McCarthy, Debt Ceiling Deal Is Not a Win – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics

McCarthy, Debt Ceiling Deal Is Not a Win

Daniel J. Flynn
by
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Nov. 15, 2022 (Consolidated News Photos/Shutterstock)

Toward the end of the legislation raising the debt ceiling, listed provisions detail congressional support for various permits and the like for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

This seems like a worthy project. It does not look like the concession that the Biden administration describes it as or the win that Kevin McCarthy makes it out to be.

Last year, Joe Manchin received from Democrats this same concession in exchange for his vote for the Inflation Reduction Act. The New York Times reported on this deal last year, so the idea that Kevin McCarthy securing from Democrats what they promised to support last year represents a “win” rather than a fake talking point to justify going further into debt seems a stretch.

One wonders if, like the sonic screwdriver in Doctor Who, the Mountain Valley Pipeline continues to work as a lifesaver for Democrats, and Republicans who need PR cover for doing the other party’s bidding, on future legislation guaranteeing a “living” wage, delivering childcare for all (including the childless), and paying for all things Ukraine.

Well, at least they yielded on the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Either Democrats did not live up to their promises made to Manchin last year, or this year we all got, to borrow from gasoline lingo, hosed.

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READ MORE:

Biden and McCarthy Are Playing Treasury Roulette

Why the Debt Ceiling Continues to Matter

Daniel J. Flynn
Daniel J. Flynn
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Daniel J. Flynn, a senior editor of The American Spectator, serves as a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution for the 2024-2025 academic year. His books include Cult City: Harvey Milk, Jim Jones, and 10 Days That Shook San Francisco (ISI Books, 2018), Blue Collar Intellectuals: When the Enlightened and the Everyman Elevated America (ISI Books, 2011), A Conservative History of the American Left (Crown Forum, 2008), and Intellectual Morons: How Ideology Makes Smart People Fall for Stupid Ideas (Crown Forum, 2004). In 2025, he releases his magnum opus, The Man Who Invented Conservatism: The Unlikely Life of Frank S. Meyer. He splits time between city Massachusetts and cabin Vermont.  
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