I hope President Biden is seething at Senator Joe Manchin after he called a press conference today to sandbag the now $1.75 trillion reconciliation spending bill. Mind you, this is is the same reconciliation bill that was once $3.5 trillion and was cut in half essentially to mollify Manchin. Conveniently (or not so conveniently for the White House) Manchin did this while Biden was out of the country at the G20 Summit in Rome.
For her part, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement indicating that the President's aides "remain confident that the plan will gain Senator Manchin’s support." But she made no mention of what Biden himself thought. I hope it's because Biden is planning to read Manchin the Riot Act. After all, Biden was elected in no small part because of his competence, his ability to govern and get back life back in working order. Instead, we have this putz from West Virginia and someone from Arizona who looks like she walked out of a Scooby-Doo cartoon doing everything they can to make sure Donald Trump returns to the White House.
It's time for Biden to get pissed off and lay down the law to Manchin. After Biden hits Manchin with some sticks then he can get Chuck Schumer to give West Virginia a few carrots to soften the blow. But Biden had better act fast because not only his presidency on the line but our present livelihood and our democracy's very existence. If Biden doesn't get Manchin in line not only will he not build back better, he won't be able to build back anything at all.
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