Biden’s Presidency Could Go the Way of His Big Spending Bill

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While I’ve been saying, “Save America, kill the bill,” it looks like Senator Manchin did just that. “I’ve tried everything humanly possible. I can’t get there…. This is a no,” he said on Fox News Sunday.

The official statement from the senator’s office was as clear as could be, and it repeated themes that he has consistently expressed for the past six months: The big-government socialist bill would create more inflation. The true cost is $5 trillion, not $1.75 trillion. It is not paid for. The spending would promote more inflation. The electric grid and all our energy infrastructure will be severely damaged, sinking the economy and jacking up costs.

Mr. Manchin’s statement also voiced concerns about national security, asking whether America would have sufficient resources to deal with Russia and China if need be. And, as always, he insisted on work requirements for social spending and said he opposed a middle-class entitlement state.

More generally, Senator Manchin has consistently rejected President Biden’s transformation policy regarding canceling traditional cultural values, using overregulation to control the economy, rejecting free enterprise capitalism, or taxing our businesses and middle-income, blue collar families.

I continue to believe the Biden policy agenda is dead. It was all wound up in this monstrosity bill, and that’s over. There may be some new bill next year, but it’s going to have to be a lot different to get any traction. This bill is killed. Now, the question is whether Mr. Biden can preserve his presidency. It looks to be failing — on inflation, on Afghanistan, on illegal immigration, on Covid, and on public support, with polls showing a record plunge.

Mr. Manchin is trying to help the Democratic Party, but Mr. Biden and his radical left-wing progressives are killing it. A new “BBB” bill won’t help. A White House in denial of its failures will not help.

This brings me back 25 years, to the Bill Clinton presidency. His party got whipped in ’94, leading to a Republican takeover of the Senate and the House after the defeat of the “Hillarycare” effort to nationalize the health sector and enact a big tax hike on small business. What did Mr. Clinton do? He gave a State of the Union address in January 1995 in which he made a conservative pivot back to the center and declared that the era of big government was over. And he proceeded to work with Republicans like Newt Gingrich for dramatic welfare reform with workfare, spending restraint, and a capital gains tax cut.

The economy rebounded and Mr. Clinton won in ’96. He was a smart politician. Will Mr. Biden follow the Clinton path? I don’t think so.

He’s way too left. So is his vice president. So is his senior staff. And so are the congressional Democrat leaders. Mr. Clinton and Vice President Gore really were moderately conservative southern Democrats. Mr. Biden and Vice President Harris are far-left progressive coastal elites. They have tin political ears and bad policy agendas.

Here’s a wild thought: Mr. Manchin runs for president in 2024 as a Democrat. Save America. Kill the Bill.

________

From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business News.


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