The man in charge of legislative policy right now is not named Joe Biden. The name is Joe Manchin.

The Joe from West Virginia knows full well that he holds most of the cards in this next round with the White House and Democrat leadership. So far, Manchin has stood firm (with a solid assist from Senator Kyrsten Sinema) against the Democrats who want to spend the country into oblivion. And given his latest rebuke to Bernie Sanders, he isn’t going to be shamed into meekly getting back into lockstep behind Biden.

All of this has put the progressive wing of the Democrats into absolute fits. Before Bernie got told off by Manchin, he was whining to the media, begging Manchin to name his price.

Well, it seems that Manchin has actually been thinking over this bill. But the progressives will not like what he wants.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has told the White House the child tax credit must include a firm work requirement and family income cap in the $60,000 range, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.”

I told you the progressives weren’t going to like this.

Manchin has previously called for work requirements for the child tax credit, in addition to “means testing” to place a cap on the income of people who can receive benefits under the program.”

He told reporters late last month “I want work requirements for everything. Means testing and work requirements.”

Now, this doesn’t mean that Manchin isn’t ready to spend gobs of money.

Manchin did, however, signal that he was willing to support Biden’s $450 billion initiative to subsidize day care and provide free universal preschool, sources told Axios. He reportedly wants tighter income caps to be placed on day care subsidies, but to keep preschool free.”

But this agreement to pay for universal preschool is balanced out by the removal of a climate change program, which already had progressives crying into their soy lattes that we are all DOOMED.

If “climate destruction” was “ensured,” the activists would be all for nuclear power.

Somehow that never makes the cut though.

Just need more electric cars to prevent certain death!

If you want to invest in renewables, fine, but stop lying to us that we’re going to die. https://t.co/XNmVm0QzBv

— Andrew Clark (@AndrewHClark) October 16, 2021

Oh, and Manchin said last month that he wants the Hyde Amendment in the bill, or he won’t vote for it. THAT’S going to give the abortion ghouls in the House an absolute conniption fit.

And we are STILL talking about OVER A TRILLION DOLLARS here. Manchin has said repeatedly that his cap is $1.5 trillion. Everyone realizes that that’s an obscene amount of money, right? It’s only rendered less obscene by the fact that the initial progressive price tag was $3.5 trillion, even though they INSIST that this will all be paid for by raising taxes on billionaires (i.e. not Bernie or other millionaires in the Senate and House, like Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren), so the actual cost will be “zero” because it will already be paid for! The White House is still pushing this line.

I am nesting and this HomeGoods is about to get absolutely REKT because these velvet pumpkins and festive table runners cost $0 (after I pay for them). https://t.co/sV6LmLsjHm

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) October 17, 2021

The rebuttal is, of course, if the bill is going to cost “zero,” then why can’t we spend less? Oh, that’s not how it works. Here is Jen Psaki, just last week, giving the game away.

.@PressSec: "The president wants to make fundamental change in our economy." pic.twitter.com/fTMS7bW2F7

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 12, 2021

Which means that anything stopping the “fundamental change” has to be bad. Well, fortunately for sane people, Joe Manchin is in the driver’s seat at the moment, not Joe Biden. And even if Manchin should get everything he wants, then the Democrats will have to negotiate with Kyrsten Sinema. The senator from Arizona has been quite clear that she won’t even consider passing the “Build Back Better” baloney crap sandwich until the infrastructure bill – which already passed in the Senate – is passed in the House. Nancy Pelosi promised a vote on that by Halloween, which could end up being a huge trick on Democrats and a big treat for Republicans. I suggest that Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell get some popcorn for Halloween.

Well, the progressives got what they wanted. Manchin is telling them exactly what he wants in the bill, and what he wants cut out of it or downsized significantly. Now they have to swallow the bitter pill in order to give Joe Biden some kind of legislative win, or start digging their heels in. Now the ball is in the court of the Progressive Caucus. If they balk and freak out, then the Democrat leadership is stuck at an impasse. And they won’t be able to blame a single Republican for it, which is REALLY going to hurt.

Which means the only question left is, just how much popcorn are we going to need this Halloween?

Featured image: Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), official portrait, cropped, public domain