Bernie Sanders – Credit: AP
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday did not strike at attacking Sen. Joe Manchin, accusing him of “intentionally sabotaging the president’s agenda” and blocking “what the American people want.”
Manchin announced this week his refusal to support two important provisions of President Biden’s economic package: tax increases for the rich and spending on initiatives to prevent climate change. It probably marked the key to the coffin for the vision of Biden and the Democrats for a transformative economic package, a vision the party has continually revised and reduced in a failed attempt to win Manchin’s support.
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Sanders was so mad, that he chose not to wait for journalist Martha Raddatz to finish his question, rejecting the framing.
“Sen. Joe Manchin, of course, abruptly shattered Democrats’ plans to pass this week, “Raddatz began.
“No, Marta. Let me disagree with respect. He didn’t do anything suddenly,” Sanders said during a Sunday appearance on ABC This Week. “It simply came to our notice then. … Six months ago, I made it clear that you have people like Manchin … [and] Movies, to a lesser degree, that intentionally sabotage the president’s agenda, what the American people want, what most of us want in the Democratic caucus. Nothing new about that. “
Sanders added: “The problem was that we kept talking to Manchin as if he was serious; he wasn’t. This is a guy who is a big recipient of fossil fuel money, a guy who has received contributions to the 25 campaign. Republican billionaires. “
“You say he wasn’t serious,” Raddatz said in response. “Manchin says his main goal is to do what’s good for West Virginia and he’s worried about inflation.”
“Really? Really? “Replied the Vermont senator, his voice dripping with sarcasm.” Is that right? “
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In response to a quote from Manchin about inflation and how it affects his West Virginia voters, Sanders argued that it is “the same nonsense Manchin has been talking about for a year” and noted that Manchin’s state is one of the poorest in the nation. “You ask the people of West Virginia if they want to expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing and glasses. You ask the people of West Virginia if we should demand that the richest people and big corporations start paying their fair share “Ask the people of West Virginia whether or not all people should have health care as a human right like every other country on Earth. That’s what they’re going to say.”
He concluded, “In my humble opinion, Manchin represents the richest people in this country, not the working families of West Virginia or America.”
This is far from the first time Manchin has torpedoed Biden’s legislative hopes. He opposed an earlier version of Biden’s Build Back Better Act, which included proposals to reduce health care costs and expand access, fix immigration, help families with child care costs, and try addressing climate change. Manchin’s reluctance to act on the climate, despite his recent public statements against it, is fueled by his deep interest in oil and coal. Manchin has struggled for years to keep his state’s dirtiest coal plant open while reaping the benefits at the expense of his constituents, Jeff Goodell told Rolling Stone. “Joe Manchin will absolutely throw humanity under the coal train without blinking an eye,” Maria Gunnoe, director of the Mother Jones Community Foundation and a longtime activist in West Virginia, told Goodell. “My friends and I have a joke about their species: they would mine their mother’s grave for a dollar.”
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