Manchin Effectively Kills Build Back Better
“Manchin is a living breathing reminder that america is often more oligarchic than it is democratic," commentator tweets
Corporate Democratic Sen Joe Manchin's Sunday morning bombshell that he is a firm “No” vote on the big Build Back Better Act probably effectively kills any chance of the ambitious spending package moving forward.
It's also spawned anger and recrimination among other Democratic lawmakers who have fought — often bitterly — to bring the legislation across the finish line.
These Democrats and others are calling for Senate Democratic leadership still to bring the Build Back Better Act up for a vote in order to put the senator from West Virginia and other opponents on the record against the bill, which would extend child tax credits, expand Medicare coverage and provide the largest federal investment against global climate change, and more.
Manchin long had held up his support for the bill, forcing lengthy negotiations.
“The Senate must return to session immediately and bring this historic and transformational bill to a vote so Senator Manchin — and every Republican who has opposed it from the very beginning — can demonstrate, on the record, the contempt they have for their constituents,” Rep Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass) said in a statement which was echoed by Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and other progressives.
For others, Manchin's ability of one senator to effectively kill legislation highlighted the corruption and inequity in the American political system.
“Manchin is Manchin. But what kind of healthy democracy is structured in a way that can allow one man elected by 290,000 voters in one of the least populous states to thwart the agenda of his party and the President who was elected with 81 million votes. We need structural change,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Television political host and commentator Mehdi Hasan used Manchin's decision to illustrate just how illusory is American democracy.
“Don’t forget: this isn’t just about Joe Manchin. It’s about the dark money and billionaires and coal interests behind him, which keep winning at ours and the planet’s expense. Manchin is a living breathing reminder that America is often more oligarchic than it is democratic,” he tweeted.
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