Posted on 09/29/2021 8:32:49 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced earlier in the week that she would be taking a second try at a vote on the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on Thursday, after putting it on Monday because she didn’t have the votes.
But it’s looking like she still doesn’t have the votes now, and in the words of The Hill, is “poised to pull the infrastructure vote” yet again.
As we reported earlier, the progressives have made it clear that they don’t intend to vote on it, putting it in jeopardy. But if she puts it off again, after promising it for Monday, the moderates have threatened to revolt if it happens yet again.
“Obviously, our group will have a lot of trouble with that,” said one of them, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), according to The Hill. “And it will be catastrophic.”
“If the vote were to fail tomorrow or be delayed, there would be a significant breach in trust that would slow the momentum in moving forward in delivering the Biden agenda,” Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition, declared.
Translation: you do this to us again, don’t expect us to do anything for you on the bigger reconciliation bill, which the moderates already have issues with.
The Hill reported that Pelosi tried to jerry-rig a compromise.
First, she said the infrastructure and family packages must move “simultaneously” — the same criterion the liberals have demanded. And second, she stipulated that the legislative text of the larger package must be finalized before the House will act on either bill.
That seemed impossible and was immediately rejected by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), “That won’t happen,” he said.
Manchin now has had multiple meetings with Biden on the issue. All this back and forth appears to have made him even more recalcitrant and hardened in his stance on it all.
He released a statement today that just flames the reconciliation bill and implicitly suggests that what Biden and “Democratic leaders” in the House are pushing amounts to “fiscal insanity.”
New @Sen_JoeManchin statement is BRUTALLY critical of reconciliation. Includes phrases like "definition of fiscal insanity," & not "reengineer the social and economic fabric of this nation or vengefully tax" — this doesn't read at ALL like someone who is remotely on board.
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) September 29, 2021
MANCHIN Statement: "While I am hopeful that common ground can be found that would result in another historic investment in our nation, I cannot – and will not – support trillions in spending or an all or nothing approach that ignores the brutal fiscal reality our nation faces." pic.twitter.com/mgDmoo5NLu
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) September 29, 2021
Here’s the most pertinent part:
Every Member of Congress has a solemn duty to vote for what they believe is best for the country and the American people, not their party. Respectfully, as I have said for months, I can’t support $3.5 trillion more in spending when we have already spent $5.4 trillion since last March. At some point, all of us, regardless of party must ask the simple question — how much is enough?
What I have made clear to the President and Democratic leaders is that spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can’t even pay for the essential social programs, like Social Security and Medicare, is the definition of fiscal insanity. Suggesting that spending trillions more will not have an impact on inflation ignores the everyday reality that America’s families continue pay an unavoidable inflation tax.
“Proposing a historic expansion of social programs while ignoring the fact we are not in a recession and that millions of jobs remain open will only feed a dysfunction that could weaken our economic recovery. This is the shared reality we all now face, and it is this reality that must shape the future decisions that we, as elected leaders, must make [….]
Overall, the amount we spend now must be balanced with what we need and can afford — not designed to reengineer the social and economic fabric of this nation or vengefully tax for the sake of wishful spending.
Exactly right. They’re trying slam through a wishlist of items that they don’t need, but they want, because they are long term Democratic goals for power, and they think they can get it all now because of the pandemic. But Manchin is obviously not buying into this, and especially not the “it costs zero dollars” nonsense, calling it “fiscal insanity” and ignoring the effect it will have on inflation.
I don’t know what Pelosi thinks she can pull out of a hat on this one… but this definitely is in critical condition — and they’re about to shut off the life support.
Good. I hope the infrastructure and the reconciliation bills go down in flames. But somehow I think they’ll both pass.
They will cobble together something and pass it then run around screaming how it a “huge win for Biden”
Amazing how one of few people that seems to be sane in DC right now is a West Virginia Democrat
Did Manchin ever get invited to the G7 or Bilderburg/Rothschild meetings?
Asking for a friend.
I think it was Dan Bongino who said that Manchin and Sinema
Should switch to the GOP.
Makes me think Manchin is considering running again in 2024, when he’ll be 77. Without doing something spectacular to reassure the voters in WV that he isn’t a swamp creature, he is a dead man walking. He won the election with less than 50% of the vote in 2018 (they only require a plurality in WV?). The state has swung even farther Republican since then and I think he’s the only remaining high level official at the statewide level that’s still a Dem.
You could be right,
I cannot remember the last time a DC Dem did the right thing despite pissing off 99.9% of his party by doing it
Trump should reward him with an ambassadorship should he win in ‘24. Italy. End his career. Sienama the same but she’s still young enough to keep running and win.
Anyone else think that Manchin is playing his role as rotating villain?
Would be a shame if they replaced the Speaker. It would cause a real mess.
RE: Would be a shame if they replaced the Speaker. It would cause a real mess.
Is any Democrat in Congress going to be an improvement over Pelosi? I highly doubt that. They’re all woke, left-wing type whose policies will destroy America.
No of course not. But it will cause them disarray, internal conflict, confusion and demoralization. All good things for the people of the world.
Joe may be evil most of the the time but he’s not the devil incarnate. Go Joe!
Oh to be a fly on the wall listening to the Dems trying to get their whip count Up. Lots of yelling and screaming and threatening.
If the so-called “Blue Dogs” had any integrity, they would jointly resign and stop empowering Pelosi and the Squad.
I’m just not so confident these bills are as dead as they seem. At one time this is how Obamacare was playing out and looked doomed - then low and behold after many months of delay, chaos, etc., she got the votes.
People have been saying that about Manchin for years now. He dances with us for a while, but then goes home with “the one what brung him” . He’s a tease.
“He’s a tease.”
Perhaps, but he’s been ‘teasing’ the Democrats for 8 months now, after refusing to nuke the filibuster. If he is a ‘tease’, we certainly could use teases like him.
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