After West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin went on Fox News Sunday to announce he would not support President Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Plan, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued a stinging rebuke of Manchin:
On Tuesday of this week, Senator Manchin came to the White House and submitted—to the President, in person, directly—a written outline for a Build Back Better bill that was the same size and scope as the President’s framework, and covered many of the same priorities. While that framework was missing key priorities, we believed it could lead to a compromise acceptable to all. Senator Manchin promised to continue conversations in the days ahead, and to work with us to reach that common ground. If his comments on FOX and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate.
The Biden Administration is saying that Manchin was bargaining in bad faith. In short, they called him a liar. But this is perhaps the most interesting passage of the entire statement:
Just as Senator Manchin reversed his position on Build Back Better this morning, we will continue to press him to see if he will reverse his position yet again, to honor his prior commitments and be true to his word.
The Biden White House had to keep that door open because otherwise their domestic political agenda ends today although Jonathan Chait thinks Manchin is still negotiating. Even if Chait is right it is hard to see how Biden can ever trust Manchin's word again. They have already declared Manchin not to be true to his word and have shown him to be untrustworthy. For all the trouble Manchin has caused chances are he won't run for re-election in 2024 anyway.
Unless the Biden Administration is prepared to offer Manchin a tanker full of federal money or persuade a Republican Senator to go rogue (which is highly unlikely) then BBB is dead and done. Which means Biden will have to spend between now and midterm elections trying to implement BBB in a piecemeal fashion (which is also highly unlikely because it would likely not pass without reconciliation) while selling the hell out of the American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure Bill and the vaccine rollout. Amid all this we still have Donald Trump and numerous Republican officials unwilling to acknowledge that Biden is President of the United States in the first place. All of which explains why Americans cannot have good things.
No comments:
Post a Comment