Dan Bongino on 'Kilmeade Show': Manchin 'saving Democrats from themselves'
Manchin says he won't support spending bill over $1.5 trillion
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While Democrats are divided over a massive spending plan, Fox News host Dan Bongino said Friday that Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is "saving the Democratic Party from itself" by refusing to sign off on a spending package greater than $1.5 trillion, angering progressives.
"We don't have that money and Manchin is smart here. Manchin is saying if we don't have the money and we have to issue bonds to raise it, right. … This is just simple economics 101. We don't have the money. The tax base isn't there. So where does the money come from if we're going to spend it? Well, it comes from the issuing of bonds and debt instruments. Well, when no one buys the debt instruments, the Federal Reserve buys them and prints the money," Bongino told "The Brian Kilmeade Show."
"Manchin's actually saving the Democrats from themselves," said Bongino, arguing Manchin is concerned about how the massive spending could affect the party's electoral chances in 2022.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}AOC LAUGHS AT MANCHIN'S $1.5 TRILLION SPENDING BILL TOP LINE
While Democrats control the House, Senate and White House, they have been in a feud for months over passing President Biden's spending agenda, with progressives pushing for major social and climate initiatives that have caused party moderates to balk.
Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, poses a large hurdle for Democrats who want to pass the massive $3.5 trillion bill. The legislation faces unanimous opposition from Republicans, meaning Democrats will again be forced to use the budget reconciliation process in an attempt to pass the bill with only a simple majority.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But with the evenly split Senate, Democrats cannot afford any defections from within the party if the bill is going to pass. Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema have both raised concerns about the bill's price tag, causing friction in a party that has largely otherwise coalesced around the package.
Bongino continued, "Manchin said, well, if we're going to end up printing a half a trillion or a trillion or a trillion point five dollars and just randomly insert it into the economy, that's more money chasing the same products, which means the products are going to cost more and inflation is going to get even worse. Liberals are hearing this for the first time. Manchin is no dope though."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bongino said massive inflation occurred under former President Jimmy Carter and he then "got crushed" when running for re-election.
"What crushed Carter, stagflation. You can hide taxes in a million different places. You can't hide inflation. You go to the gas tank, you fill up your gas tank and it's seven dollars a gallon," he said.
"That’s what happened to Carter. He got crushed."