Editor’s note: Senator Manchin reacts to the initial reports; he denies being a flat “no” on a possible reconciliation bill and wants to wait for further inflation numbers. “I said can we just wait until the inflation figures come out [for] July, until we know if the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates. Then make the decision on what we can do and how much we can do.”
Senator Joe Manchin put a halt to President Biden’s climate change agenda and attempts to raise taxes on wealthy Americans and businesses Thursday, citing soaring inflation rates and prices being endured by Americans at grocery stores and gas stations.
The New York Times reports that Manchin’s (D-WV) decision “dealt a crushing blow to President Biden’s domestic agenda.”
“Political headlines are of no value to the millions of Americans struggling to afford groceries and gas as inflation soars to 9.1 percent,” a spokeswoman for the Democrat Senator told the newspaper.
“Senator Manchin believes it’s time for leaders to put political agendas aside, re-evaluate and adjust to the economic realities the country faces to avoid taking steps that add fuel to the inflation fire.”
The crushing blow could, however, be temporary, as the spokeswoman also notes Manchin “has not walked away from the table.”
Sen. Joe Manchin announced overnight that he can no longer support a piece of legislation that would have finally passed Pres. Biden’s ambitious climate change agenda. pic.twitter.com/UleXFoxyMT
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) July 15, 2022
RELATED: Democrats Push Tax Hike On Rich ‘To Fight Inflation’ As Americans Struggle And Midterms Loom
Manchin Squashes Biden’s Climate Agenda
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Manchin’s decision to squash the climate and tax hike agenda comes after weeks of negotiations with his Democrat colleagues and roughly seven months after he doused water on Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ plan.
A Political Insider report on Thursday mentioned Manchin in these negotiations as Democrats were attempting to argue in favor of using the reconciliation process to raise taxes as a means to “combat inflation.”
Columnist Becky Noble noted that the West Virginia lawmaker was questioning “if now is the right time to be pondering more government spending as rising prices show no sign of letting up.”
Manchin, Noble added, “might be standing alone on the Democrat side” when it comes to somewhat sane fiscal responsibility in these trying economic times.
The Times report proves Noble’s statements prophetic, as they express Manchin “appeared to have single-handedly shattered Mr. Biden’s ambitious climate agenda.”
West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, who continues to save Democrats from their idiocy, reportedly won’t support any new tax increases or climate spending. With Republicans poised to take over the House Joe Biden’s agenda is essentially now over. https://t.co/s9Z6WPuO3C
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 15, 2022
RELATED: Far-Left Rep. Ilhan Omar Unleashes Expletive-Laced Rant After Joe Manchin Sinks Build Back Better
Liberals Left ‘Sobbing’
The New York Times report, which is not listed as an opinion piece, carries a clearly biased tone as they lament Manchin’s decision to kill the climate agenda.
And it often times winds up being unintentionally amusing.
The report notes that several Democrats seemed optimistic that they could reach a deal with Manchin only to have the rug pulled out from under them.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), they write, was “shellshocked.” Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) was “outraged” and categorized Manchin’s decision as “our last chance to prevent the most catastrophic … effects of climate change.”
This is AOC-level hyperventilating.
Perhaps the most amusing anecdote came from Leah Stokes, a professor of environmental policy at the University of California Santa Barbara.
Stokes, you see, “sobbed” as she described the work behind negotiations and dramatically accused the Senator of “condemning our own children.”
On Twitter, Stokes revealed that the news had her “holding my children and sobbing,” suggesting Manchin should feel shame when he looks his own grandchildren in the eye.
Manchin says he won’t support the climate bill. I’m holding my children and sobbing.
I don’t know how Manchin will look his own grandchildren in the eyes tonight. He is condemning them to a broken planet. Shameful doesn’t begin to describe it. https://t.co/QkmEKQTUjm
— Dr. Leah Stokes (@leahstokes) July 15, 2022
We’d offer Ms. Stokes a Kleenex, but as they are manufactured from paper pulp from select types of trees, we wouldn’t want her to endure any more climate trauma.
John Podesta, a former senior counselor to President Barack Obama and founder, also seemed pretty emotional in a separate New York Times column.
“It seems odd that Manchin would choose as his legacy to be the one man who single-handedly doomed humanity,” Podesta said.
Can somebody offer a fact-check on the notion that rejecting the exorbitant spending on a Green New Deal agenda is going to ‘doom’ humanity?
Jamal Raad, executive director of the climate advocacy group Evergreen Action, launched an expletive-laced tirade against Manchin over his actions.
“He talked about his grandchildren. It turns out that’s all bullshit,” he railed. “He cares about profits for his coal company and his own political future over the future of our planet.”
The Times adds that many liberals were “seething with anger” toward Manchin for killing the climate change and tax hike agenda.
The reactions are a sure indicator that he did the right thing.
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