Folks are being more clear-eyed about: 'We've got to get this done,'" said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who is close to Biden. "There's a lot of reasons why these next 10 days are critical. To chip shot this into December is really, really problematic."

Democrats are also getting more specific, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) tossing a carbon tax and a green utilities program overboard while insisting on means testing much of the bill. Biden also told progressives Tuesday that an expanded boost to the child tax credit could be made shorter and that free community college could be jettisoned.

Biden's price tag for the bill at the moment is around $2 trillion and he wants to lock down an agreement before heading overseas at the end of this month for climate talks, according to Democrats familiar with Tuesday's discussions.

And, from the weekend: Maria Batiromo says she's hearing that Nancy Pelosi intends this "Human infrastructure" bill to be her last great triumph, and that she'll announce her resignation after it passes.

I don't know. I figure she's a My Cold Dead Cryptkeeper Handjob Hands type of gal.

posted by Ace at 02:44 PM

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