Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), a longtime critic of inflationary policies in Washington, blasted the White House and congressional leaders for not doing enough to stem the tide of rising inflation, potentially endangering Democrats’ hopes of passing a scaled-down version of the Build Back Better (BBB) social spending package.
Article by Joseph Lord from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.
On July 13, the Department of Labor released its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI), showing that consumer prices have gone up by 9.1 percent over the past year, exceeding predictions and hitting a new 40-year high.
The CPI showed that energy has been the hardest hit, with costs rising by around 41.6 percent across the board for all types of energy. Gasoline prices have risen by a staggering 98.5 percent.
Other essentials have also been hard hit: in the past 12 months, the cost of food has gone up an average of 10.4 percent.
In a July 13 statement, Manchin, who has long been vociferous in calling for his party to do more to combat inflation, said: “Today’s inflation data illustrates the pain families across the country are feeling as costs continue to rise at a historic rate. 9.1% is cause for serious concern.
“Items like chicken, eggs and lunchmeat have increased to all-time highs, while energy costs rose more than 40% in June with those that can least afford it suffering the most. It is past time we put our country first and end this inflation crisis.
“For more than a year, leaders in Washington have ignored the serious concerns raised by myself and others about the rising cost of inflation,” Manchin continued. “While Washington seems to now understand this reality, it is time for us to work together to get unnecessary spending under control, produce more energy at home and take more active and serious steps to address this record inflation that now poses a clear and present danger to our economy.
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“No matter what spending aspirations some in Congress may have, it is clear to anyone who visits a grocery store or a gas station that we cannot add any more fuel to this inflation fire,” he concluded.
The statement could spell trouble for Democrats who hope to pass through a scaled-down version of the BBB, which originally failed over Manchin’s concerns about inflation in December 2021.
In December, after months of scrambled negotiations with Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Manchin dashed Democrats’ hopes when he said he wouldn’t vote for the package amid continued concerns about inflation.
Since then, some Democrats have made efforts behind the scenes to push for a revival of the package. Although Manchin has been loosely involved in these negotiations, they’ve only recently gained traction, winning the support of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who’s now making a desperate push to reach a scaled-down agreement on BBB before the end of the summer.
But any such package is far from close to being ready, according to Manchin spokesperson Sam Runyon.
“Suggestions that a reconciliation deal is close are false. Sen. Manchin still has serious unresolved concerns, and there is a lot of work to be done before it’s conceivable that a deal can be reached he can sign onto,” Runyon said.
A particular focus of Democrats with the package has been on climate policy.
Many Democrats have pushed for tax credits for clean energy manufacturing, taxing methane emissions, and a new tax on carbon-intensive imports such as steel. However, this newest inflation report could make Manchin hesitant to accept any such new spending, particularly as his concerns continue to remain unresolved about the proposed package itself.
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To pay for these policies, Democrats have pushed for a repeal of several provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—a proposal that the moderate Sinema isn’t enthusiastic about.
During the last round of BBB negotiations, several sources reported that Sinema—who generally declines to comment on her policy positions during negotiations—was opposed to re-hiking the corporate and income tax rates from their post-2017 levels.
It isn’t clear if Sinema maintains her opposition on this front. But if she does, it could put another kink in Democrats’ aspirations to fund the measure.
The legislation also faces potential challenges from Republicans.
On July 7, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) renewed an earlier threat to tank the bipartisan United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), a measure designed to increase U.S. competitiveness with China.
The House and Senate have each passed their own versions of the legislation, and bicameral committees are currently working to hammer out the differences between the versions passed by each chamber.
The White House and Senate alike are anxious to see the competitiveness legislation passed, further heightening the challenges that Democrats could face in moving ahead with a scaled-back BBB.
Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker