After Manchin’s big blow
The Build Back Better plan pushed by President Joe Biden and most Democrats in Congress is not standing on solid ground.
Some are even wondering if it is not over after West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said he could not support the legislation in its current form.
Democratic leaders in Washington are refusing to give up. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says the fight is not over, and he is ready to bring the bill up for a vote as soonCongress returns after the holidays.
Some observers say this upbeat attitude does nothing to guarantee the passage of the bill. Can the Build Back Better act be saved?
Build Back Better plan is over for now…
Senator Manchin has single-handedly halted Democratic plans to complete the reconciliation legislation before the end of December.
The goal for those on the left was simple, get the bill across the finish line and spend next year pushing campaign issues.
However, Manchin had other objectives, and with one little interview on Fox News Sunday, he turned conventional wisdom upside down.
Pundits had long said the bill would probably pass with Manchin’s support. However, in a 50-50 Senate, Manchin has a lot of power.
One thing is clear; he is using it with great efficiency. The centrist said that he could not vote for the plan because of inflation and the national debt.
In interviews, Manchin insists that the Biden administration is spending too much, and he did not want to make things worse.
However, many believe he rejected the bill because of some tensions with staff at the White House. This little information is enough to give some hope to proponents of the Build Back Better plan.
Build Back Better plan is still on…
To some extent, the plan is too big to fail. The Democratic Party has too much to lose on this issue not to reach an agreement with Manchin.
Many in Washington do not expect Democrats to hold the three branches of government again at the same time for another 15 years.
2021 offers the party a rare opportunity to make progress on many of its priorities like the enhanced child tax credit, universal pre-K, earned income tax credit, and tax credits for fighting climate change.
By declaring his opposition to the plan, Manchin puts himself in a position to write a plan that addresses some of those problems and, at the same time, is more palpable to critics of the left.
Experts say that big bills often go through a similar cycle, hope, despair, and triumph. In the upcoming weeks, Democrats will have to reach an agreement with Manchin in order to save their agenda.
President Biden sounded optimistic about getting a deal on Tuesday when he spoke with journalists. BBB might need to take a different form to survive.
Build Back Better needs to change to win Manchin over.
According to reports, Manchin’s biggest problem with the Build Back Better plan is the enhanced child tax credit. Despite his public denials, he is vehemently against this portion of the package.
A solution that is being discussed would be to remove it from the plan. Republicans like Senator Mitt Romney seem interested in working on this issue.
Democrats could then cut a deal with a few Republicans to pass the enhanced child tax credit as a standalone bill that would require 60 votes in the Senate to become law.
This is a scenario that seems likely at this point. In clear, the future of BBB is not as bleak as it seems.
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