#METOO: House Dem ‘Concerned’ About Price Tag of Biden’s $3.5 Trillion Budget Plan.

During a Tuesday virtual town hall, Rep. Kurt Schrader said while it was “really nice to see” bipartisan support for a $550 billion infrastructure plan, he is “concerned about the amount of money involved” in the multitrillion-dollar megabill championed by Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.).

“The speaker also is trying to go along with another package the president is interested in on some of the key social issues out there,” Schrader said. “I am concerned about the amount of money involved with that. So far, they’re talking about whether or not they’re going to pay for that.”

Schrader is not the only congressional Democrat to express wariness about the bill’s price tag, a trend that endangers Biden’s economic ambitions. Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) told his partymates Wednesday to “hit the pause button” on the legislation, citing “runaway inflation.” One day later, he penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed to detail why he “won’t support spending another $3.5 trillion.”

“Over the past 18 months, we’ve spent more than $5 trillion responding to the coronavirus pandemic,” Manchin wrote. “Now Democratic congressional leaders propose to pass the largest single spending bill in history with no regard to rising inflation, crippling debt, or the inevitability of future crises. Ignoring the fiscal consequences of our policy choices will create a disastrous future for the next generation of Americans.”

Left unsaid: Biden doesn’t have the clout — the combination of love/fear/respect — on Capitol Hill to pass his signature agenda item.

He’s basically a first-term lame duck.