U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., may have resolved the curiosity of so many about why he suddenly caved to more wasteful spending amid 40-year high inflation after taking a resolute stand for fiscal sanity for so long in the face of tremendous pressure from his own party.
The moderate Democrat reached a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on the ostensibly named “Inflation Reduction Act” that drops $369 billion on climate change and, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, will raise taxes on the middle class. Many experts say the bill will likely do little to actually curb rising prices, and a preliminary analysis by the Penn Wharton Budget Model, an independent research group, says the bill would “very slightly increase inflation” for the first few years, according to CNN.
So what gives, Joe?
Taking to Twitter, Manchin proudly offered a Three Alarm tweet promoting a local news story that he has “secured a commitment” from President Biden, Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi “to allow the Mountain Valley Pipeline to be completed.”
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) August 1, 2022
The Mountain Valley Pipeline project is a natural gas pipeline system that spans approximately 303 miles from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia
More from WOWK 13 News:
According to Senator Manchin’s office, the commitment from President Biden, Schumer and Pelosi will be used to pass legislation for the MVP to be completed and, “streamline the permitting process for all energy infrastructure.” This will be used from, “transmission to pipelines and export facilities.”
Manchin’s team says $1.2 billion will be used in additional investment to complete the project, it will take an estimated four to five months to complete, around 2,500 construction-related jobs will be used, $40 million will be seen annually in new tax revenue for West Virginia and $200 to $250 million more per year in royalties for WV landowners.
Needless to say, people were fairly cynical about what many see as a “payoff” to get Manchin to help deliver Democrats some kind of legislative success — at least, in name only – ahead of the midterm elections, where the party is widely expected to take a shellacking.
Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from Twitter:
https://twitter.com/pvtjokerus/status/1554267861803159552?s=20&t=N0JQ60eAwTO4i9Of6a1ywQ
They're playing you like a Stradivarius https://t.co/nmMXfsND7Q
— Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) August 1, 2022
Thanks for selling out the rest of us so you could have your pipe line. https://t.co/aRfA74BIj2
— Lane (@lanecart07) August 1, 2022
https://twitter.com/VRWCTexan/status/1554257874322432000?s=20&t=N0JQ60eAwTO4i9Of6a1ywQ
Announcing your bribe. You can’t do anything if it doesn’t benefit you first. Greed on level I can never understand.
— Joe Cooke (@pickanamehere) August 1, 2022
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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