Democrats blast Manchin after pausing tax and spending plan
Fox News correspondent Aishah Hasnie has the latest on Senator Joe Manchin pulling back on the energy bill due to inflation on 'Special Report.'
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is once again the target of scorn by the liberal media over reporting that he may block President Biden's climate agenda.
Reports alleged Manchin planned on opposing tax hikes and climate change subsidies as part of a spending bill. Manchin pushed back, insisting he hasn't made a decision, something he signaled will be based on July inflation numbers that will be released next month.
But that hasn't stopped the full-on media freakout being aimed at the more moderate-leaning Democrat.
The Washington Post ran the dramatic headline, "U.S. climate promises hang in the balance as Manchin upends talks," complaining Biden's "failure" to secure funding from lawmakers to combat climate change "has wounded U.S. credibility abroad."
Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. gave Manchin the magician treatment in his piece, "Presto! Manchin’s party of one makes the Democrats’ program disappear."
"Democrats don’t control Congress. Joe Manchin does," Dionne Jr. declared Monday. "Yes, Manchin is nominally a Democratic senator from West Virginia. But for two years, he has effectively set up shop as a party of his own."
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., questions HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra during the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies hearing on the FY2023 Funding Request and Budget Justification for the Department of Health and Human Services, in Dirksen Building on Wednesday, May 4, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The New York Times similarly accused Manchin of having "dealt a crushing blow to President Biden’s domestic agenda."
"The decision by Mr. Manchin, a conservative-leaning Democrat whose opposition has effectively stalled Mr. Biden’s economic package in the evenly divided Senate, dealt a devastating blow to his party’s efforts to enact a broad social safety net, climate and tax package," The Times wrote. "In recent months, Democrats had slashed their ambitions for such a plan to win over Mr. Manchin, hoping that he would agree to support even a fraction of the sweeping initiative they once envisioned. His abrupt shift appeared to dash those aspirations."
NEW YORK TIMES SHOCKED MANCHIN STILL OPPOSES MASSIVE SPENDING AMID SOARING INFLATION
A separate Times report wrote that Manchin, "who took more campaign cash from the oil and gas industry than any other senator, and who became a millionaire from his family coal business, independently blew up the Democratic Party’s legislative plans to fight climate change," and included an apocalyptic quote from Democratic operative John Podesta, who told the paper, "It seems odd that Manchin would choose as his legacy to be the one man who single-handedly doomed humanity."
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 06: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks at a press conference outside his office on Capitol Hill on October 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
In a guest essay published by The Times, political science associate professor Leah Stokes claimed Manchin's actions in not advancing Biden's climate agenda would lead to a "broken planet" for the senator's descendants and wondered "how he looks his grandchildren in the eye."
"While he may leave his descendants plenty of money, they will also inherit a broken planet. Like other young people, Mr. Manchin’s grandchildren will grow up knowing that his legacy is climate destruction," she wrote.
Times columnist Jamelle Bouie tweeted, "it is pretty simple: a fossil fuel millionaire who hovers up donations from oil and gas companies cares much more about his bank account than the planet and the people on it."
"CBS Mornings" took aim at Manchin, referring to him as a "frequent nemesis" of President Biden.
"You may remember that last year he single-handedly killed even more ambitious legislation that was going to have all sorts of other domestic priorities in it, but he scuttled it out of concern about the cost," CBS senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe said during an on-air report. "This time he’s saying he has concerns given the bigger-than-expected inflation report."
"Joe Manchin a multi-millionaire with a Maserati and a family coal business says no on a climate deal," co-host Tony Dokoupil snarked.
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
ABC News' George Stephanopoulos called it "tough news" for Biden's climate agenda while ABC News' senior White House correspondent Mary Bruce called it a "crushing blow."
"This now effectively kills Biden's hopes for a climate change agenda and that sweeping social safety net bill that had things like paid family leave and universal pre-K. Those hopes all but dead," Bruce told Stephanopoulos.
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MSNBC opinion columnist Hayes Brown insisted that Manchin "negotiates like a Republican" in that he is "constantly redefining what he will and will not accept in a deal, leaving his colleagues unclear what will get him to 'yes.'"
"Should the Republicans reclaim control of the Senate, his hardball tactics will seem like child’s play compared to theirs. And if Democrats gain enough seats to make his vote nice — but not required — he may find himself isolated from both parties and regretting how he’s played the last two years," Brown warned.
The Atlantic writer Molly Jong-Fast highlighted the summer's "record-breaking temperatures" and how Manchin "has no interest in climate change ergo….. we’re all f---ed."
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