most powerful weapon he had the word no. before we get into the politics of this thing, i want to take a look back at how we got to breaking point. due to the slim majority in the senate, moderate democrats joe manchin and kyrsten sinema were thrust into the molt spolt earlier this year, after democratic leaders began work on president biden s legislative agenda. from the start, the west virginia senator was set on legislation that, one, did not cost too much and, two, whatever the cost, there needed to be a plan for how it would be paid for. in july, he told reporters quote i think everything should be paid for. we have put enough free money out there. his concerns, along with ongoing bipartisan negotiations, made the process increasingly difficult as lawmakers worked toward both physical and human infrastructure. manchin was supportive of the physical infrastructure bill but was adamant about it not being tied to biden s social spending