Writing on Twitter, Senator Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) said that the “the threat” from inflation is “getting worse.”
By all accounts, the threat posed by record inflation to the American people is not “transitory†and is instead getting worse. From the grocery store to the gas pump, Americans know the inflation tax is real and DC can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day.
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) November 10, 2021
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Manchin has been widely criticized for delaying attempts by House and Senate Democrats to codify much of their economic and social policy agenda via a major spending bill.
The plan is part of efforts from the Democrats to respond to the climate crisis, invest in infrastructure and expand education, healthcare and childcare.
It would constitute the largest broadening of the social safety net in years.
And though Manchin has complained about inflation, the Build Back Better (BBB) spending legislation has, according to the White House and Congressional Democrats, would ease inflation.
“As I have said repeatedly, when [BBB] is passed, it will be fully paid for and reduce—reduce—inflationary pressures. … This will be just what the American people need, and it will not be—will not be—inflationary,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said last week.Â
Manchin says he’s opposed to abolishing the Senate filibuster as a workaround to increasing the nation’s borrowing limit, dealing a blow to more progressive members of Congress who have suggested it as a viable path forward.
He has also said the plan must include the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal agencies, including Medicaid, from paying for abortion expenses, saying he considers the bill “dead on arrival” if that’s not on the table.
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
