Manchin and McConnell: The Idiot and the Invertebrate
They show — yet again — why it’s time to vote them out of the Senate.
by Deroy Murdock
September 29, 2022, 10:42 PM
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) just offered a bipartisan tutorial in pathetic leadership. They demonstrated precisely how not to behave while holding positions of influence and authority.
Manchin made a complete fool of himself over the issue of permit reform, which would have made it easier to gain government approval for oil and gas pipelines and other energy projects. This would have benefited his home state, America’s Coal Central Station.
Manchin spent most of President Joe Biden’s term fighting his massive Build Back Better spending orgy. Manchin correctly argued that BBB’s $3.5 trillion price tag was too high. Also, its Green New Deal elements were anathema to West Virginia, which was built atop a mass grave of dinosaurs. These fossils had the good taste to turn themselves into fuel.
But last July 27, Manchin suddenly agreed to support the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), in essence Build Back Smaller. Its $739 billion in spending increases and tax hikes was obscene, yes, but it wasn’t BBB’s XXX-rated fiscal porn.
Manchin swallowed and accepted the IRA’s corporate welfare and consumer freebies for electric vehicles, windmills, solar panels, and all other talismans of the Climatarian faith. In exchange, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) promised Manchin a vote on permit reform. Manchin hoped to grease the skids for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would carry West Virginia’s natural gas into Virginia and on to methane-hungry downstream markets.
So, Manchin voted “yes” on the IRA, as did all 49 other Senate Democrats. Every Republican voted “no.” Cackling Vice President Kamala Harris split the 50–50 tie. The bill passed and cleared the House on a party-line vote. Biden signed it into law on Aug. 16.
more
https://spectator.org/manchin-mcconnell-idiot-invertebrate/
