Joe Manchin, the corporate shill in Democrat clothing who is a U.S. Senator from West Virginia is, among other things, a big fat liar and plainly dishonest to his constituents and all Americans.
In another power play, Manchin carpet-bombed multiple Sunday shows last weekend to de facto declare himself King of the Senate and that it is he who will dictate policy to President Biden, all Congressional Democrats and all of the American people. He set up this suspiciously coordinated media campaign with an editorial published in The Wall Street Journal. From NBC News:
Writing in the Wall Street Journal opinion section, the West Virginia Democrat called on his party to hit “a strategic pause” on the legislation, rejecting the idea of “artificial political deadlines” to advance it.
“I, for one, won’t support a $3.5 trillion bill, or anywhere near that level of additional spending, without greater clarity about why Congress chooses to ignore the serious effects inflation and debt have on existing government programs,” Manchin wrote.
Let’s begin with the simple proof that Manchin is outright lying and clearly advancing the agenda of the corporations and the wealthy who have bought his loyalty.
Manchin’s main bogus complaint about the reconciliation budget bill is that it will balloon the federal deficit and exacerbate inflation. And yet, the reality is that Dems are crafting changes to tax law that will fully fund the $3.5 trillion and NOT add to the national debt thus not impacting inflation. And Manchin knows this which is why his lies are so egregious.
House Democrats propose new tax hikes to pay for their $3.5 trillion bill: Here are the details
House Democrats outlined tax increases they aim to use to offset up to $3.5 trillion in spending on the social safety net and climate policy.
The proposal includes top corporate and individual tax rates of 26.5% and 39.6%, respectively.
The tax plans could change as Democrats try to craft and pass a final bill in coming weeks.
To be clear, Manchin knows that this is the plan yet he plainly lies that this is wholly a deficit spending plan. He knows Dems have been working to make the bill pay for itself because he has been an intimate part of the discussions. This phony “concern” of Manchin’s is purely a smokescreen to cover his real motives for trying to dictate the terms of the bill and position himself as the most powerful politician in DC.
With any doubt about Manchin’s dishonesty now dissolved, the next question is, why is he showboating about undermining the reconciliation bill and depriving Americans of critically needed support?
First, as mentioned above, Manchin knows he can jack up his price with his corporate bosses the more that he displays how powerful he is in The Senate and Congress as well as how this high profile will impress voters in WV when re-election time comes around again.
Second, he knows his corporate bosses will reward him for blocking the Senate on raising taxes on their corporations and themselves as the wealthiest 1%.
Third, Climate Change provisions were stripped out of the bipartisan infrastructure bill with the pragmatism and recognition by Dems that they could instead add them into the reconciliation bill to pass that bipartisan bill. Manchin not only represents a state and corporations that are entrenched in the dirty fossil fuels business but Manchin himself directly profits from the same polluting industry as a share owner in a coal business! His conflict of interest should be a furiously waving red flag about how dishonest and corrupt Manchin is.
Joe Manchin Makes $500K a Year From One of the Dirtiest Coal Plants in West Virginia
Joe Manchin, the conservative Democrat from West Virginia who is the linchpin of his party’s climate agenda, made nearly $500,000 from one of the most polluting coal power plants in West Virginia last year alone. According to his most recent financial disclosure, Manchin gained $492,000 last year due to his non-public shares in a coal company called Enersystems, which records show is a contractor for a power plant in the state’s north that burns waste coal. Advertisement
Meanwhile, Manchin’s 2020 income for being a senator was $174,000. “He’s making more than twice as much selling coal as he is serving as a representative,” said Jim Kotcon, the conservation chair of the West Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club.
Lastly, one important provision in the draft bill is allowing Medicare to bargain with drug companies to greatly reduce the cost of medicine to all folks on Medicare which is also predicted to lower costs as well for people of all ages on private insurance. Manchin’s daughter, Heather Bresch, was installed as CEO of the pharmaceutical company, Mylan (now called Viatris), in what appears to be a wholly political scheme, not on merit and involving fraud on Bresch’s part. She is now infamous for raising the price of insulin by 600% through the company’s monopoly and personally profiting from the terrible hardships and deaths she caused, earning over $113 million before leaving the company after a merger in 2020.
Can anyone deny with a straight face that Manchin doesn’t feel a loyalty to the company and industry that made his daughter so obscenely wealthy (for assaulting the health and well-being of children especially but adults as well who needed insulin)?
The acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree. Bresch is an unprincipled and corrupt creature who didn’t care about all the innocent people whose lives she devastated in her pursuit to enrich herself. Joe must say to himself, “Now there’s a chip off the ol’ block.”
West Virginia, the state Manchin represents, is a desperately poor and needy state. And Manchin’s cruelty towards their critical needs to benefit himself is nothing less than disgusting. WV literally ranks 50th out of all 50 states in quality of infrastructure. At the absolute bottom of the list and Manchin cruelly declares, they can wait, why the rush?
Here are more rankings for WV. Consider how long poverty has been decimating WV and how awful Manchin’s greed and ego are that he would wave off helping his voters to elevate his image and feather his own stinking nest.
THE WORST RANKINGS FOR WEST VIRGINIA – PER US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT
- Health Care #47
- Education#45
- Economy#48
- Infrastructure#50
- Public Health #50
- Higher Education #47
- Business Environment#50
- Employment #48
- Internet Access#49
- Transportation #49
- Economic Opportunity #47
You get the idea. West Virginia has been and is in really bad shape. They need help badly yet Manchin wants to take a “pause”? This is a well-known tactic for killing a bill or forcing a huge compromise because momentum is critical in getting something passed in Congress and a pause would destroy all momentum. Manchin is making an overt threat to his fellow Senators who know exactly what he’s trying to do. It’s Manchin declaring to Congress, “My way or the highway”.
But can Manchin get away with this? Not if his corruption is exposed, not if his lies and bad faith are exposed. Manchin shouldn’t be left with any of his lies left standing. Without them, his cover is blown. Then he should be cornered with either getting on board or taking the fall for blocking trillions of dollars of physical and human infrastructure spending. facing that, he will collapse like pharma stock prices should after their price gouging is ended.
Dems need to call his bluff because like any bully, he is a coward at heart. I don’t think he wants to be seen in WV, with the bottom-of-the-barrel rankings they have in every key area, as the man who blocked them and the whole country from getting a historic amount of help.
We have to get these bills and a voting rights bill through this year at a minimum. Manchin and Krysten Sinema have been selfish opportunists in this time when Dems hold a narrow 1 vote majority in the Senate. Instead of pulling together to save this country, they saw an opportunity to grab power for themselves to benefit their futures and their bank accounts. They need to be exposed for their betrayal of their voters and their party and squeezed hard to take the fall if they don’t support the rescue of Americans from the hole they’re in that’s been dug by the wealthy and powerful who have exploited unprincipled politicians like them for many decades.
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