Joe Manchin has been called out
quite a bit by progressive
lawmakers who say that he is
beholden to his corporate donors.
He also has some personal financial
stakes that definitely play a role
way into his decision on defeating
or attempting to defeat the budget
reconciliation bill.
What I love though is that
the narrative has finally
spread to the corporate media, and
now they're asking
Joe Manchin about his corruption,
but he no like that.
So when Ari Natter,
who is a reporter over at Bloomberg
asked him about the fact that he's
heavily invested in dirty coal and
makes quite a bit of money for
it, Manchin kind of threatened him.
So let me give you the exchange.
So Manchin was asked about how he's
invested in the coal industry and
makes quite a bit of money.
Manchin responded by saying,
I've been in a blind trust for
20 years,
I have no idea what they're doing.
[LAUGH] >> Ari responds with,
you're still getting dividends.
Manchin says, get this,
you got a problem?
You'd do
best to change the subject.
Okay, what was that?
No, he would not do best to
change the subject,
that was a perfect question.
In fact,
let me provide more context into
that line of questioning.
Because Manchin, according to his
most recent financial disclosure,
gained $492,000, nearly half
a million dollars last year due to
his non public shares in a coal
company called Enersystems.
Which records show is a contractor
for a power plant in the states
north that burns waste coal.
Meanwhile, Manchin's 2020 income
for being a senator was $174,000.
Which means,
he makes more than double from his
investments in fossil fuels than
he does for his senate salary.
So money talks, and
I think that that was the right
line of questioning.
This is the reason why he wants to
defeat the budget reconciliation
bill, which includes climate action
that could hurt his bottom line.
>> Yeah.
So look guys,
this is incredible for
a couple reasons.
Number one,
we've got to break through,
the dam is breaking.
Reporters are actually asking about
corruption.
They're finally thought,
I wonder if half a million dollars
affects his vote on issues where it
goes directly into his pocket.
Of course, of course it affects it.
99% of the country thinks that
it affects their decisions for
these politicians.
And the last 1% was the national
reporters who were like, I wonder
if campaign donations affect them.
Let's asks around, right?
>> Yeah. >> An actual money going
into their own pockets,
half a million dollars.
I wonder if that?
Of course, of course it affects.
So after 25 years of me covering
politics, that most obvious
question was the never asked, and
finally it's been asked.
And look at
the politicians reaction,
you best change the subject.
Because he's used
to bossing reporters around.
I'm an important person.
I'm a powerful person.
The mainstream media works for me.
How dare you,
you insolent hired hand?
How dare you ask a powerful person
how they make their money?
So he yells at him like the thug
that he is.
He should get 20 new reporters ask
him that question until he
answers it.
Reporters, that's an open hand
slap, what are you going to do?
You should ask him again and again
and again, is it your personal
money that is preventing this vote?
Isn't the fact that you make all
this money what is preventing you
from voting with the
Democratic Party, with Joe Biden,
and with the voters of America?
And with 80% of the voters of
West Virginia?
So that's the reality of what's
happening.
So that's a giant
breakthrough there.
>> Now, just last night, Senator
Manchin had released a statement in
regard to his displeasure with
the budget reconciliation bill.
He didn't provide too many
specifics in terms of what is about
the bill that he doesn't like,
other than the fact that he thinks
the $3.5 trillion price tag is too
expensive.
And he's allegedly very concerned
about the national debt.
But remember, there are pay-fors in
the legislation.
It's just that the pay-fors would
include increasing taxes
on the rich,
meaning his donors, and also for
himself, and he doesn't like that.
And so, Jennifer Granholm
responded to it,
I think pretty well on cable news.
Let's watch what she had to say.
>> Manchin also writes, what I've
made clear to the president and
Democratic leaders is that spending
trillions more on new and
expanded government programs
when we can't even pay for
the essential social programs like
Social Security and Medicare is
the definition of fiscal insanity.
Your response.
>> Yeah, that's
the whole point is that.
For example,
there were 50 corporations who made
$40 billion in profit last year who
didn't pay one dime in taxes.
Tax fairness requires that we all
pay our fair share.
And Senator Manchin I think is very
much in favor of reshaping the tax
code so that it is fair that we
address those loopholes and
inequities.
So that is a discussion
that's happening right now,
but the president too wants to make
sure that it's fully paid for.
And that's one of the fat features
of the bill back better agenda that
has huge support among
the population.
>> Now remember, Joe Manchin isn't
mentioning that there are pay-fors.
Because that would require him to
say that he's against increasing
taxes on the rich and corporations,
something that's actually very
popular among the electorate,
including his own constituents.
So he's pretending,
he's lying to people through
his statement by claiming that
this is going to increase the debt.
When in reality he knows, he knows
that there's a way to pay for
the bill, which is that he doesn't
want to increase taxes on
his donors or on himself.
>> Yeah, well the other lie was
in the first clip when he said,
how much money am I making and
from where?
Golly gee, I have no idea.
>> I don't know Cenk.
>> I don't know.
He said that the same thing to me
when I asked him a couple years ago
when he was on the show.
I said, here's a list of your top
ten donors and it looks like
you voted with them on this bill,
this bill, and this bill.
And he said
I don't even know who they are.
I don't know who my donors are.
Come on.
I mean come up with a credible lie,
one that doesn't seem
absolutely laughable.
And now turn around and go, Cenk or
in this case,
Ari, half a million dollars.
Is that, was that, did I get that?
I don't know anything about it.
Money magically pops
up in my bank account.
I don't even notice that I have
a million dollars.
I was I don't bother to ask, hey,
where did that come from?
Hey, I wonder where I'm invested.
The same place you've been invested
the entire time.
>> Yeah. >> We all know that
you know,
there is nothing blind about it.
Your son runs the company,
there's nothing blind about that.
It's a joke.
It's a Trump like trust.
>> And look, that is a huge problem
in Congress and I've been talking
about it a lot on the show.
The fact that lawmakers can have
their own personal investments, not
just an individual stocks but their
own little side hustles going on.
That's not acceptable, especially
since we're talking about the same
Democratic Party that was crying
about the conflicts of interest
in the Trump administration.
With Donald Trump still very much
a part of the business world,
with his own business ventures on
the side.
It's a violation of
the Emoluments Clause.
Which by the way I agree with, but
Democrats have no leg to stand on
making that kind of argument when
they themselves have massive
conflicts of interest, certainly
in the case of Joe Manchin.
>> Yeah and one more thing.
So look at that Granholm,
by the way, long considered
a moderate Democrat but
a reasonable person, a good person.
We worked with her at Current TV,
we had back to back shows.
And now here she is representing
the Biden administration arguing
for progressive position,
and effectively so.
>> Yeah. >> Look at how much
the world has changed.
And so when he says,
I'm worried about the debt.
Not only does this not add to
the debt, but the trays of dollars
that we gave to corporations just
last year did add to the debt and
he didn't say a word about it.
So there's no question.
It is a matter of fact, that when
you're trillions to corporations,
Joe Manchin loves it, and is not at
all concerned about the debt.
When he gave it to actual American
voters that didn't donate to him,
he hates it.
And now all of a sudden worried
about a debt that in this bill
doesn't even exist.
>> That's exactly right.
And finally, up $3.5 trillion for
the budget reconciliation bill over
the course of a decade, okay?
Over the course of ten years,
we spent $7.5 trillion on defense
over the course of a decade.
So just let that sink in.
And by the way, are there any
discussions about cutting
the defense budget now that we've
withdrawn troops from Afghanistan?
No.
In fact, Congress has decided to
increase the budget through the
National Defense Authorization Act.
So just let all of that sink in as
the media frames this as if a $3.5
trillion bill through the course of
ten years, is something insane and
unprecedented.
It's not.
We spend that kind of money and
way more on defense.