Manchin Tries to Capitalize On McConnell's Threats Against Social Programs

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday called Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's remarks regarding Obamacare and entitlement programs, “absolutely ridiculous,” Politico reported over the weekend.

McConnell last week said he regretted the missed opportunity to repeal Obamacare and stressed the need to reform entitlement programs to bring the federal deficit under control. 

Manchin, a Democrat fighting to retain his seat in a state President Donald Trump handedly won, said his Republican opponent, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, would vote to curtail benefits “in a heartbeat,” stressing that Morrisey “would be a yes man, 1,000 percent, whatever they ask him to do.”

Manchin and fellow moderate Democrats up for election regard it as a gift to have a chance to focus on bread-and-butter government programs that are popular with swing voters in conservative states. Politico noted that West Virginia residents depend on these programs at higher rates than most other states.

McConnell made the remarks after a Treasury Department report said the budget deficit soared 17 percent in Trump’s first full fiscal year in office, according to The Washington Post.

The Senate majority leader rejected criticism that last year’s Republican tax cuts are to blame for the ballooning budget deficit, instead saying that large federal spending programs are the problem.

After several days of Democrats using the issue to stress the stakes of the election, McConnell tried to dispel the idea that he wants to cut the programs, saying he was merely stating that those programs fuel the deficit.

But Democrats have gone on the offensive in Nevada, Missouri and North Dakota in an attempt to tell swing voters that it is too dangerous to allow the GOP to remain in control of Congress.

• Mitch McConnell: Spending Programs to Blame for Larger Deficit
• Vice President Pence, Morrisey Urge West Virginians to Vote