“This is Crazy on so Many Different Levels. Joe Manchin was a hero.”    

Democrat Senator Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Manchin, has flip-flopped back and forth several times on whether he will support the Democrats’ massive spending package, which Republicans are labeling the “Build Back Broke” plan.

After killing Build Back Better in January, Democrats were left to figure out what it would take for Manchin to cast a vote for. The centrist Democratic West Virginia senator seemed to have a few crucial conversations that convinced him  — or perhaps to make a ‘deal.’

Manchin’s resistance has been a primary obstacle all along. Before this most recent flip, Manchin was adamant that he refused to endorse and vote for any bill with provisions for the climate and energy.

Why did  Democrat Senator Manchin of West Virginia abruptly reverse course and come out in favor of the latest massive spending plan?

The New York Times headline on Aug 1, 2022, read:

To cement the senator’s support for a climate and tax package, party leaders promised to pass a law to complete the line and to prioritize some other fossil fuel projects.

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It was not clear what had changed Mr. Manchin’s mind since he said not even two weeks ago that he could not support such a package until he saw inflation numbers for July, which are not scheduled to be issued for two more weeks. But quiet negotiations had resumed between Mr. Manchin, Mr. Schumer and their staffs in recent days, according to a person familiar with the talks.

The abrupt announcement came only hours after passage of a huge industrial policy bill aimed at bolstering American competitiveness with China that Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, had said he would never support as long as Democrats continued their efforts to push through their marquee domestic policy bill over G.O.P. opposition. But that legislation still needs to clear the House, and Republican leaders in that chamber said they would instruct their ranks to oppose it after news of the deal.

“The Pipeline Payoff”

Prior to the start of the video clip below from Jesse Watters Primetime, Watters stated:

“The Pipeline payoff. Wait a second. I thought Democrats hated pipelines……. So I guess the Democrats only support pipelines if they can be used for political bribes. Right? Because they got rid of the Keystone pipeline because that wasn’t worth anything. So, here we have the new pipeline to West Virginia so we can get the Green New Deal.

Kellyanne Conway slams Joe Manchin for his backslide on spending bill:

In the video clip below, Kellyanne Conway called out Sen. Joe Manchin for counteracting everything he stood against in Build Back Better by voting for this new spending bill and how Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., has the opportunity to save the bill from passing on “Jesse Watters Primetime.”

KELLYANNE CONWAY: 

This is crazy on so many different levels. Joe Manchin was a hero to people, particularly on the Right and the center, for standing in the breach of this crazy $3.5 trillion Build Back Better nonsense, and now he’s revived some of the more odious and onerous pieces of it just to get — drum roll, please — a pipeline. This has been held up by environmental groups and the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals also has upheld their concerns. Do you know if they build this pipeline — I read today goes for the Marcellus Shale in West Virginia, but it goes across about a thousand streams and rivers. And it is so interesting because, as you know, if the federal government sees a puddle on your property, they can sort of swoop in and say, “No, you cannot do anything.”

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

During his latest “My Take” Tuesday, “Varney & Co.” host Stuart Varney discusses the reason behind Manchin “caving” on the Democrats’ spending bill, arguing the West Virginia senator said “yes” to massive tax increases and spending in return for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

STUART VARNEY: 

When Senator Manchin abruptly reversed course and came out in favor of the latest massive spending plan, we all wanted to know why he’d done it.

Well, now we know: Manchin caved to get a pipeline for his own state! 

He’s saying yes to a massive tax increase on business and yes to massive new spending in return for a yes on the Mountain Valley Pipeline. 

It had been held up, but now, Manchin got an agreement to overturn any regulatory or court hold-ups. 

It will carry nat gas from West Virginia to neighboring Virginia.

We can’t have the Keystone Pipeline, but Senator Manchin knows how to bring home the bacon for West Virginia.

Or does he?

Couple of points:

First, the tax and spend bonanza is not a done deal. 

It has to be rushed through the Senate by Friday night before the Senate goes on summer vacation. 

Every Democrat has to be there to vote in person, no COVID absences allowed, and we have yet to hear from Senator Sinema.

There’s no certainty that Senator Manchin will get his pipeline. 

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That part of the deal will be considered separately after the big tax and spend bill! 

The greens could easily turn round and dupe Manchin ’cause they are dead set against pipelines.

One last point: the bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation says corporations will pass along their tax increase to consumers, so everyone will pay more, and that includes the low-income workers in West Virginia.

I’ll say it again: The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is a mish-mash of bad policy. Kill it, please.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

The surprise reconciliation bill unveiled this week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin abandons many of the tax promises made by Biden in the early days of his presidency.

Manchin bill would raise taxes on the middle class, analysis shows, as the U.S. economy enters technical recession.

As the United States enters a recession following two-quarters of negative growth, Sen. Joe Manchin is disputing data that shows his bill would raise taxes on the middle class during such a tough economy.

“We have to agree to disagree, a difference of opinion,” Manchin, D-W.Va., said when asked by Fox News Digital about analysis from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation showing his bill would hike middle-class taxes.

The committee’s analysis said Manchin’s bill, officially titled the “Inflation Reduction Act,” would raise 2023 taxes on six of eight income categories lower than $200,000.

“There’s not one penny of change in taxes; I have no idea where they’re coming down,” Manchin said. “The only thing that was done… if you are a company of a billion dollars or more… you should pay at least a minimum of 15%.”

Manchin further said, “I can’t believe that they would say” the bill would affect average Americans’ taxes.

“It’s not going to affect… not at all,” he said.

It is unclear whether this particular tax proposal will make it into the final legislation. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., is a crucial vote in the 50-50 Senate and, in the past, declined to support ending the break for carried interest.

On Aug 2, 2022, Sen. Joe Manchin told MSNBC he would meet with Sen. Krysten Sinema, D-Ariz. “this afternoon” as Senate Democrats aim to pass a climate, tax, and health care bill that the Arizona senator has not yet committed to supporting. Sen. Manchin went on to say that Sen. Sinema had “contributed a lot” to elements of the legislation but added that every senator “makes their own mind up.”  

Senate Republicans say they’re planning to pull out all the stops to prevent the Democrats from moving a sweeping tax reform bill through the chamber and to the House and President Biden,  The Hill reported on Wednesday.

Moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is undecided on the Democrats’ tax bill.

Senator Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, has been another holdout on her party’s domestic policy measure.

Republicans are strategizing and laying the groundwork to make things as difficult for Democrats as possible. They are reaching out to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who has yet to back the deal legislation, known as the Inflation Reduction Act. Democrats cannot afford a single defection in their ranks as they use a special budget process to get around a GOP filibuster.

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Sinema has yet to back the legislation, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, and Democrats cannot afford a single defection in their ranks as they use a special budget process to get around a GOP filibuster.

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