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Manchin must have guessed that something like this could come. After all, he’s been in politics for almost 40 years. He also has the peculiarity of torpedoing favorite projects of the left. And since the last election, he also has the power to do so. He tips the scales in a Senate where fifty Democrats versus fifty Republicans. The fate of the Biden agenda depends on Manchin’s vote. The man from West Virginia has not proven to be overly indulgent.
Beneficiary of the coal industry
An item that was central to President Joe Biden’s promise that the US would cut its emissions in half by 2030 has just disappeared from the current draft social and climate law. The draft envisaged giving local energy suppliers $ 150 billion if they abandon coal and natural gas power generation in favor of renewable energies. But that’s history. According to Manchin, the change is happening anyway, which is why additional subsidies are not necessary.
He is also against the multi-billion dollar subsidy program to set up charging stations across the country. He couldn’t remember the American government opening gas stations to support Henry Ford. Because he also wants to hold on to the filibuster procedure in the Senate, which forces MPs to win some representatives of the other party in the event of a narrow majority, he forgets the last of the left’s sympathies – if any.
It therefore reminds us that Manchin is profiting from the coal industry. That’s true in a way. Manchin had founded a coal trade in 1988, which he ran until he became a full-time politician. Since then the company has been run by a son, and Manchin receives dividends. The oil and coal industry was also one of his major campaign donors, as the Open Secret platform has registered, which tracks down payments to politicians.
Only laws that he can sell
The Democrat is a solitaire in a state that has become firmly Republican at breakneck speed since 2010. All congressmen except Manchin are now Republicans, the governor is and the majority in the state chambers of parliament. He himself was elected governor of the state with large majorities and then as senator. But the majority of his Republican opponent shrank to three percentage points and he got below 50 percent of the vote for the first time.
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