Bravo to Joe: Manchin right not to follow leader on debt vote | Martinsburg Journal

When Sen. Joe Manchin voted against a bill to expand the national debt last week, he knew full well his opposition would not stop the measure. It passed the Senate handily, by a 64-34 vote.

Manchin, D-W.Va., was the only Democrat to vote against the measure. Every one of the others followed orders from Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and President Barack Obama. A few Republicans joined them because the bill originated in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.

Given Obama's success in the court of public opinion, Republicans in the House had no realistic choice but to vote for the debt expansion, in the hope a deadline they set for spending cuts later this spring will result in at least some progress in reducing the federal spending deficit.

But Manchin was right to vote "no." At some point, he has stressed, Congress must stop "kicking the can down the road" on deficit spending. The nation already is $16.5 trillion in debt - and something must be done about the problem.

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