Speaker 1: So Democratic senator, ostensibly Democratic Senator Joe Manchin yesterday
gave a press conference on this spending and infrastructure bill that he has been
an obstacle to actually getting passed gave a press conference
yesterday that I can only describe to you as Kafkaesque. Now what does Kafka esque mean?
Fans of the TV series Breaking Bad might recognize the word Kafkaesque. I've used it a few times
before. It's really the only word I can think of to describe this, and you'll see why. In a second,
Kafkaesque means having a nightmarish Lee complex, bizarre or illogical quality of the example that
Merriam-Webster gives is that sometimes there are Kafkaesque bureaucratic delays.
My birth country of Argentina, I think, is arguably best known for Kafkaesque
bureaucracy problems, but that's a story for a different day. I'm going to play some clips for
you from this Joe Manchin press conference. In this clip, I mean, everything is just backwards.
Joe Manchin says, Hey, listen, he's been working on this bill for three months, and he's urging
the House to vote and pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Take a listen to this.
Speaker 4: I've worked in good faith for three months for the past three months with President
Biden, Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi and my colleagues on the reconciliation bill,
and I will continue to do so for the sake of the country. I urge the House to vote and pass
the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Speaker 1: Joe, you've been one of the
primary holdups in actually getting to a bill that everybody will be happy with in terms of Democrats
in the Senate. And he now is framing this as the fact that the House won't vote and pass the bill
he wants to be law means he is no longer part of the problem. Think about the backwards framing his
framing is. Listen, when Joe Biden wants to talk to me, I talk to him. I negotiate with Democrats.
I negotiate with Republicans. And yet the House won't vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill,
ignoring the fact that there's multiple components here and multiple bills that. There is a desire to
pass these in tandem and that he has been like a stubborn little kid that nobody can placate who
just wants attention and is clearly enjoying the attention. But he's saying it's everybody
else's fault, not mine. Next clip here, he says he won't support any bill unless he has clarity
as to the impact on inflation of that bill. Speaker 4: I, for one, won't support a
multitrillion dollar bill without greater clarity about why Congress
chooses to ignore the serious effects of inflation and debt that have on our economy
and existing government programs. Speaker 1: These are just the same
old, tired talking points. We know the effect of government programs and of government spending.
Has he sought clarity on it? Has he spoken to economic experts about this? Because
these answers are available? These are not things to which we can't find clarity. And now
throwing in the typically Republican political football of the debt, the debt, the debt, our debt
and then in completely, you know, it's just. I don't even know what to call it fashion.
Joe Manchin says, Hey, let's quit playing games and pass the bill. Yeah, Joe,
you're the one playing the games. Speaker 4: It's time to pass a bill
and quit playing games. Speaker 1:
Irony is dead. Irony is that Joe Manchin says let's stop the games and pass the bill
now. Does he recognize the absurdity of what he's saying and the fact that he's the reason
that it's not the only reason, one of the main reasons that we haven't yet seen a bill passed? Is
he the one playing games or is he really so naive that he sees everybody else as creating problems
rather than him? Irony is dead, and this is again another reminder in West Virginia. You either get
this or you get a full blown Republican. So the solution isn't to primary Joe Manchin
from an emotional standpoint, maybe it is. Maybe a lot of people would feel good
primary Joe Manchin if somehow of someone to his left wins the primary, then they lose the
general and that seat gets flipped from Democrat to Republican. Maybe some people would feel good
about that because they would feel like he lost his seat. It's a punishment to him. As we talked
about with bill share and and with members of the audience over the last couple of weeks,
the real solution is you've got to flip Republican seats to Democrats. I continue
to maintain that's the solution. If you disagree with me, let me know.