U.S. Senator Joe Manchin is basically a Democrat in name only. He may still end up switching parties.
Because Joe Manchin ripped Joe Biden to shreds for this utterly massive leadership failure.
After Fitch downgraded the country’s credit rating, West Virginia Democrat Senator Joe Manchin urged the federal government to fix its finances, calling the downgrade a “stark warning” that “cannot be ignored.”
For the first time since 2011, a credit rating agency (Fitch) lowered a country’s AAA status to AA+ on Tuesday, citing a “erosion of governance” as the reason. A fierce debate and a last-minute resolution to a stalemate over the country’s debt ceiling preceded the downgrading both then and now.
The Fitch downgrade sparked the usual recriminations between the parties’ top officials, with Democrats blaming Republicans for their insistence on budget cuts and the Republicans criticizing the trillions in extra expenditure approved by the Biden administration. After Fitch highlighted the incident on January 6 at the Capitol as a factor in its judgment, former President Donald Trump also came under fire.
But West Virginia’s moderate Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, blasted the downgrade as a “historic failure of leadership by both political parties and the Executive branch.”
He pleaded with lawmakers and the president to fund the government and prevent a prolonged shutdown. To accomplish so, though, he suggested fiscal reforms are necessary.
Before “we wake up to a future where America’s superpower status is in jeopardy and we have lost the confidence of our allies around the world,” Manchin warned, “we must act now to fully fund the government and address our national debt.”
Manchin said “every American will suffer if Washington politics get in the way of long-term solutions that address these challenges.”
Another fight in Congress over federal spending is on the horizon, although one with reduced stakes. By reaching an agreement in May on what amounts to a spending limit for next year, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and President Joe Biden were able to escape a default. The debt ceiling was raised in exchange, but only until the next election, in 2024.
Right-wing McCarthy supporters are so angry over the compromise that they are threatening to remove him as speaker if he doesn’t push for even greater budget cutbacks. Washington is once again headed for a showdown before the September 30 funding deadline as a result of the demands and the Senate’s willingness to violate the budget restrictions put out in the deal, at least for more defense spending.
It’s possible that party leaders will decide to pass a short-term continuing resolution to put off the fight until December.
As the September 30th funding deadline for the federal government approaches, “September will be a crucial month,” Manchin stated.
“Now, more than ever, it is time for elected leaders from both parties to work together and send a clear message” to the world that “we will take the necessary fiscal and budgetary steps to restore our credit rating and keep America’s economy strong for this generation and the next.”
Manchin, who is considering a reelection bid next year in a solidly Republican state, has positioned himself as a moderate in the U.S. Senate. He has considered running for president as a third-party candidate under the banner of No Labels, but he told New Hampshire voters last month that he has no interest in becoming a “spoiler” in the 2024 election.
Whereas most Democrats will not utter a single negative thing with Joe Biden at the helm in the White House, Joe Manchin is unafraid to say it like it is.
Joe Manchin has plenty of confusing takes at times and his voting record simply isn’t as good as he’d lead people to believe.
But it’s hard to ignore how he is willing to go after Joe Biden and the White House for their failed leadership, because that’s what it is.
The Biden administration has let the American economy crumble under the weight of unbelievable interest rates and inflation largely due to his administration’s eye-watering spending sprees.
Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.
