U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill yesterday that the “unbelievable” Republican victories in Virginia’s statewide elections Tuesday (the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General seats, and the State House of Delegates majority all flipped from Democrat to Republican), show he is right to oppose the “Build Back Better” Act moving too quickly through Congress.
Manchin, who supports both coal and nuclear power, was an architect of the “bipartisan infrastructure bill”, which he and several other Senators pulled out of Biden’s original, monstrous, $6 trillion plan (mocked as “the Green Hyperinflation Act of 2021”) so that something creating productive employment could be passed. It included Federal subsidies to keep nuclear plants open around the country. The infrastructure bill passed the Senate, but President Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and the House Progressive Caucus blocked it in the House, holding it hostage to the Green Hyperinflater. No productive jobs have been created, the entire U.S. transportation network and parts of the electricity grid have cracked, hyperinflation has broken out. Thus, the Virginia and New Jersey election results are significant.
Manchin told The Hill that newly-elected Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s win in a state Biden won by ten points in 2020 underlines the need for the House to pass the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, now held up by “Progressives”.
Manchin said people outside of Washington are nervous, because the negotiations on the tax portion of the bill have taken place mostly in secret, and, “We’re talking about revamping the whole, entire tax code. That’s mammoth. We’ve had no hearings, no open hearings. They’re scared to death.” He argued, of the infrastructure bill, “That’s something that’s proven,” and has bipartisan support. Manchin added that Democratic leaders can’t ignore people’s concerns about overspending and inflation, and try to make up for it by plowing federal money into new social programs. “We need to be cognizant of that.… We’ve got to be very careful.”
