…
Dixiecrat Joe Manchin put out a bullshit statement to try to justify his opposition to the reconciliation bill. I wrote my own comments from some obvious observations ($350 B a year for a $21 T economy is only a little over 1% .it will be paid for ….) and the math is the math, but it’s nice to read Paul Krugman make the same points (only better because he’s well Paul Krugman and I am stupid me) . I wanted to present some truth before you saw Manchin’s lies (he can’t be so stupid as to not know what he said/wrote is false and that means he is lying- I don’t enjoy saying it, but I can’t see how to evade this conclusion because it seems certain to be the truth. )
From The Guardian, Joe Manchin statement (a press release)
“ Respectfully, as I have said for months, I can’t support $3.5 trillion more in spending when we have already spent $5.4 trillion since last March. At some point, all of us, regardless of party must ask the simple question – how much is enough?
“What I have made clear to the President and Democratic leaders is that spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can’t even pay for the essential social programs, like Social Security and Medicare, is the definition of fiscal insanity. Suggesting that spending trillions more will not have an impact on inflation ignores the everyday reality that America’s families continue pay an unavoidable inflation tax. Proposing a historic expansion of social programs while ignoring the fact we are not in a recession and that millions of jobs remain open will only feed a dysfunction that could weaken our economic recovery.”
Hence my comment above about “inflation tax”
Paul Krugman injects some reality into the matter:
“On the first point, yes, $3.5 trillion is a lot of money. But this is spending intended to help rebuild the U.S. economy — and the U.S. economy is enormous. Bear in mind that we’re talking about a long-term spending plan, under which the money would be gradually disbursed over a decade.
And America’s gross domestic product over that decade is likely to be in the vicinity of $300 trillion — the Congressional Budget Office says $287.7 trillion.
So ignore headlines that describe the plan as “massive” or “enormous.” It’s a plan that could make a big difference to many Americans’ lives and help build a better future. But it’s only a bit over 1% of GDP. That wouldn’t be enough to cause serious inflation problems even if all of the spending were paid for with borrowed money.
I don’t know whether people like Sen. Joe Manchin expressing anxiety about inflation are truly misinformed or are just trying to signal that they’re to the right of their colleagues.
“
My comments admittedly were written completely prior to reading the Krugman quote above.
We’re in the midst of the most deadly pandemic that this country has ever known. Huge swaths of the country are in financial trouble. Some 40 plus million Americans have had the novel coronavirus. This virus is known to leave tremendous health problems going forward. There is no end in sight to the pandemic. 81 million Americans disagree on his priorities. The danger isn’t inflation; it’s a recession. Most of America’s families aren’t lucky enough to have cushy senate jobs and have big corporate money coming in. Most Americans need the things they voted for. Family and Medical leave, universal Pre-k is going to help level the playing field and give children with a diverse background a better chance at success, free college will give students of color the opportunity to succeed and the country that outeducates us today will outcompete with us tomorrow, the climate emergency is taking lives now and the longer we wait to address it the more drastic the disruption economically later and the worse the consequences. Trillion dollar wars and tax cuts for the wealthy and a bloated military budget help the American people a lot less than what a great many people voted for. Of course, the BIF Is NOT PAID FOR and he voted for it. The reconciliation bill is only $350 B a year from an economy with a gdp of $21T . That means it’s less than 2% of the gross domestic product of the United States. The reconciliation bill will be paid for. So, other than the fact that everything he said is pure BULLSHIT, yeah it’s 100% PURE BULLSHIT.
Phone won’t let me select so I can use the tools (ie. italicize, underline, bold, … ) https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/1406245614770343943?s=21
.
.
.
.
www.mercatus.org/...
The Fed’s Message Remains Clear: Inflation Fears Are Vastly Overblown
As the economic recovery from the COVID pandemic continues, Powell holds fast on the Federal Reserve’s policy commitments while assuaging continued concerns surrounding inflation.
…
www.theguardian.com/…
In deep red West Virginia, Biden’s $3.5tn spending proposal is immensely popular
Working-class people – even Trump voters – understand the Build Back Better plan will benefit them
But according to the survey, 80% of more than 800 people surveyed in his home state believe he should vote to pass the bill. That includes 77% of conservatives who responded to the survey.
“
.
…
Manchin’s position is wrong on the merits and politically.
Thursday, Sep 30, 2021 · 6:39:06 AM +00:00
·
Dem
Very exciting way to wake up. As many of you may know, due to a medication I have severe insomnia. I almost always sleep an hour at a time. I fell asleep and woke up with my throat completely filled with acid so that I could not breathe. It’s happened before, but it’s usually not that bad. There was so much acid and liquid this time that I really thought I was not going to make it even though I take medication for it.
Thursday, Sep 30, 2021 · 7:49:13 AM +00:00
·
Dem
The reason neither Manchin nor Sinema will identify specifically what they oppose or want removed is because they know that whatever they say is popular. They’re acting like political terrorists.
We need to see every one of the 48 Senators who caucus with the party speaking out together against Manchin and Sinema and their opposition to the party at one microphone. Each of them can speak out against Manchin and Sinema.
Then, the pressure on them and the isolation will be intense. People who voted to convict Trump like Manchin and Sinema can’t run and win in a republican primary. Donald Trump would campaign vigorously against them . His voters would never support them when he tells them not to because they voted to convict him. So their only path to holding that seat is in a Democratic Party primary. They have to know that. They can either vote for the Democratic Party agenda or they can retire.
We absolutely CANNOT cannot give in to them. These people are maniacs, they’re acting like extortionists and political terrorists and the only message that they will understand is a message of strength, a united no. It’s completely unacceptable for them to do this, for them to oppose our agenda and the reconciliation bill and say that they won’t tell us what they want to remove until the BIF passes. They know that once the BIF passes, then we will lose all leverage and they can pare it down to nothing or reject it completely. They won’t back anything close or reasonable and they know that the only thing that would be accepted by the progressive caucus is something close and reasonable.
Again, the fact is that this is only $350 B a year against a gdp of over $21 Trillion , barely more than 1% of the economy. It will be paid for anyway. $350 B a year IS THE COMPROMISE. Maybe $2.5 Trillion might be accepted, but nothing less than that would be accepted by the progressives, thank goodness. They only would agree to $1 T over ten years which is, of course, $100 B a year again against a $21 Trillion economy. That’s not even a third of the compromise already made of $350 B a year. That offer would never be accepted and they know it. The things that would have to be excised and cut from it are hugely popular not only among democrats, but as the poll shows among republicans even in West Virginia. Hence, they are pulling this political terrorists shtick. You can’t try to negotiate with or give in to people like this, people who pull this shit. We need to make them pay a heavy price for doing this so that they will never attempt this again and so it will be a lesson for any others considering this extortion tactic.
Makes him an extortionist or political terrorist —we absolutely can’t give in to this. It will not stop until and unless everybody stands up to it. We need everybody to isolate them . They are the problem. They are only 2 out of 50 senators in our caucus and they stand in opposition to so much: the Build Back Better Agenda that won 81 million votes, a bill that at least attempts to address the climate emergency which is a minimal attempt as the latest IPCC report makes clear, against the president of the country who in theory is the leader of their and our damn party, against virtually the entire party in Congress, an attempt (the first serious attempt in 50 years- does the ACA without even a public option because of Joe Lieberman count ???) to actually strengthen the safety net during the pandemic. Their opposition while so isolated will be a very lonely and difficult place to be. They will be subject to tremendous pressure. We need the entire party to stand united together against them. It’s the only message that they will understand. If we don’t do this, then nothing the party stands for will get done and they will keep doing the same thing over and over again just as they have in the past.