West Virginians Say Joe Manchin Betrayed Them and Still Have Hope Build Back Better Will Pass

Last edited Thu Dec 23, 2021, 08:28 PM - Edit history (1)

- 'Lumps of Coal for JOE MANCHIN.' Protesters held a demonstration in front of Sen. Joe Manchin's yacht in D.C., Oct. 2021. The senator explained that they're working on it, it won't have everything...(More, YouTube).
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- Daily Kos, Dec. 23, 2021. This article was originally published at Prism. - Ed.

WV Sen. Joe Manchin’s weekend announcement that he would vote “no” on the Build Back Better bill was a direct blow to caregivers, disabled coal miners, and anybody living below the poverty line in his home state. The Biden administration’s $1.7 trillion Build Back Better spending plan would extend both child tax credits for an extra year and an excise tax for the Black Lung Disability Fund until 2025. Advocates say Manchin’s thwarting of the plan is a betrayal of their needs, and will leave residents without necessary lifelines. “I felt like I was kicked in the stomach,” said Rick Wilson, WVa. economic justice project director for American Friends Service Committee. “So many people here have been working so hard on this, people in recovery, parents who get the [child tax credit], people who care deeply about climate change, coal miners who need black lung benefits that were tied to this legislation. It would probably have more impact on WVa. than any other state.”



- Dec. 20, 2021. West Virginians outside Sen. Manchin’s Charleston office for a vigil to mourn his decision not to pass the BBB bill, which would have benfitted their community despite the senator’s claims that he could not explain it to his constituents. “He needs to see that his decision is going to hurt people,” says JoAnna Vance. -

An estimated 16% of West Virginians lived in poverty in 2019, making it the 6th-highest poverty rate in the U.S. When the child tax credit was increased from $2,000 per child under 16 years old to $3,600 for children under 6 and $3,000 for children between 6-17 years old as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), an estimated 346,000 West Virginia children- 93% of all kids in the state- were eligible for the 1st payments in July. “I’m just so hurt,” said JoAnna Vance, a grassroots organizer with the American Friends Service Committee. “This is the chance to actually put an infrastructure in WV so parents can have child care, paid family leave.” The last 6 months of credits were crucial for Vance, a mother of 3 children who is in long-term recovery from substance use disorder. She used the 1st child tax credit to pay off her pediatrician’s bills, and in Sept. she was able to buy new tires for the family car. Most recently, Vance and her husband had COVID-19, and during her husband’s 2-week quarantine, he was only allotted 40 hours of pay. The child tax credit helped them pay the bills when his paycheck was short.

“The child tax credit is helping families put food on the table, it’s helping them pay bills,” says Vance. “January is one of the hardest months to get through after the holidays, bills are up because it’s cold, there’s not really a lot of help or support for people after the holidays. So I’m really worried about what West Virginians are going to do if the child tax credit isn’t extended.” Vance has been organizing to pass BBB and extend the child tax credit for months, even meeting with Manchin to assure him that West Virginians will benefit from the bill. On Fox News, Manchin claimed he could not “go back home and … explain the sweeping Build Back Better Act in West Virginia,” but West Virginians like Vance have been advocating for its passage for months, eager to have the economic safeguards. According to a survey of 348 likely voters in West Virginia, 68% support the legislation.

“He says that he is not hearing from West Virginians, but we’ve been everywhere,” says Vance. “It doesn’t matter how many people it will help or hurt, he just doesn’t like it. It’s not fair to West Virginians that are going to suffer because of it.”




- Organizers, children, and concerned West Virginians affirmed their support for BBB on Dec. 20 at Sen. Manchin’s Charleston office. The bill would expand the child tax credit for another year, & greatly impact their quality of life.

ABC News reported that Manchin privately expressed concern that child tax credit recipients were buying drugs with the funds. Vance recalls a meeting with Manchin in Oct. where he referred to people recovering from substance abuse as “crackheads” multiple times. “I felt my eye twitch every time he said it, that’s horrible stigmatizing language,” she says. “WV is leading the nation in overdoses & in the opioid epidemic and that’s the way he talks about his constituents. Even worse, he knows that I’m a person in long-term recovery & still says those words around me. That’s what he thinks about us.” According to Vance, and in a CNN interview, Manchin is opposed to the legislation because he believes there should be a work requirement. He believes families should not receive the tax credit if they are not working or do not have a W-2. But finding & traveling to work can be a challenge for West Virginians who are stuck in ghost towns left decimated after the coal mining industry shut down. Fewer than 20,000 locals work in the mines that are left, making even less than before. And in a state that has been a sacrifice zone to out-of-state extractive industries, the bill would offer respite and address climate change...

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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/12/23/2070724/-West-Virginians-say-Joe-Manchin-betrayed-them-and-still-have-hope-Build-Back-Better-will-pass
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- "Yes, W. Virginians, keep the pressure on Manchin, and the major media outlets basically thrilled to have Manchin kill Biden’s BBB bill. They love standing next to him surrounding him with their mics and treating him like the most important person in the U.S., as if he, not Biden is the POTUS. Every day, telephone his office, email him, and bombard him with letters to the editor and everything else you can think of. And I notice, the supply chain issue is gone and inflation has cooled. Any comments from major media outlets? Crickets. For more political doings, read www.cameinonsaturdays.com"
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"Also, ask why Joe Manchin is not representing the citizens of West Virginia- how the BBB will help so many groups. So why is Joe Manchin ignoring these people? He says he doesn’t hear from them, but then cut to how many times people have gone to his office etc. Joe Manchin doesn’t seem to understand the problems facing the citizens etc. Why isn’t Joe Manchin helping them? Who is Joe Manchin really working for? Put the onus on Joe Manchin not doing HIS job while taking govt money, not representing the hardworking people of WV who need a little help to get back on their feet. OK this is stream of consciousness but ask these questions of Joe Manchin directly in ads."
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- Climate Activists Confront Sen. Joe Manchin, 'We Want To Live,' Now This, Nov. 5, 2021.
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- 'Billboard Campaign Calls On Manchin to Lower Drug Prices by Voting for Build Back Better Act,' Dec. 6, 2021.

Today, Social Security Works launched a mobile billboard campaign calling on Senator Joe Manchin to keep his promise to lower drug prices by immediately voting for the Build Back Better Act.

> The billboards will spend the next 2 weeks visiting municipal buildings, senior centers, and nursing homes throughout West Virginia, including Morgantown, Charleston, Wheeling, Martinsburg, Clarksburg, Parkersburg, & Huntington. Republican, Democratic, and independent voters all overwhelmingly support Build Back Better’s drug pricing provisions.
“Right now, 85% of West Virginians think that prescription drugs are unreasonably expensive. Joe Manchin can take on pharma greed right now with a simple vote,” said Troy Miller, WVa. Organizer at Social Security Works. “Manchin needs to listen to the overwhelming majority of West Virginians who are demanding lower drug prices & he needs to vote for Build Back Better immediately.” https://www.democraticunderground.com/10832475
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- Sen. Joe Manchin’s Opposition to Biden Agenda Backed by History of Putting Corporations Over People.

- Stephen Smith, 'West Virginia Can't Wait.' As President Biden negotiates the final size and scope of the Build Back Better Act with fellow Democrats, Sen. Joe Manchin of WVa. has emerged as a major hurdle to his agenda. The conservative Democrat and his family would potentially profit from his opposition to the key planks of the bill, including green energy investment and raising corporate taxes to pay for the package.

Stephen Smith, co-chair of West Virginia Can’t Wait, says Manchin fits into a long history of state lawmakers working for corporate interests. “Senator Manchin and the rest of our congressional delegation has never represented the people of our state,” says Smith, who ran for governor in 2020, placing 2nd in the Democratic primary. “Politics in West Virginia has never been left versus right, red team versus blue team. It’s the people who are suffering and dying and surviving versus the people who are trying to profit off of that pain.” DN! News, Oct. 22, 2021.