'Most certainly': Manchin raises concerns about Biden's push for more expansive government

[Celerity]

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/29/politics/joe-manchin-biden-reaction/index.html

(CNN)Sen. Joe Manchin, the powerful West Virginia Democrat, made clear Thursday that the aggressive vision for the federal government that President Joe Biden laid out to the nation must first face scrutiny in Congress, signalling the long slog ahead facing the White House's sweeping domestic agenda. "Oh, most certainly," Manchin told CNN in a one-on-one interview when asked if he had concerns about Biden's push for a more expansive role of government.

Manchin, who is a pivotal swing vote in the 50-50 Senate, said that with signs of a growing economy, on top of the trillions in spending already approved by Congress, lawmakers must be judicious in deciding where to pump additional resources. As he raised concerns about the price tag along with the proposed tax increases, Manchin reiterated his demand for Senate Democrats to work with Republicans and warned that he would oppose efforts by members of his party if they try to go it alone prematurely.

"I'm not for that, I've never been for that and I've told them I'm not for that," Manchin said when asked about talk that Democrats are weighing a budget process to pass a massive infrastructure proposal along party lines. "The bottom line is this place has got to have a chance to work. ... So Joe Biden, the President of the United States, is going to give us a chance and he said, 'OK, try to make it work.' Can't we at least try? Can't we at least let the committee do its work? Let it go to the floor?"

The White House is working on trying to cut a bipartisan deal on a piece of an infrastructure package with Republicans. But it's unclear how long those talks will play out, and when Democratic leaders may try to go -- it alone and use a budget process to pass legislation along party lines, a tactic they used to approve the $1.9 trillion covid relief law. And it remains to be seen how much of Biden's push to approve his $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, on top of his $2.5 trillion American Jobs Plan, can be approved with bipartisan support.

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His own Senate website

Senator Manchin has voted with the Trump Administration 74% of the time and shares many of the President’s priorities when it comes to promoting fair trade, repealing Obama-era regulations, and protecting our national security:

https://www.manchin.senate.gov/about/bipartisanship/legislation





https://www.manchin.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Manchin%20Votes%20with%20Trump.pdf





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12 pages of that shit

and that is only for the first year and a half of Trump

[OnDoutside]

1. As I said to you before, the true test is when there's a vote brought

to the floor. All the rest is noise until then.

[Celerity]

2. there will never be votes on any major non-Reconciliation bills unless Manchin and Sinema cave

on somehow modifying the filibuster, and Manchin has shot down all suggested modifications so far. Plus he is constantly threatening to pull the plug on Reconciliation unless Rethugs sign onto the bills involved with it as well.

[AZProgressive]

3. You can look up his record

When it comes to Ideology scores he is in Susan Collins & Murkowski territory.

All this noise is to determine if a bill has a chance of passing and if Manchin says he is blocking it that is a signal for others to try something different.

I understand Manchin is in WV but he could at least support 1 or 2 things which isn't asking for a lot.

[Celerity]

5. by the time Manchin gets done 'compromising' on the 4 trillion or so in Biden's 2 reconciliation

bill parts (the physical infrastructure and the human infrastructure bills) we will be lucky to see 1.5 trillion total for BOTH, not per bill. The Rethugs' total is around 1 trillion from what I am seeing, so he will claim a yuuuuge victory (even though it adds up to only a 60 billion usd per annum or so increase over 8 years). I also do not see him or Sinema agreeing to any truly impactful filibuster modifications, which means all the rest of our agenda is in the ditch, including the voter rights bills and the cop reform/racial justice bills. Those (the failure of passing them) will fuck us so hard in 2022, 2024, and beyond unless Manchin and Sinema cave (she might be even hard than old Joe to get to agree, as she wants a 60 vote threshold for ALL Senate action, and the 2 mini-nuke exceptions repealed).

[dawg day]

4. I think it was Brian Williams who said...

That Joe Manchin took time off from dedicating some new fed-funded government project to complain about big government.

His state west Virginia is practically a ward of the federal government, and I guess it's natural he wouldn't want any of "their" money going to the rest of us.

[OhioChick]

6. Someone was upset at me here for calling him a DINO....

If the shoes fits.....which it appears to...

[AZProgressive]

7. This board has changed a lot in 12 years

I remember there were hardly any Lieberman fans here and most posters called him LIEberman. I actually think Manchin is worse than Lieberman.

[OhioChick]

8. I've noticed that...

And completely agree with you 100%.

[Maxheader]

9. yeah its hard to say anything nice about this guy..

Without breaking the good china.....

[OhioChick]

10. I hear you...

[Phoenix61]

11. "Powerful" my a**. It's only due to the

situation and not a single thing to do with his leadership abilities. Now we know why WV is the hell hole it is. I’d like to think there is some behind the scenes maneuvering to get him in line but I’m just not sure.

[Fiendish Thingy]

12. Jim Crow Joe is destroying Biden's agenda and enabling the dismantling of American Democracy. Nt