Joe Manchin saves his party from itself

Plus: Two weeks to slow the spread

Senator Joe Manchin walks to a morning session during the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Idaho (Getty)
Share
Text
Text Size
Small
Medium
Large
Line Spacing
Small
Normal
Large

Joe Manchin to the rescue
Just when you think the mood among Democrats couldn’t get any darker, it does. Lumbered with a chronically unpopular president, still coming to terms with the end of the Roe era and nervous about an economy that feels like it is spiraling out of control, the party could at least look forward to the prospect of a smaller version of Build Back Better passing the Senate.

Well, not any more. Last night Joe Manchin torpedoed plans for any climate change spending or tax increases in any reconciliation package being haggled over by…

Joe Manchin to the rescue

Just when you think the mood among Democrats couldn’t get any darker, it does. Lumbered with a chronically unpopular president, still coming to terms with the end of the Roe era and nervous about an economy that feels like it is spiraling out of control, the party could at least look forward to the prospect of a smaller version of Build Back Better passing the Senate.

Well, not any more. Last night Joe Manchin torpedoed plans for any climate change spending or tax increases in any reconciliation package being haggled over by his party for at least a few months. The West Virginia senator was reportedly “unequivocal” in a meeting with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, insisting that he would block anything beyond a pared-back package of measures designed to reduce drug prices and extent Affordable Care Act subsidies for two years — at least until he saw a few more months of inflation data.

To state the obvious, if that is all Democrats can muster, then it amounts to a big legislative failure for the party. Manchin’s move therefore poses a conundrum for them: bank an underwhelming win now or hold out for something more in the fall?

Missing from that political calculus, though, is the fact that a bigger spending bill may not be seen as a win at all. In other words, Manchin is, once again, saving his party from itself. Are American voters crying out for a climate change package with a $500 million price tag even as prices are rising more quickly than they have in forty years? Count me skeptical. Meanwhile, the takeaway from these internal Democratic ructions is crystal clear: Democrats are not serious about inflation. They do not see it as a pressing issue that should force them to fundamentally rethink their spending plans and if they had a firmer grip on the Senate they would almost certainly take steps that would darken the economic outlook even further. And as long as that is clear to voters, no spending “wins” will do much to help convince Americans that the party deserves their vote in November.

*** Sign up to receive the DC Diary in your inbox on weekdays ***

Ivana Trump, RIP

Ivana Trump, first wife of Donald Trump, has died at seventy-three. The former president announced her death by paying tribute to “a wonderful, beautiful and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life.” Ms. Trump was found at the bottom of the staircase in her Manhattan home and is thought to have suffered cardiac arrest. A former model and businesswoman, Ivana was a mainstay of New York tabloids.

Who better, then, to pay tribute to her than New York Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams:

Ivana. Larger than life. Blonde hair. With extra pieces stuffed in. Long eyelashes. With extra fakes glued in. An East 64th Street townhouse. French furniture. Sometimes fresh gold paint touched up the legs.I was at the Donald/Ivana wedding. I was with Donald when he was courting her. What was not to fall for her? What was not for him to like?

Two weeks to slow the spread

Remember the words “Two weeks to slow the spread?” Well, that’s the message in Los Angeles County, where local officials will be reimposing a mask mandate for indoor spaces. More than two years after the start of the pandemic, what exactly are health officials thinking? Will anyone follow the rules? And will any other cities follow suit?

What you should be reading today

Teresa Mull: The last cowboys
Peter Van Buren: Democrats are stuck with Biden
Sean Themea: Why are millennial politicians such sellouts?
Elizabeth Bruenig, the Atlantic: Texas’s season in hell
Jesse Newman and Jaewon Kang, Wall Street Journal: Baby formula shortage deepens, defying replenishment efforts
David Siders, Adam Wren and Megan Messerly, Politico: Republican fears of an abortion backlash grow

Poll watch

President Biden job approval

Approve: 38.6 percent
Disapprove: 55.9 percent
Net approval: -17.3 (RCP Average)

Nevada Senate race
Catherine Cortez Masto: 44 percent
Adam Laxalt: 41 percent (the Hill/Emerson)

Sign up to receive the DC Diary here.