Tag: Joe Manchin

Join Jim and Greg as they get three or even four pieces of good news over President Biden deciding to sign legislation to reverse new, softer crime laws in Washington, D.C., if the Senate passes it. They also wince as Portland’s rampant looting problems force Nike to demand security from off-duty police officers and Walmart announces it is closing every store in the city. Finally, they get kick out of Sen. Joe Manchin trying to get back in the good graces of West Virginia voters by pretending he’s not sure if he would support President Biden for another term.

Building Back Badly

 

On Sunday, August 7, along strictly partisan lines, the Senate passed the Biden administration’s misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tiebreaking vote. The bill avoided a filibuster after the Senate parliamentarian held that the energy and drug provisions were budgetary matters that satisfied the reconciliation procedure under the Byrd Rule. Some strategic concessions won over the two Democrat holdouts, senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. As matters now stand, the IRA cobbles together a number of disparate programs whose common thread is taxing a wide range of activities to supply handsome subsidies, largely for health care ($64 billion) and climate and renewable energy programs ($369 billion).

The overall legislation is notable for its relentless ad hoc–ery and last-minute amendments. On the taxation side, there is a 15 percent book minimum tax, that is, income that companies report to their investors, free of the odd quirks found in the Internal Revenue Code. The IRA now tinkers with the carried-interest exception by extending the long-term capital gain treatment waiting period from three to five years, but only for people whose adjusted gross income exceeds $400,000. In the IRA, there is also a stiff excise tax on drug manufacturers and drug companies with the temerity to refuse supplying the government with prescription drugs at bargain prices under Medicare Part D. And the ARA allocates $80 billion to increased IRS enforcement over the next ten years. In its most recent analysis, published on August 2, the Tax Foundation concluded that the bill is much ado about nothing, estimating that it will generate about $304 billion over the next ten years, with only tiny changes in both GDP growth wages of -0.1 percent, and a loss of some 30,000 jobs over that period. Following Senator Sinema’s changes, at least one Democratic official maintained the IRA would still generate close to $300 billion.

Voters Want Sinema to Oppose Manchin’s New Spending Bill

 

Digital billboard in Phoenix, AZ, June 2021.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D–WV) made headlines last week when he flipped on Biden’s repackaged and reduced Build Back boondoggle. The cynically named “Inflation Reduction Act” promises to spend $369 billion on the environment while reducing the deficit by $300 billion. The bill also would raise corporate taxes and increase Obamacare spending.

Democrats celebrated Manchin’s support, but there’s another senator who would need to sign on. All eyes moved to Kyrsten Sinema. The Arizona maverick has kept quiet, but her constituents haven’t. A new poll shows Grand Canyon State voters want her to oppose the new tax-and-spend bill.

Senate Democrats’ Latest Filibuster Idea: An Update

 

Yesterday, I opined on the latest idea percolating among US Senate Democrats to get their partisan power grab on steroids – federalizing election rules in apparent violation of the US Constitution – through the Senate and on the President’s desk.

They focused on what Senate insiders call the “two-speech rule,” limiting every Senator to speaking twice on any question during a legislative day.

Join Jim and Greg as they applaud Democratic Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin for refusing to eliminate or alter the filibuster despite massive pressure from their own party. They also welcome the Supreme Court’s decision striking down President Biden’s vaccine mandate on all businesses with more than 100 employees while also noting a separate decision that upheld the mandate on personnel at health care facilities. And they take a look at even more signs that Russia may be planning to invade Ukraine in the coming weeks.

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome Mitch McConnell’s efforts to convince Sen. Joe Manchin to switch parties as Democrats savage him for opposing BBB. They also dissect reports that Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is listening to Republicans urging him to run for U.S. Senate, what his odds would look like, and whether conservatives would get behind him. And they remember one of the worst examples of media malpractice that played out 33 years ago this week during a terrorist incident in Los Angeles.

Joe Manchin Is Now Poised To Switch Parties

 

Democrats are melting down Chernobyl-style this weekend after U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., declared an end to negotiations over President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” budget reconciliation bill.

No one should be surprised. The bill was strewn with political paybacks, pork, and budget gimmicks that would have made Jeffrey Epstein blush. A massive tax cut for wealthy homeowners in high-tax states. Tax subsidies for the news media and trial lawyers. Billions for “tree equity” in reliably Democratic urban enclaves. Billions more for electric charging stations installed based on “equity,” likely where residents can’t afford or don’t own electric vehicles. A federal government takeover of prekindergarten child care, coupled with generous child tax credits whether you work or not. Luxurious tax credits for electric vehicles based on whether they were union made. Chevy Bolts and Nissan Leafs would qualify. Nonunion Teslas, not so much. Elon Musk predictably opposed the bill.

Manchin Gives Thumbs Down to Build Back Broke [Updated]

 

Sen. Joe Manchin has been quite consistent for months. He was never going to vote for the left’s radical Build Back Broke bill. He could not stomach the price tag or expanding entitlement program contents, indigestible to West Virginians. Now he has gone from drawing red lines to killing the bill on “Fox News Sunday,” the week after the network added appeal by subtracting Chris Wallace. Bret Baier, a real reporter, got the scoop.

Stalking Sinema, Menacing Manchin, and Talking Trillions is Political Theater

 

Manchin Sinema SenatorsDo not be distracted by headlines, video clips and dollar signs. Stalking Senator Sinema, and menacing Senator Manchin, was indeed part of the process, the process of passing a radical rigging of politics and society. The wedding crashers, harassing Senator Sinema and ruining the big day for a bride and her mother, were bad theater this past weekend. The supposed negotiation over trillions in the reconciliation bill is primarily a deception campaign, luring the Republican establishment into going all green eyeshades about taxes and debt. Do not fall for the con, keep focused on the real game.

The recent stalking of Senator Sinema and menacing of Senator Manchin made for great political theater, complete with smartphone video. We got several news cycles of reactions. The president and establishment media declared the intimidation campaign “part of the process,” minimized the threats, and suggested Manchin and Sinema had it coming. Conservatives expressed outrage at the thugs and their establishment enablers. We can expect the same with the Arizona wedding stunt. All of this provided cover for Manchin and Sinema to eventually sign onto the radical reconciliation bill, and it will be radical, whatever the final sticker price.

Radical Reconciliation

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome the strongest public comments yet from Sen. Joe Manchin about why he cannot yet support the massive reconciliation bill. They also chronicle Terry McAuliffe’s blatant lies in the closing days of the campaign, from falsely accusing Glenn Youngkin of being anti-vaccine to grossly inflating number of kids hospitalized with COVID. And they fume as more than two dozen New York City firehouses went out of service due to first responders being unvaccinated.

 

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Three statements, posted on the Senate web pages of Senator Manchin (D-WV) and Senator Sanders (S-VT) are worth reading. Each address the Xiden-Socialist scheme to truly transform America through the means of one massive piece of legislation fraudulently styled a budget reconciliation bill for the purpose of evading the Senate 60 vote cloture rule. They […]

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We’ve seen more double standards from our political elite over the past two years than the past 20 or more combined, from “rules for thee not for me” politicians like California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-French Laundry) to President Joe Biden calling Georgia’s fair election reform laws “Jim Crow on steroids” while his home state of […]

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I’m waiting for a sane Democrat (oxymoron alert) to say that it’s “darkest before dawn.” It would at least add a little levity to the negotiations that resemble more a locker room brawl that is spilling out onto the field for everyone to see. Nancy Pelosi broke her promise to vote Thursday on a bipartisan […]

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Hugh Hewitt, 65, hosts the second-longest-running radio talk show in the United States. With hundreds of affiliates in nearly every state, Hugh is also a former attorney, law professor, former Reagan Administration official, and perhaps the best interviewer in all media. I especially love how Hugh interviews journalists from the mainstream media and expertly schools […]

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Jim and Greg welcome poll numbers showing the recall effort against California Gov. Gavin Newsom gaining serious momentum. They also laugh at West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin for trying to pressure Republicans into supporting the “infrastructure” bill or else Democrats won’t spend trillions on that or on their even more bloated legislation. And they hammer New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for claiming he’s told the truth the entire time during the COVID pandemic.

Join Jim and Greg as they applaud Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema for staying consistent on her refusal to kill the filibuster, much to the dismay of her party. They also wince as the Taliban  regains control in much of Northern Afghanistan amid the withdrawal of American troops. They end their discussion by highlighting the voter ID flip-flopping of Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock and other Democrats after years of calling the idea racist and tool for voter suppression.

 

Join Jim and Greg as they celebrate two Republicans reaching the runoff for an open congressional seat in Texas and parents fighting back against the “anti-racism” push in school board races. They also applaud Sen. Joe Manchin for opposing the lefty push for D.C. statehood. And they discuss the Biden administration’s efforts to ban menthol cigarettes in an effort to protect minority communities and the fierce opposition from the ACLU and others who argue it will only create more criminals.

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome Sen. Joe Manchin joining Sen. Sinema in refusing to end or reform the filibuster and hope he means it this time. They also shake their heads as another scandal emerges involving New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, this time that they kept track of all nursing home-related COVID deaths but did not report them all. And they sigh as Virginia Dems flock to once-disgraced Gov. Ralph Northam for endorsements and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax ludicrously compares himself to George Floyd and Emmett Till.

Join Jim and Greg as they unload on teachers’ unions for rejecting CDC guidelines for schools and demanding even more money from taxpayers as they refuse to embrace in-person learning. They also rebuke President Biden for immediately demanding gun control legislation in the wake of mass shootings. They also welcome Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to such legislation but are cautious since Manchin could go wobbly at any moment on any issue. And they also have quite a bit to say after  Senators Tammy Duckworth and Mazie Hirono briefly vow not to confirm any future Biden nominees unless they are minorities or gay.

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But can we really trust Joe Manchin to live up to promises to protect the filibuster? Non-partisan pollster Scott Rasmussen released results from a new poll on the Democrat’s “For The People” Act, HR 1. House Democrats voted in lockstep to pass the bill with 220 votes last week (minus US Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-MS) […]

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