Filosofa Is Grrrrrrrrrrrrowling!

Posted on by under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

When I heard yesterday of so-called Democratic Senator Joe Manchin’s betrayal, I growled and damn near threw something (but, I’d just have to clean up the mess, so I held back).  Once again, Manchin seems to be the fly in the ointment, seems for all intents and purposes to be against the people of this nation, and in this case, against the entire human species!  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  It has led me to the idea for tomorrow’s music ♫ post – anybody have any guesses? (Hint:  think O’Jays)  Anyway, Greg Sargent of The Washington Post has a good take on the topic of Manchin’s perfidy, so let’s hear what he has to say …

The hidden absurdities behind Joe Manchin’s ugly new reversal

By Greg Sargent

Columnist

July 15, 2022

This will surprise only people who haven’t paid even cursory attention to the last year of Democratic politics, but Sen. Joe Manchin III may have just killed any hopes for a resuscitated version of the Democratic agenda.

The West Virginia Democrat reportedly told party leaders late Thursday that he won’t support any new incentives to combat climate change or any new tax hikes on corporations or the wealthy. The Post reports that in private talks, Manchin appeared close to a deal, only to renege at the last minute.

Yet as ludicrous as this turnaround is on its face, there are still more hidden absurdities behind the situation that show what a farce it has truly become. They turn on the specifics of what Manchin appeared to reject, and his inflation-related excuse for doing so, which amount to a display of towering bad faith.

First, a caveat: After those stories broke, Manchin claimed on Friday that he’s still open to a deal and wants to see July’s inflation numbers before deciding. So perhaps he just doesn’t want to act quite yet. But given all we’ve seen, let’s inaugurate the Manchin Rule: Until the senator actually shows he’s operating in good faith, we’ll presume otherwise.

The deal would have raised around $1 trillion in revenue from rolling back some of the 2017 GOP tax cuts. Half of that revenue would have gone to deficit reduction, and the other half would have gone mostly to funding the transition to green energy.

Also in the mix were provisions empowering Medicare to negotiate down prescription drug prices, which would produce substantial savings. Those could be used to continue funding expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire after originally passing in last year’s covid-19 rescue package.

But Manchin has rejected the tax hikes and the climate provisions. For now, he is open only to some kind of deal in which savings from the prescription drugs provisions fund expanded ACA subsidies.

By the way, the subsidies highlight another problem with Manchin’s position. Even if he does just want to delay another month, extending the subsidies this month is critical, because states will soon have to assume they’ll expire and send out notices of premium increases.

Regardless, how Manchin reached this point is hard to discern. As The Post reports, he has long supported tax reforms such as those being debated, yet he seemingly backed away from them, including a measure to close a loophole enjoyed by the very wealthy to sustain Medicare.

What’s more, Manchin is still reportedly telling people he wants to secure a few hundred billion dollars in deficit reduction. How he would do this without raising high-end taxes is unclear.

It gets worse. A Democrat briefed on the conversations says Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) sought to meet Manchin’s concerns about the climate provisions head-on.

This included reducing spending on green energy tax incentives to $375 billion, the Democrat says. It also included nixing incentives for electric vehicles, which Manchin had objected to as well.

And a Democratic aide tells me much of the legislative text on green tax incentives had been written, and haggling was down to minor points. Manchin’s turnaround floored those working on that text, given what had been happening only hours earlier.

A sympathetic reading of Manchin’s motives goes like this. As someone who represents a state that’s both deep red and relies on fossil fuels, he has understandably sought a balance. He’s open to the government facilitating innovation that aids the transition to green energy, but only if it does not inflict damage too quickly on the traditional energy sector or the people reliant on it.

But even so, the dropping of incentives for electric vehicles represents a big concession toward his values. After all, a transition away from gas-powered vehicles is an essential piece of cutting emissions at the pace necessary to minimize long-term risk.

Indeed, the package of climate incentives that still remains plainly falls within the parameters of the balanced approach he wants. That is, if Manchin — who has personally grown rich off the coal industry — means what he says.

Nor does Manchin’s own explanation make much sense. His spokesperson insists we must “adjust to the economic realities the country faces” and avoid “steps that add fuel to the inflation fire.”

But climate change is also a reality, and without something like this agenda, it may be impossible to come close to hitting climate targets scientists say are necessary to avoid disaster.

And how much would the package offered to Manchin actually increase inflation? Economist Dean Baker notes that half would go to deficit reduction, which Manchin wants, and the nixing of incentives for electrical vehicles removes another spending piece.

What’s more, Baker says, spending on ACA subsidies would be offset by less spending on prescription drugs. “It’s basically impossible to see how that would be inflationary,” Baker tells me.

Manchin is free to disagree with that, but he hasn’t offered a serious case that something like this package would disastrously fuel inflation. Nor has he meaningfully explained why whatever inflation it would allegedly produce is worse for the country than the climate future he’s consigning us to.

Instead, he’s betting the word “inflation” will simply turn off our critical faculties. We shouldn’t let that happen. The absurdities behind his position should be mercilessly exposed.

40 thoughts on “Filosofa Is Grrrrrrrrrrrrowling!”

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  3. The Republican Party and the republican wannabes in the Democratic Party all just are making the point that money rules their lives above all else including their own grandchildren down the line. They simply put money and power above all else. Manchin has enough money to live a complete life of luxury and ease right now, but he like many others, are driven to have more.
    And the sad thing is if half or more of the middle class and lower class given the same opportunity, they would do the same. Human nature is disgusting. We are our own worst enemy…we see it everyday everywhere for all time

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    • I agree, but I will never understand it. If I were to list the top five things I wish for in life, money would not be anywhere on the list. Human nature does disgust me, but then there are the exceptions, the ‘good people’ I write about on Wednesdays and others I know who would give their last dollar to a homeless person. So … what makes the difference? Upbringing? DNA? I wish we knew, for if we did, perhaps we could change the entire population for the better!

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  7. Sorry to hear, but it seems both parties have them. Dems have DINOs Joe Manchin & Kyrsten Sinema, Repugs’ RINOs: Lisa Murkowski, Liz Cheney.
    Ever party need independent thinkers who go against the grain i guess, to keep the party honest. If u have only Yes men, things can go wrong very quickly, ie Trump administration.
    Checks n’ balance implemented within any organization is generally good for the ppl overall.

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    • I don’t know that his obstruction is even politically motivated as much as it is personally motivated. After all, he stands to lose a LOT of money if the coal industry is shut down, and even more if taxes are raised on the wealthy! I think he’s thinking about himself first, and has forgotten his Oath of Office to the Constitution and to We the People.

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      • Hello Jill. Manchin also has a wealthy person’s contempt for the poor. He was against extending the 300-dollar child tax credit that had lifted over half the kids living in poverty out of it, because he said that the parent(s) would only use it for drugs anyway. He has also claimed that poor people are lazy and don’t want to work so there shouldn’t be unemployment. He refused to raise the minimum wage over 11 dollars and some cents because that was the maximum he paid some of his workers at a hotel he owns, and he did not want to pay them anything more. Like so many wealthy people he feels he is superior to others simply because he was lucky enough to get wealthy by using his connections and political office. And from the way I have heard clips of him talking I would say he is a racist. Hugs

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        • Oh yes, definitely! His state is among the poorest in the nation, and yet he votes consistently against the very things that would help them! He is, to put it bluntly, an arrogant snob! I’ve had enough of him and others like him … they have no place in a government that is supposed to be “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Sadly, there are too many just like him in Congress today. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he is a racist … seems like most rich, white people are. Sigh. Hugs

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  10. When does Manchin come up for re-election? I certainly hope he will be thrown out of the DNP, and forced to run as an Independent, or the Republican he actually is!

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    • Not ’til 2024. Sadly, the people of his state, West Virginia, likely applaud his moves, for it is a state whose economy is based almost entirely on coal. Sigh.

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      • Yeah, but he dhould not have the Democratic Party endorsement. He is far from veing even a centrist. Let him run for the FRITOS if they willhave him.

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