Economics professor rips Manchin’s ‘worst possible timing’ to support ‘economy killer’ amid recession fears

After Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., reached a tentative agreement for a $433 billion tax and spending package while U.S. GDP signaled recession fears on Thursday, Fox News contributor and economics professor Brian Brenberg slammed Democrats contributing to stagflation.

“The worst possible timing,” Brenberg said of the newly-named “Inflation Reduction Act.” “You could not pick a worse day for that announcement to come out on then today.”

While the new bill starkly differs from the earlier proposed $3 trillion Build Back Better bill, it does include similar significant components related to reduced costs for drugs and environmental and climate initiatives.

“If you’re in West Virginia today, you ought to be incensed that, in the middle of stagflation, your senator is talking about three quarters [of a] trillion dollars in tax hikes and spending,” Brenberg noted on “Varney & Co.” “That is an economy killer.”

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Sen. Manchin may have changed his stance on the spending package after doing the “political math,” according to the economist.

After Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., reversed his stance on Democrats’ spending package, economics professor Brian Breberg called the move an “economy killer” on “Varney & Co.” Thursday, July 28, 2022. (Getty Images)

“His party matters when it comes to his reelection, and he’s doing his political math,” Brenberg explained. “That’s the problem when the economy is controlled by politicians – they’re interested primarily in their own prospects to get reelected.”

With the U.S. economy showing signs of shrinking after second quarter GDP fell 0.9%, Brenberg warned overspending is what brought the country to its current stagflation state.

“This is insane. We got into stagflation because of overspending and all of this green new nonsense, and now we’re going to do more of it coming out of D.C.,” Brenberg lamented. “That is a recipe to take what you saw today and extend it for months to come.”

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While some of the language inside the Inflation Reduction Act hints at allowing more domestic oil pipeline permits, including the Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia, Brenberg said natural gas projects should be approved without government assistance.

“Hey, how about this? Do the pipeline by itself. You don’t have to spend all the money. You don’t have to do the taxes. Do the pipeline; actually help Americans save a little money and for once, fight inflation,” Brenberg advised. “But they’re not doing that. They’re spending their centralizing power. And American budgets get squeezed; federal budgets grow like crazy.”

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