I never would have suspected that West Virginians harbor a deep disregard for the freedom and independence of people with disabilities, like me. But the steadfast opposition of Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, to the Build Back Better Act, leads me to believe that this must be the case.
Expecting any courage out of Republicans is pretty absurd, I know.
The version of the bill that passed the house allocates $150 billion to fund Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) for disabled people. Those are the programs that pay the people who come to the homes of disabled people and assist us. I have a crew of people I’ve hired to help me get out of bed, take a shower, et cetera. Obviously, these programs are crucial for the freedom and self-determination of disabled people. Without them, we’d have to check into a stinkin’ nursing home or some other oppressive institution to get the help we need.
But hundreds of thousands of disabled folks who need HCBS as much as I do can’t get the help they need because the funding is so inadequate. So they stagnate, often for years, on waiting lists.
Creative Commons
Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia
When President Joe Biden released the first iteration of his infrastructure revitalization proposal under the name of The American Jobs Plan, it included $400 billion to beef up HCBS programs. That plan has undergone considerable revision, and the version that the House sent to the Senate significantly cut the HCBS expenditure.
But Manchin is still holding things up in Congress. Of course, he couldn’t play that game if any Senate Republicans had the ounce of damn courage it takes to say anything besides an unequivocal “no” to the bill that awaits. But expecting any courage out of Republicans is pretty absurd, I know.
And since Manchin’s job is to serve the will of his constituents, he must know something about West Virginians that I don’t. He must think there’s a certain petty mean-spiritedness about them that he must uphold and defend. Because if he helps shoot down this whole thing, he’ll be sticking it to a whole lot of disabled people who need HCBS, including, no doubt, plenty of West Virginians. And he’ll be doing it in the name of his constituents.
Maybe this isn’t what Manchin is trying to achieve with his obstructionism. Maybe he thinks the damage done to disabled people by his actions will be an unfortunate, unintended consequence, if he’s thought about it at all. But intentions don’t matter, because that will be a consequence nonetheless.