Wow, another interest rate hike? I know two people who have been looking for a house for well over a year. This will undoubtedly make things worse for them in terms of mortgage rates. 

First, it was people moving from NYC and snatching up houses with big $$$$, the part of the tri-state area where I live has been the slowest to recover/build up housing stock.

At least there’s this,

 

BREAKING: Donald Trump is under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

A grand jury is already impaneled and questioning key witnesses. https://t.co/BP9ds3twQA

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) July 26, 2022

VP Harris is trending b/c at an event for the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, *while speaking to blind Americans*, she described her appearance to orally paint a scene *for those who cannot see*, and the GQP and progressives are attacking her for it. FFS.

— NewbieHoward ✡️🇺🇦 (@NewbieHoward) July 27, 2022

This looks promising but I remain cautiously optimistic until this agreement is signed, sealed and delivered.

BREAKING: In an unexpected breakthrough, Sen. Joe Manchin announced he will support a bill that includes major investments to drive down drug prices as well as provisions to address climate change and taxes on the wealthy. https://t.co/kBtodEd26f

— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) July 27, 2022

6 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

This looks promising but I remain cautiously optimistic until this agreement is signed, sealed and delivered.

BREAKING: In an unexpected breakthrough, Sen. Joe Manchin announced he will support a bill that includes major investments to drive down drug prices as well as provisions to address climate change and taxes on the wealthy. https://t.co/kBtodEd26f

— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) July 27, 2022

I hesitate to trust Joe Manchin on one *amn thing, but this sounds promising. McConnell threatened to not pass the CHIPS bill if the dems passed their reconciliation package. I think Manchin FAKE tanked it 2 weeks ago. Today they passed the CHIPS act then Schumer announced they had a deal on reconciliation. They allegedly have 50 votes. If so, they out maneuvered McConnell. We'll see.

6 minutes ago, JaneAusten said:

I hesitate to trust Joe Manchin on one *amn thing, but this sounds promising. McConnell threatened to not pass the CHIPS bill if the dems passed their reconciliation package. I think Manchin FAKE tanked it 2 weeks ago. Today they passed the CHIPS act then Schumer announced they had a deal on reconciliation. They allegedly have 50 votes. If so, they out maneuvered McConnell. We'll see.

Wow, if this comes to pass, this would truly be great.

I'll be damned. But I'll believe it when it's signed. The more sensible progressives don't appear to be balking at it either.

The rumor is Manchin reversed course when Mitch threatened to kill the CHIPS Bill if they did reconciliation. Manchin does not take kindly to threats (or being blamed for anything) which is why he nuked BBB last year. (OTOH, there's also a chance Schumer gamed this out weeks ago.)

Edited July 28, 20223 yr by Vee

I don't believe it was all theater a few weeks ago, but I do suspect there was some strategy involved at least recently and it's impressive.

Hopefully this will get wind in the sails of some truly dejected people both in government and out here among us, myself included. This is the kind of work the majority should've been doing all along, so I'm not going to quibble about Manchin calling it the 'Inflation Reduction Act' or only going for it out of pique, if true.

 

Edited July 28, 20223 yr by Vee

I'm glad that these things are passing, but so many have been demoralized for many months now, it may just be too late to get those people back. 

I saw that Bernie was upset, which means his remaining cultists will be too, although I don't think he has the same influence he had  a few years ago. 

Most of the progressive caucus is behind this bill atm, so I'm not worried about that. I doubt Gottheimer has the stones to blow this up, and I have a hard time believing Sinema will. But we can believe it when it's signed. I'm mostly very curious how all this happened at all.

I do agree it's late in the game, but it will be a good example of a Dem majority actually doing what it's supposed to and that will be something to put some juice behind. In many ways the "Inflation Reduction Act" appears to be largely BBB with a more Manchin-friendly name that appeals to his ego and sensibilities.

Meanwhile:

 

Andrew Yang and Christine Todd Whitman launching a political party.

Barf.

Exclusive: Former Republicans and Democrats to form new third U.S. political party https://t.co/79Z2szpISh pic.twitter.com/JD1VLPPFNQ

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 27, 2022

1 minute ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Andrew Yang and Christine Todd Whitman launching a political party.

Barf.

Good luck with that!

Meanwhile, Manchin's favorite subject is back: Himself.

 

 

The report allows Manchin to cast himself in the best, most martyred and noble light possible, which is always what he wants. But as long as the bill passes, I don't care:

[...] Following Manchin’s stated interest in limiting a party-line domestic policy bill to health care and lowering prescription drug prices without more information about inflation, Democrats were expecting to pursue a bill that did not include climate or energy provisions. But Manchin and Schumer quietly continued negotiating behind the scenes, mostly through staff, leading to the surprise breakthrough while Manchin was sidelined with Covid.

“There was no pressure. The easiest thing for me to do is walk away and do nothing ... just stay away,” Manchin said. “That was not the case, because it was not the right thing.”

The agreement mirrors roughly what Manchin first laid out earlier this year as his goals for the party-line bill, albeit with a more limited tax title. Democrats plan to raise revenues for the legislation by imposing a 15 percent corporate minimum tax, increasing IRS enforcement, reducing drug prices and closing the so-called carried interest loophole.

Notably, the legislation also extends Affordable Care Act subsidies through the 2024 election and the first term of Biden’s presidency, taking a big political headache off the table for Democrats. Manchin said that “helps people because you just can’t throw [increases] on them during inflammatory times like this.”

It does not include surtaxes on people making more than $10 million a year, ending a push by most Democrats to impose higher rates on the wealthy; nor does it include a global tax deal. Manchin said the bill in theory should be bipartisan but he believed Republicans would never touch the tax code for corporations.

He also saw this moment as the last, best opportunity for Democrats given the uncertainty ahead of the midterms.

“In any other environment [than] what we have right now, this would be a bipartisan bill. I really believe that. This is the only vehicle I have to work with right now,” Manchin said. “We don’t know what the future will bring. But all indications, might be a little bit of a shake-up. And that changes the dynamics of getting something done,” he added.

Another twist: Manchin said the final deal does not leave out new incentives for electric vehicles, which he’d resisted in what became a major sticking point in the negotiations. Manchin said the bill gives incentives to make new car batteries in America “and not only be able to assemble them, but be able to extract the minerals that we need, critical minerals, in North America.”

Schumer held a call Wednesday evening with committee chairs who have jurisdiction over climate as well as senators focused on the issue. The deal with Manchin includes a methane fee as well as a $4,000 tax credit for the purchase of used electric vehicles, according to two Democrats familiar with the matter.

The bill also includes efforts to make fossil fuels cleaner, Manchin said, as well as to increase production to help American allies amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has limited European fuel supplies.

Sinema learned of the deal on Wednesday afternoon and had no immediate comment. When asked about the agreement, Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) replied: “That’s news to me.” Others declined to comment, saying they had yet to see the details. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said his “first clue” was Manchin’s press release.

“There were hints, but nobody wanted to say anything until it was landed,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). “But it’s good that it’s landed.”

After months of rocky negotiations — and the expectation from many that any hope of reaching a climate deal with Manchin was gone — Democrats were buoyant Wednesday afternoon, even as the details of the deal had yet to be released. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) put it this way: “At least we’re using the word ‘climate.’ It’s a good start.”

How the bill plays in the House will also be important. Progressives were elated, with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) calling it a “really important victory.”

And moderate Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), who made state and local tax relief his red line, was noncommittal about whether he’d dig in even as his priority was left out of the bill: “Until I see specifics it’s hard to know.”

Senate Republicans attacked Manchin for agreeing to a deal with Schumer after lauding him for stopping several iterations of the party-line legislation. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement he couldn’t believe Manchin was “agreeing to a massive tax increase in the name of climate change when our economy is in a recession.”

Manchin said he understands that the legislation will divide Washington and potentially reshape his reputation. Instead of the man who obstructed Biden’s agenda, Manchin is now the Democrat from deep-red West Virginia who cut a major climate change deal three months before an election.

“I’m sure all the pundits will come out [from] different directions now, but I’m not worried about me,” Manchin said. “I don’t think you could be attacked any more than I’ve been attacked for a year. So, I don’t know what else they could do to me.”

And, like sands through the hourglass....

 

Manchin vamps for Punchbowl, at the beginning of what I can only pray is the final Manchinology Morning of my natural life:

Quote

“People are going to look crazy, aren’t they?” Manchin said to us in an interview after the deal was announced Wednesday.

Here’s how Manchin revived the deal, in his telling:

“Remember when I told you I didn’t walk away? I never walked away. I’ve never walked away from anything.

“And I’ve been trying to tell people that. …The bottom line was inflation scared the bejesus out of me at 9.1 [%]. I said, ‘I’m gonna go back and re-scrub that bill.’ And then, you know, Chuck and I have a little bit of a relationship, if you will. Good, bad, indifferent at times, but it’s always been respectful and he got mad. …

“So Monday, I said, ‘Chuck, I’m not walking away, never have, my people are still working. If you want to see if we can basically scrub everything and make sure it’s not inflationary.’ That’s just how this went. And he says, ‘Yeah, we’re willing to engage again.’ And I said, ‘Okay, if you want to engage again.’ I said, ‘We haven’t stopped, we’re going through everything, taking out anything that we think could be inflammatory.’

“And I gotta give him credit, they were okay. And we went through the whole thing.’”

Manchin maintained throughout our conversation that this deal didn’t represent any type of reversal for him. The West Virginia Democrat said he was always open to a big package, but it had to make sense economically and policy-wise. The package couldn’t exacerbate inflation, and it also has to include energy provisions that invest in future technologies while allowing the expansion of fossil fuel production. This was a must-have for Manchin, who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

One of the biggest GOP criticisms of the legislation will be that it raises taxes. Manchin countered that the legislation only raises taxes on companies that have a book value of $15 billion and don’t currently pay a 15% tax rate.

On carried interest — which this proposal would eliminate — Manchin said Wall Street has “been on a hell of a ride for a long time,” and it’s time for it to end.

Manchin explained to us a bit of his thinking over the last year, a period in which he walked away from reconciliation talks several times. Manchin said Build Back Better was just a step too far for him:

“When you come to me, and I don’t think I’m for it, I’ll still sit and work with you because maybe I’m not seeing something. And people think, ‘Well, Joe just drags us along.’ I didn’t drag it on. I tried to find a positive position. And I go to the ends of the world. Maybe I should say, ‘Hey, I’m done.’”

Manchin is keenly aware that there will be progressives who will complain about what didn’t make it into this bill. But he recounted a conversation with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said to him: “It’s not what we didn’t do. It’s what we did.”

Manchin also knows very well what his fellow Democrats – especially on the left – thought of him since he blocked Build Back Batter in mid-December:

“I’ve taken one hell of an ass-kicking for what, eight months now? From every side you could possibly have. But I never gave up.

“The smart thing politically for me [to] do once Build Back Better was done and I walked away was to let a sleeping dog lie.

“But when you get a moment in time, and if you know in your heart something needs to be done, it’s the right thing.”

A big question here is whether Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) will support this package. She has been a hard no on raising taxes throughout the year-long talks. Manchin said this:

“[Sinema] really was fighting hard on ‘No taxes.’ I think she was always hard on that. And I think that didn’t happen. She was adamant about not expanding the drug discounts to everything. And she got that modified, so that she gets a big input in this. Really big.”

Sinema’s office officially said this: “We do not have comment as she will need to review the text.”