Joe Manchin Is Not Happy About the Latest Inflation Numbers – Opinion

RedState has reported that the most recent inflation figures have been published. You can use any number of negative adjectives to describe them. Americans find themselves being hammered year after year by an ever-increasing price on basic items such as meat, gasoline, and used cars.

Contrary to the employment report that showed a significant gain in January, this news contrasts sharply with it. However, as so often happens, context is key. The jobs market may be recovering, though it’s still below pre-pandemic levels. Yet, that doesn’t mean much to the majority of working-class Americans who already have jobs but are seeing their savings and buying power go up in smoke under Joe Biden’s inflation-inducing policies.

Sen. Joe Manchin knows this better than anyone. On Thursday, he released an abrasive statement in which he attacked the idea of spending more money as the solution to the crisis.

I made the following statement about consumer inflation increasing to 7.5% in 12 months, which is the highest increase of any twelve month since four decades. pic.twitter.com/67RizZR20u

— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) February 10, 2022

Typically, what a senator from West Virginia has to say wouldn’t be all that newsworthy. But Manchin’s unique position as the deciding vote for the president’s agenda means everything he says carries weight. He mocks Washington, D.C. politicians who are pushing for another huge government spending bill. Manchin refers to the national debt several times. This is something no one with a letter D beside their name would normally touch.

Why is all this so important? It’s important because everything Manchin is signaling says that Build Back Better is going to remain dead. His progressive associates and the president hoped for a restart of negotiations, and a substantial amount of what they had originally desired in the reconciliation bill. That can’t happen if Manchin isn’t on board, and it seems pretty definitive that he’s not on board.

In an election year, that’s a disaster for Democrats who desperately need some kind of policy win to tout going into November. The infrastructure bill has already become an after-thought, and Nancy Pelosi’s past suggestion that the BBB bill would be just the beginning of her spending binge now seems incredibly quaint. Because the party leadership has overplayed their hand, Democrats are now in trouble. They made too many promises and are now at the mercy a senator with no incentive to grant them any.

In the end, that’s probably what Manchin putting this statement out is all about. It’s a brushback pitch, letting his party know he’s not interested in rerunning the intra-party fight that occurred last winter. He can do nothing and still be a strong leader. His position regarding inflation and spending, aside from politics, is the best call for American citizens. Shouldn’t that matter just a little bit?