Less than one percent of the cost of the bill. Manchin seems to be deciding that "occasionally being an asshole for no reason" is how he's going to make his mark between now and 2022.
https://twitter.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1367173846688759813
And this really does seem to me to be a solid counterexample to the "Biden is using Manchin as a fig leaf to pursue his real goals" theory. (Which may well be legit in other contexts.)
There's no actual reason for anyone but Manchin to prefer the Manchin path here. It doesn't save money, create a better narrative, or target spending in any serious way. It's just a mechanism for Manchin to get a meaningless victory at the expense of Biden and the national party.
(Since folks have asked, I said 2022 in the first tweet because it's unlikely he'll still be the Dems' 50th vote after that. If he's number 49 or 53, his schtick changes.)
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