It’s Manchin, and the billionaires, against all the economists on Build Back Better

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Sen. Joe Manchin’s people are making sure this holiday week for Congress doesn’t pass without King Joe making more pronouncements about why we can’t have nice things, like a climate change and human infrastructure package that starts to address racial, social, and economic inequality called Build Back Better. His people told Axios Wednesday that his “instinct” is to keep delaying President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan because of “red-hot inflation.”

He’s finding little back-up for that, even from professional economics troll Larry Summers, who’s been warning about inflation since March. Summers went on CNN Wednesday night to talk inflation again, of course, but he didn’t say anything Manchin wanted to hear. As far as the already passed hard infrastructure combined with BBB goes, “I think it’s fine,” Summers said. “The 10 years of the two spending bills together, A, are less than the one year of what they did last spring, and, B, unlike what they did last spring, are paid for by tax increases. So I don’t think that’s an inflation problem. I think a lot of it is vitally needed investments in the future of the country.”

When he says “last spring” he’s talking about the emergency COVID-19 relief package the reduced childhood hunger and kept the whole economy from crumbling under the weight of a global pandemic. So it is kind of a shock that he agrees with the 17 Nobel laureates in economics who support BBB. Or maybe it’s because he doesn’t want to look foolish in the face of 17 Nobel laureates endorsing the package. Either way, it gives Manchin—who is highly unlikely to ever be considered for a Nobel prize for anything—no cover whatsoever. That doesn’t mean he’s likely to give up his bullshit, but it makes him easier to isolate.

By the way, here’s what Joseph Stiglitz, on of those 17 economists, had to say on BBB. It’s important to have handy in this debate:

Some, however, have invoked fears of inflation as a reason to not undertake these investments. This view is short-sighted. These are importantly supply side measures, increasing the ability of more Americans to participate productively in the economy, helping to improve our low employment-working age population ratio. Significantly reducing the fraction of children growing up in poverty and giving these children access to pre-K and college education will reap large dividends in years to come. We need safe school buildings and bridges, and affordable child and elder care, whether inflation is 2% or 5%. With the investments being financed by tax increases, the inflationary impacts will be at most negligible—over the medium term outweighed by the supply side benefits; and their progressivity will help address one of the country’s critical problems, the growing economic divide.

The Build Back Better package will provide much needed support to a still-recovering economy, but it will accomplish much more than that. By meeting long-standing social needs, boosting long-term economic performance, and taking serious steps toward addressing the climate crisis we can already see unfolding, it would transform the U.S. economy to be more efficient, equitable, sustainable, and prosperous for the long run, without presenting an inflationary threat.

There are lots of reasons for the BBB to pass, and economic recovery remains a critical one. Given Manchin’s general stubbornness, it’s unclear that any of this could break through. But maybe, just maybe, the idea that continuing this argument makes him look stupid in front of his colleagues might do the trick.

Or he’ll stick with the billionaire Republican megadonors. He’s got Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone on his side, already planning 2024 reelection campaign fundraising. “I’m going to have one of the biggest fundraisers I’ve ever had for him,” Langone told CNBC. “He’s special. He’s precious. He’s a great American.”

Ugh. No wonder Manchin has such an insane ego. He’s got billionaires feeding it like that. And giving him money, of course. It’s not just Langone. Nelson Peltz, a big Trump donor says he calls Manchin every week to give him pep talks. “Joe is the most important guy in D.C. Maybe the most important guy in America today,” he told CNBC last month. “I call him every week and say, ‘Joe, you’re doing great. Stay tough. Stay tough, buddy.’ He’s phenomenal.”

Those Maserati types have to hang together, I guess.