(no message)
Link: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/manchin-kills-build-back-better-nation-republicans-win-david-marcus
(no message)
(no message)
(no message)
Purple district R's (13 in all) voted for Infrastructure which took away AOC et al's leverage wrt to holding up the bill unless it was coupled together with BBB. Infrastructure was able to pass separately (a loss for R's but much much less than BBB would be for the entire country and themselves).
The R votes allowed the bills to remain decoupled. Had they not been decoupled, large portions of the BBB would have undoubtedly survived along with the Infrastructure bill after compromises occurred.
However, decoupling allowed for the blocking of the BBB plan completely (at least for now and hopefully permanently).
As an additional benefit, each of those 13 house members who voted for the Infrastructure strenghtned their positions in the upcoming 2022 election.
Decoupling the two bills was done to please Manchin. McCarthy had nothing to do with it.
would have done it.
Regardless of whther it was brilliant strategy or dumb luck, it is looking like ti will be a wonderful outcome. Given what I recall reading at the time, I do believe that McCarthy was hoping for this result, and that it is why he ok'd the 13 R's voting for the Infrastructure Bill.
It reminds me of McConnel's gamble with blocking Merrick Garland's nomination in the sense of the all or none gamble (D's threatened a more liberal justice if he wasn't approved and they won the Fall election - though we can all see now that Garland is extremely liberal which should be lesson for all R's when faced with liberal threats (and promises that Garland was moderate).