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| Home Front: Politix |
| Joe Manchin Proves He Was, Is, Always Will Be A Swamp Creature |
| 2022-08-09 |
| [Real Clear] Numerous news reports have emerged about the reforms to the energy infrastructure permitting process that Senator Joe Manchin has obtained as promises from President Joe Biden, Senator Chuck Schumer, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in exchange for his support for the "Inflation Reduction Act." That title sets a new standard for Beltway disinformation: Inflation is a monetary phenomenon, and the most that plausibly could be said is that the bill would not increase the deficit and thus the scope for debt monetization by the Fed. The bill ostensibly increases various taxes by $739 billion, authorizes new spending (oops, "investments") of $433 billion, and so yields "deficit reduction" of $300+ billion. That these numbers as well as the prospect for "inflation reduction" are utter falsehoods is a given; and the same is true for the proposition that Congressmen and Senators will choose to raise taxes by more than they raise spending, systematically accepting an excess of the political pain of taxing over the political sunshine of spending. And so the budget numbers specified in the 725-page draft legislation are based upon an obvious deception: that the new spending somehow will not be renewed after an initial three-year period, an exercise in Congressional gameplaying that cannot possibly have escaped notice by Manchin. So why has he signed on to this monstrosity? Back to the promises of energy infrastructure permitting reforms: It is clear that Manchin understands that his partners in legalized crime are not to be trusted. Last weekend he said that "potential ’consequences’" would ensue were the Democratic leadership to renege on the deal. Because of the Senate requirements for legislation to be passed with only a simple majority, the permitting reforms are not included in the draft legislation. Instead, they are to be enacted as part of separate legislation later this year, subject to a filibuster and thus requiring 60 votes. The central reforms that Manchin claims are being promised are the following: |
| Posted by:Besoeker |