We’ve discussed for months the “good Joe Manchin and the bad Joe Manchin” political pendulum that forever swings back and forth.
Now that his approval rating is in the sewer in West Virginia because he provided the tie-breaking vote for the Inflation Acceleration Act, Joe is taking a hard line on capping spending. He’s advocated a very good idea in his latest opinion article:
Here are the facts: Our national debt was $14.1 trillion in February 2011. In the decade since, we have added nearly another $20 trillion to that total with bipartisan enthusiasm. That’s over $94,000 for every American…
Capping the annual growth of discretionary spending at 1 percent for the next 10 years would save more than $1 trillion…
As governor of West Virginia, I held weekly budget meetings to ensure our government was living within its means, just like every family around every kitchen table across America. With our debt now standing at $31.4 trillion, we as elected leaders must have the courage to work together and act. Because, make no mistake, the American people will bear the ultimate consequences of our inaction if we allow politics to rule the day.
Republicans in the Senate would be wise to embrace the idea and call it a “bipartisan budget reform.”