It's long overdue, but Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) is finally getting some thanks from at least one mainstream show for his stalwart opposition to increased spending while inflation spiked earlier in Biden's tenure.
On Monday's installment of Morning Joe, Scarborough was joined by former Obama administration adviser Steven Rattner and they had...only good things to say of the stance that Manchin took and stood by despite unhinged and relentless pressure from radical left wing Democrats.
Joe Manchin finally gets the credit he's due for stopping Biden's bloated "build back better" spending bonanza from Joe Scarborough and Obama adviser Steve Rattner, of all people. pic.twitter.com/r5hjGuTjtI
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) June 14, 2022
"This is what we’ve been warning of — this is what happens," Scarborough said of the runaway inflation and subsequently-raised interest rates. "I was wondering why it was taking so long, but you flood the economy with too much money, with too much government debt, with too many government programs, too much deficit spending, this is exactly what happens," he added.
"My God, I just wonder what would have happened if progressives would've gotten their six-trillion dollar wish earlier this year," Scarborough wondered aloud about President Biden's massive build back better budget package that failed to pass Congress via reconciliation.
Manchin called the radical spending package "fiscal insanity," as Katie reported here, and he was right.
Rattner jumped in to say that, "in an ironic way, you almost have to thank Joe Manchin for blocking that because $6.5 trillion of spending in this economy would make these numbers look small," he said of inflation and interest rates. Even though Manchin stopped the bulk of the spending radical Democrats wanted to force through, Rattner noted that "we’re all going to pay the consequences in a very, very tough environment over the next year or two while this gets sorted out."
But Scarborough pushed back a bit. "I wouldn’t even say, ironically, thank Joe Manchin — you can just thank Joe Manchin if you’re glad that interest rates aren’t even higher," he said.
As the market tumbles this week and inflation reports for May showed that price increases accelerated upwards again, it's clear that Manchin was right to resist passing billions in new spending while he waited to see if the Biden administration's claims that inflation was merely "transitory" panned out.
Like many other crises, the Biden administration either misread the situation or blatantly misled the American people on inflation. But Joe Manchin called the bluff and now, finally, is getting some credit for stopping the Democrats' economically suicidal spending.