Many people have tried to understand why Senator Joe Manchin (D–WV) made an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Manchin was worried about inflation and he fought for additional spending. He shot down Biden’s “Build Back Better” bill despite a lot of pressure. Then the same week a recession is declared, he signs on board a bill that’s going to make everything worse. It didn’t seem to make a lot of sense. Not only that, but the bill is particularly insulting to the American people with its name–the “Inflation Reduction Act”–when it doesn’t do anything to reduce inflation.
Now, we wrote about how Manchin, in effect played, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to get the CHIPs bill signed because he thought there wouldn’t be any reconciliation bill on the table. This term could see two large spending bills, if Schumer or Manchin are able to do so.
We still don’t know where Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) might land on this, as it has tax changes of which she may not approve, and there may be folks in the House who have issues as well. Her office has said that she can’t make a decision on it until she reads the text and hears from the parliamentarian on it.A Democratic caucus meeting was also avoided by her, which might have allowed her to be asked questions. Hopefully, that means she has some sense and will be standing against this–but the pressure is definitely upped with Manchin caving.
Schumer could be Manchin’s McConnell counterpart, but Manchin might have been playing McConnell. Manchin was willing to sign the agreement because it had a back-end.
As a “Climate Forward” newsletter from The New York Times explained on Thursday:
He stated that he received the commitment of his fellow Democrats to approve an additional measure to fix the permitting process for energy infrastructure permits, which could include gas pipelines.
Additionally, the bill will require lease sales to oil drilling operations on federal land and waters. This is something that environmental groups strongly oppose.
But as Sen. Marco Rubio observed, this would only happen AFTER he signed on the dotted line for the “mini Green New Deal.” He thinks that they will ultimately “screw him over.”
Pelosi & Schumer promised @Sen_JoeManchinPipeline permitting reform after he votes in favor of the mini Green New Deal
But once they pass it & no longer need his vote they will screw him over pic.twitter.com/zXiguAghAV
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 29, 2022
Climate radicals don’t want the back end of the deal to go through because if it did, it would help the fossil fuel industry, which would stand in the way of their goal to get rid of fossil fuels.
But the package—now called the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022?—also would invest in ensuring a future for U.S. fossil energy in a carbon-constrained world. This legislation increases tax incentives to carbon capture technology that is expensive by 70%. As a prerequisite for offshore wind energy expansion, it also demands that for the next ten years, the federal government provide tens and millions of acres for oil-and gas drilling.
…Other environmental groups were also preparing a letter to the Senate urging them to reject fossil fuel development compromises as they are incompatible with the goal of eliminating greenhouse gasses.
“This is a climate suicide pact,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
It will be interesting to see what the Left does, and if they start screaming about it. But I definitely wouldn’t trust Schumer as far as I could throw them; I’m not sure why Manchin did. This will bring up new issues, as they need Schumer’s vote for other matters.
About Post Author
