In November 2021, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy filibustered the Build Back Better Act for a little over eight hours on the floor of the House of Representatives. In doing this, McCarthy broke a record of a filibuster speech House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered years ago.
During McCarthy’s history-making speech, he warned about the danger of what Build Back Better entails. A huge part of it commands beefing up the IRS so that it may examine the financial accounts of most Americans. McCarthy also noted that other parts of the legislation would rack up the national deficit to ridiculously dangerous proportions.
Now, there’s no doubt the House Minority Leader’s speech had an impact. However, because the House of Representatives is narrowly controlled by the Democrat Party, the chamber passed the bill.
Nevertheless, the legislation is all but assured to face a very real uphill battle in the Senate, as Breitbart News details.
Enter Sen. Joe Manchin…
Joe Manchin is a moderate Democrat senator from West Virginia. Since the inception of Biden’s presidency, Manchin has made a name for himself by opposing some of the most radical inclinations of his own party.
Because 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans are in the Senate, Manchin’s vote carries a lot of weight. Democrats have made it clear they don’t have any intentions of trying to meet Republicans halfway on policy matters; therefore, they require every single Senate Democrat to vote for bills in order for them to pass.
Guardian US: @accountable_us said its tracking of corporate activity found that Manchin had taken more than $1.5m and Sinema nearly $1m from corporate interests opposed to the Build Back Better as of September
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) December 1, 2021
Yet, when it comes to the Build Back Better Act, Manchin’s been clear that he believes the legislation demands some essential changes. The West Virginia senator declared that as a “realist,” he has worries about the spending ramifications of the bill.
Furthermore, Manchin also noted the legislation comes at a time when America’s economy is in a very fragile state. The senator isn’t wrong about this, either.
Inflation is at an all-time high. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office already said the Build Back Better Act will rack up almost $800 billion in five years.
What’s Most Likely to Happen?
Judging from Manchin’s past patterns of handling radical bills from his fellow Democrats, the senator will likely call for spending to be significantly decreased before he agrees to vote for the Build Back Better Act.
Manchin tells senators he's skeptical Build Back Better can pass this year, as he's personally invested in undermining any policy or action supported by Democrats at every possible turn*
*FTFY pic.twitter.com/85khaxYpUf
— Patriotic Millionaires (@PatrioticMills) December 6, 2021
This will require some real revisions and modifications to the bill’s content altogether. On Monday, left-wing activists took to social media, slamming Manchin for not automatically pledging to vote for yet another one of Biden’s spending packages.
What do you think will become of the Build Back Better Act? Do you believe it’s going to have an easy or challenging time with garnering the necessary Senate votes? In the comments field below, we’d love to read your predictions.
