Joe Manchin stuck to his original thoughts on the grotesque “Build Back Better” (BBB) plan to remake America into a socialist country and said “No”. All the gnashing of teeth and threats of Armageddon didn’t sway this adult from taking the necessary step to (hopefully) kill this bill. A bill that is nothing less than the complete upheaval of our basic values of small government, local autonomy and personal responsibility. Listening to the rant of Representative Ocasio-Cortez you would wonder how we made it this far as a country.
I will give Representative Ocasio-Cortez this kudo; she can talk extemporaneously. Her interview on Morning Joe today was a lesson in stream of consciousness speaking. In her diatribe and among others, she called for the Senate to be remade starting with the filibuster, that any majority has the will of the people behind it and must “govern”, and allowing any person to thwart the will of the people is an affront to democracy. Her comments reminded me of my kids when we denied them something.
This bill, like most, contained hidden gems for every entity with an ear in Congress. (I was especially interested in the $2,000,000,000 for “tree equity”.) BBB is a naked attempt to install cradle to grave dependence that can never be sustained. As happens to every socialist country, this bill would have led to our demise. The Representative quivered about how she will still be here in 50 years and inherit the climate we are wrecking. She would be lucky if that was the only problem then if this bill gets passed.
And now the pivot! The most important thing to save our country is assuring every person can vote. With each passing, a new body is laid over the fallen one. HR1 was a bust so in its place is HR4, another attempt to codify the shenanigans that took place under the guise of pandemic voting. Once again, Joe Manchin stuck to his principles and said no to HR1. The pressure on him to say yes to something will be brought to bear on this “how to steal elections” bill. We can only hope he, and some of the other reluctant adults who stood in the shadows while he took the slings and arrows, will stand up to this next treachery.
Current Day Publius 