Re: Screw you Joe. Manchin deal with Schumer to spur oil and gas drilling jeopardized by far-left Democrats

In article <[email protected]>
David Hartung <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Joe is going to get fucked because Schumer is a liar and untrustworthy.
>

Schumer agreed to press for legislation allowing more drilling 
permits to get Manchin's vote for a mega-spending bill

Sen. Joe Manchin's deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck 
Schumer for an oil and gas permitting bill in exchange for the 
West Virginia senator's support for the White House's $739 
billion climate change spending and tax hike, signed into law 
last week by President Biden, is in jeopardy, as progressives 
say they are not bound by any agreement and vow to oppose the 
legislation.

Critics say that Manchin gave up leverage to get the permitting 
bill through the House by helping Democrats first pass the 
Inflation Reduction Act through a party-line process known as 
budget reconciliation.

"Manchin was so eager to side with President Biden that he 
shoved spending down America’s throat based on the falsehood 
that liberals would allow more domestic oil pipelines," Rep. 
Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., told Fox News Digital. "They won't."

Mooney has been pegged as a likely challenger to Manchin's re-
election in 2024.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Manchin's 
office expressed confidence that the permitting bill would pass.

"Senator Manchin has always had West Virginia’s best interest in 
mind and the Inflation Reduction Act delivers for West 
Virginians and Americans by lowering prescription drug and 
healthcare costs, addressing high energy prices by increasing 
domestic energy production and permanently securing black lung 
benefits," they said. "Senator Manchin looks forward to 
following this momentum by passing comprehensive permitting 
reform next month."

Democrats began working on the reconciliation bill shortly after 
Biden took office. Initially named Build Back Better, the 
legislation was proposed as an ambitious overhaul of the 
nation's economy and climate infrastructure.

That iteration of the bill died within the 50-50 Senate amid 
Manchin's fears it would exacerbate inflation. The West Virginia 
Democrat reversed course this year after getting sufficient 
concessions from Schumer and whittling the bill down from its 
initial $3.5 trillion price tag.

As part of the deal, Manchin also received a commitment from 
Schumer to pass legislation by the end of September streamlining 
the permit approval process to drill for oil and gas.

The permitting bill, which has yet to be made public, would set 
timelines by which environmental agencies must conduct reviews 
for proposed projects. It would also require the federal 
government to hold more leasing auctions for the right to drill 
on federal land.

Manchin's biggest prize in the deal, however, is provisions of 
the expected bill that would catalyze approval of a natural gas 
pipeline running for more than 300 miles through Virginia and 
West Virginia. The $6.6 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline was 
started in 2014 and is nearly 90% complete, but has stalled in 
recent months among environmental lawsuits.

"The Mountain Valley Pipeline is the only project in the entire 
country that can bring 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per 
day onto the market in just six months," Manchin said earlier 
this month when news of the deal first broke. "Completing this 
pipeline will increase supply, strengthen American energy 
security and bring down gas prices."

Progressive House Democrats disagree, however. They say the 
permitting bill desired by Manchin threatens to undercut any 
climate benefit derived from the Inflation Reduction Act.

"We will be united in defeating the separate Manchin ‘permitting 
reforms’ that will accelerate climate change and pollute Black, 
brown, Indigenous and low-income communities," said Rep. Rashida 
Tlaib, D-Mich. "Manchin went back on his word to get [Build Back 
Better] done, and we owe him nothing now."

Tlaib and others from the 98-member Congressional Progressive 
Caucus are pledging to vote against the permitting bill if it 
comes up for a vote in the House. The opposition could be costly 
given that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., can only lose four 
Democrats on any bill before having to rely on the GOP.

Progressives are also warning House Democratic leaders against 
trying to slip the permitting bill into a bigger legislative 
package. They say if the measure comes to the House floor it 
should be standalone.

Far-left lawmakers are not the only ones taking issue with the 
permitting bill. Some Senate Republicans say their votes are not 
guaranteed, especially after Manchin sided with fellow Democrats 
to advance Biden's tax and climate agenda.

"If you think you're going to get 60 votes to get the sweeteners 
that can't be done in reconciliation, you need to think long and 
hard about what you're doing," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Late last month, the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation 
(JCT) revealed in an analysis that the Inflation Reduction Act 
would increase taxes by billions of dollars, including on middle-
class earners.

Since the permitting bill was left out of the larger 
reconciliation package, it will need at least 60 votes to pass 
the Senate. The tenuous position Manchin finds himself in has 
GOP critics questioning his image as a skilled dealmaker.

"Joe Manchin sold out West Virginia for a signing pen from 
President Biden," said Mooney. "He single-handedly restarted the 
Biden administration’s inflation-causing spending binge."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/joe-manchins-dealmaking-prowess-
questioned-after-house-democrats-snub-oil-permitting-bill