By Colby Etherton

Lord, what a year 2021 was in the world of politics. 

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has effectively killed Biden’s Build Back Better plan, publicly announcing that he’s a “no” on the sweeping legislation that Democrats have been negotiating with each other on for months. It’s felt never-ending; a slow crawl toward a goal post that keeps getting moved. Manchin on his part had drastically reduced the scope of the legislation, demanding that the price tag be far smaller than what was initially proposed. He also had a hand in removing key climate change provisions and has been opposed to expanding the child tax credit through 2022, along with paid family and medical leave.  

Usually, negotiation is about meeting somewhere in the middle. As it stands, Manchin has very much had a “my way or the highway” approach where despite many attempts at conceding to his demands, it still hasn’t been enough. There’s no question that Democrats have been sloppy and disorganized, and really should target their policy proposals to those who are actually in need of them — for example, extending the child tax credit to those who are lower-to-middle income. But these negotiations have largely been about placating Manchin, with not very much compromise on his end.  

It seems that Manchin is simply fundamentally in conflict with where the modern-day Democratic Party has moved. His public statements on not being able to get on board with where Build Back Better currently has the potential to be disastrous for Democrats, as months of negotiations have gone down the drain. However, he’s left the door open on going back to the drawing board at the start of the New Year and has reiterated that he wants to reform Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. Reversing the tax cuts has interestingly been left out of the social spending bill, perhaps because Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema has been opposed to raising taxes on the wealthy and on large corporations — despite being opposed to the Trump tax cuts several years ago. What gives? 

If there’s one point I’ll concede to Manchin: Democrats trimming down the length of programs in the package does come off as disingenuous and like an attempt to score political points, rather than as an actual attempt at creating change that’s long-lasting. A handful of programs in Build Back Better only last a couple of years (or a year, in the case of the extension of the child tax credit). However, it again circles back to his arbitrary price ceiling and the need to at least deliver something. It hasn’t clicked for him that it’s not possible to create a policy that’s covered for ten years when you also aren’t willing to budge on the price tag.  

With Manchin being confirmed as a no vote (along with 50 sure-fire no votes from Republicans), Senate Leader Chuck Schumer has said that he still plans on proceeding with a floor vote on Build Back Better. It will inevitably fail but will put on record where every Senator stands on the package. Most voters will have their minds made up months before the midterms in November 2022, coupled with what will be an inevitably long process in early 2022 to renegotiate. They’re in for a rough climb.  

The opinions expressed in this article are entirely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of MONTROSE STAR.