Learning Slowly

As you recall, Senator Manchin from West Virginia’s vote for the Inflation Reduction Act allowed the bill to pass. In return for his vote, Senator Manchin was promised that Biden administration would pursue energy security provisions within the legislation. Aside from the fact that it was a horrible bill, the Biden administration did not follow through on its promise (are you surprised?). Well, Senator Manchin is up for re-election in 2024 (although he has not confirmed that he is running) and he has a strong Republican opponent. We can expect to see Senator Manchin become very conservative in the next year. He will only vote with the Democrats when his vote is absolutely necessary. He will vote with Republicans when his vote doesn’t matter.

On Wednesday, Just the News reported the following:

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin announced Wednesday that he would lend his support to a Republican-backed effort to overturn a Biden administration rule limiting pollution from large trucks.

The Environmental Protection Agency posits that the regulations could prevent nearly 3,000 deaths through 2045 by reducing emissions of nitrogen oxides, according to The Hill. 

“The Biden Administration wants to burden the trucking industry with oppressive regulations that will increase prices by thousands of dollars and push truck drivers and small trucking companies out of business,” Manchin said, ahead of a vote on a resolution to eliminate the regulation. “When our country faces record-high inflation and vulnerable supply chains, we cannot let the EPA continue to seize unrestrained power and create regulations that devastate our economy.”

“I am proud to support this resolution to stop this government overreach,” he added.

The moderate lawmaker’s remarks follow a declaration earlier this week in which Manchin vowed to see the Inflation Reduction Act repealed if the Biden administration did not pursue energy security provisions within the legislation.

Expect more conservative words from Senator Manchin during the coming year. Don’t watch his actions too closely as they may not agree with the conservative words.