Opinion: What Sen. Joe Manchin doesn't get

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is likely to be the deciding vote on the $3.5 trillion Senate reconciliation bill to expand spending on social and infrastructure programs. Because of his concerns over rising debt and inflation, Manchin wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that he will not support the bill until he gets answers to a basic question: "What should we fund, and what can we simply not afford?"

The headline, "Why I won't support spending another $3.5 trillion," gave the op-ed a false spin. That's not what Manchin wrote. He wrote that he won't support spending another $3.5 trillion "without greater clarity about why Congress chooses to ignore the serious effects inflation and debt have on existing government programs."

Here is an answer for Manchin. The legislation should certainly not ignore inflation and debt. It should pay for the increased spending with increased taxes, exactly as is proposed in the budget resolution. Sen. Manchin is right to insist that the bill should be properly financed.

his leads to the real question: Can the $3.5 trillion be fully funded with new tax revenues paid by corporations and America's rich?

-snip-

Let me reassure the senator. America can easily raise the needed $3.5 trillion in revenues. That amount is not large relative to the US economy or the immense wealth of America's elite. Yet it is what the citizens of West Virginia and the US need to overcome hunger, poverty, lack of access to higher education and lack of modern infrastructure to protect them from the floods, droughts, forest fires, hurricanes and heatwaves claiming American lives.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/opinion-what-sen-joe-manchin-doesn-t-get/ar-AAO6Ny5

[FoxNewsSucks]

1. Too bad he'll probably never read it

But that's how things have always been. Democrats tax and spend, which is responsible. Republicons borrow and spend and that's why we have a massive national debt

[FalloutShelter]

2. Dear Manchin...

We just cut loose a $300 million dollar per day albatross that has been sucking us dry for twenty years.
That is certainly a good start.

[RockRaven]

3. It is not a matter of getting it (understanding). It's a matter of giving a shit (priorities).

Manchin will demonstrate his priorities by how he votes. We should all believe him when he shows us.

[Dustlawyer]

4. What Joe Manchin doesn't get is enough donations.

There will never be enough.

[brush]

5. The proposals in the two bills are projects that are decades overdue.

They should've been made long ago. Anyone been to Kennedy or LaGuardia Airports lately? They're in decrepit shape. Our railroads are hardly better than during the early 20th century.

I left NYC a few year ago but when I was still there, every few weeks a century-old, clay water pipe would burst under the street and send a man whole cover flying and a huge gusher of water following. The city crews would have to come out and patch. I imagine that's still going on. We need infrastructure done asap.

Daycare is desperately needed to get parents back to work, not to mention improvements in healthcare. The child tax credit needs to be made permenant.

All of these things and more should've already been in place. We're just catching up because we are behind from republican obstruction to everything but cutting taxes for the rich.

[Midnight Writer]

6. $3.5 trillion is a lot of money.

Over ten years, that is $350 billion per year.

Gross National Product is about $21 trillion per year.

That is .60% of GNP.

A modest investment in what is needed to take our country into a prosperous future.

I predict this investment will pay for itself many times over.

It's like replacing a leaky roof on your house. It may require an substantial initial expenditure, but without it the leak will get worse, doing more and more damage to your house, and end up costing many times more when you are forced to finally deal with it.

Interest rates are at a historic low. This is the best time to take out that national improvement loan.

[rickyhall]

7. Or he could be a fucking crook working for the goddamned oil maggots.