01/10/2022

West Virginia’s Coal Miners Just Made Manchin’s Life Much Harder

The United Mine Workers of America is backing the BBB

For months, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-WV) has sold his opposition to the Build Back Better (BBB) proposal as driven uniformly by a brave and hardheaded assessment of the national interest. He has falsely warned that BBB will fuel inflation and that its climate provisions will push energy markets to evolve too quickly and lead to a dangerous dependence on Chinese supply chains.

It just got harder for the West Virginia Democrat to get away with this stance. And the culprit is none other than coal miners in his home state, whose union is redoubling calls for Manchin to support President Joe Biden's agenda.

What's happening now with miners seems like a seminal moment. Some of the worst tropes in our politics — Democrats harbor nothing but elitist ill will toward miners, and miners' "way of life" must be defended at all costs — are cracking up and falling away.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.