Save America. Kill the bill, Part II

Larry Kudlow, Donald Trump's chief economic adviser, has been saying "Save America. Kill the bill" for a couple weeks now. He's used that instant cliché about the Democrats' reconciliation bill. Apparently, Joe Manchin agrees with that. He's issued this statement to announce that he won't vote for Bernie Sanders' entitlement reconciliation bill.

Early in his statement, Sen. Manchin states "What I have made clear to the President and Democratic leaders is that spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can’t even pay for the essential social programs, like Social Security and Medicare, is the definition of fiscal insanity. Suggesting that spending trillions more will not have an impact on inflation ignores the everyday reality that America’s families continue pay an unavoidable inflation tax. Proposing a historic expansion of social programs while ignoring the fact we are not in a recession and that millions of jobs remain open will only feed a dysfunction that could weaken our economic recovery. This is the shared reality we all now face, and it is this reality that must shape the future decisions that we, as elected leaders, must make."

Speaking of Sen. Sanders, he's living in La-La Land. Sen. Sanders' op-ed provides proof of that:

We live in an unprecedented moment as our country faces enormous crises, including COVID-19, climate change, attacks on democracy, income and wealth inequality, and the multidecade decline of the American middle class.

As chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, I proposed a $6 trillion reconciliation bill that would begin to address these long-neglected problems. A strong majority of the Democratic caucus supported that proposal, but not all.

As a result, we made a major compromise to reduce that budget from $6 trillion to $3.5 trillion. This entire package would not add to the deficit and would be paid for by demanding that the wealthiest people in our country and large, profitable corporations start paying their fair share of taxes.

Sen. Sanders is on a mission to pass the inflation-creating reconciliation bill:

While the $3.5T bill is dead, it's still possible that Democrats will pass a still-massive bill in neighborhood of $1.5T-$2.1T. If Democrats substantially raise taxes, they'll cause the next recession. If that happens, the 2022 midterms will lead to a nasty 2024 presidential cycle. Remember how low inflation was, how low unemployment was (especially for minorities and women), how the income inequality gap was shrinking pre-COVID and how our borders were actually resisting illegal aliens.

UPDATE: Joe Manchin's pricetag isn't the part that will stop the reconciliation bill in its tracks. He's also demanding means-testing for entitlement programs and workfare. There's no way that Bernie Sanders or AOC will accept those policies. Check this out:

Means-testing and workfare were the pillars of the welfare reform bill that Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich negotiated and that Daniel Patrick Moynihan shepherded through the Senate. These days, means-testing is a 4-letter word with Biden, AOC and Bernie.