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

[Bill Steele]

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

[Bill Steele]

Joe is going to get fucked.

Democrats say Manchin's bill will force them to choose between
more pollution or government shutdown

Nearly a third of House Democrats warned Speaker Nancy Pelosi on
Friday against tying this month's must-pass government funding
bill to legislation spurring oil and gas drilling that is
desired by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

Seventy-one House Democrats penned a letter to Pelosi, D-Calif.,
warning that the bill's inclusion will force them to seriously
consider voting against the short-term government funding
measure, known as a continuing resolution.

"In the face of the existential threats like climate change and
MAGA extremism, House and Senate leadership has a greater
responsibility than ever to avoid risking a government shutdown
by jamming divisive policy riders into a must-pass continuing
resolution," said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman
Raúl Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who spearheaded the letter.
"Permitting reform hurts already-overburdened communities, puts
polluters on an even faster track, and divides the caucus."

Signing on to the letter was a wide cross-section of the House
Democratic Conference.

Signatories included not just progressive firebrands, like
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, but also
leadership allies. The latter included Reps. Joe Neguse of
Colorado and Debbie Dingell of Michigan, whom Pelosi has tasked
with leading the House Democratic Policy and Communications
Committee.

Neither Manchin's nor Pelosi's offices returned requests for
comment.

Earlier this year, Manchin struck a deal with Senate Majority
Leader Chuck Schumer to pass legislation streamlining the permit
approval process to drill for oil and gas by the end of
September. In exchange for the commitment, Manchin agreed to
back the White House's $739 billion climate change and tax hike
package.

Schumer, D-N.Y., confirmed earlier this week that he would
attach the permitting legislation to the government funding
bill, which must pass by Sept. 30 or risk a shutdown.

"Our intention is to add it to the [continuing resolution],
absolutely," said Schumer.

House Democrats say the decision is fraught with risk, however.

"Such a move would force Members to choose between protecting
[environmental justice] communities from further pollution or
funding the government," the lawmakers wrote in their letter.

Progressive Democrats have long argued that Manchin's side deal
was with Schumer and not with them.

"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."

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, 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 in August
when news of the deal first broke.

The opposition by House Democrats to the oil and gas permitting
bill has put the pipeline at risk. Manchin's GOP critics say the
senator gave up any leverage to get the permitting bill through
when he agreed to vote on the $739 billion climate change and
tax package first.

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

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/71-house-democrats-warn-pelosi-
against-tying-manchins-permitting-deal-government-funding-bill