To think it wasn’t that long ago that West Virginia’s Joe Manchin seemed like one of the few Democrats in existence that had two brain cells he could rub together. He stood steadfast against the extremist legislation his own party continuously tried to pass and thanks to him, it seemed the radicalized Democrat Party would walk away from its total grip on Washington more or less empty-handed.

But apparently, all it really took was a few promises of kickbacks for his state, and he jumped on board with one of the biggest lies-turned-legislation the Democrats have cooked up.

The Inflation Reduction Act was sold as something that would help reduce the out-of-control inflation rampaging across our country and hurting the American people. CBO reports made clear that this bill would do the opposite, and Manchin began trumpeting the same talking point as the rest of his party saying that it would. He was, after all, fundraising and he needed his Democrat base to love him again by putting his name on what is, in reality, a climate bill.

Manchin was asked by Fox News when the inflation would start to ease. Manchin’s response was the same as the rest of his colleagues, which effectively amounts to “I don’t know…wait and see I guess”:

Asked by Fox News reporter Hillary Vaughn whether it was misleading to call the bill the Inflation Reduction Act because it won’t make everyday goods less expensive, Manchin said, “Why would it?”

“Well, immediately it’s not,” Manchin said. “We’ve never [said] anything would happen immediately, like turn the switch on and off.”

Manchin said the market is anticipating the investments that will be made with the passing of the bill. Utility prices, for instance, will come down as the United States becomes more energy independent.

“We’re fighting like the dickens. You got to produce yourself out of this,” Manchin said. “If you think that you’re going to wait on the Federal Reserve to raise rates, discourage you from buying anything (and) that’s going to take care of our inflation, that’s not how you take care of inflation.”

That we would suddenly not have inflation was never something we expected as a people, but you would think that they would at least have some sort of timetable. They’re quick to tell us that we’re going to die soon due to global warming — global cooling — climate change, but they won’t at least give us a rough estimate on when the bill they passed to curb inflation will begin doing its work?

The fact is Manchin only pretended to care. He went from spouting off some pretty reasonable stuff about the spending habits of Congress during an economic crisis to happily swiping the people’s credit card when it best served him.

One small consolation is that ever since he voted for this atrocity of a bill, his stock has fallen in West Virginia dramatically, specifically among the GOP and Independent voters who may have supported him should he have held firm. Sadly, Manchin isn’t up for reelection until 2024, but perhaps people will remember this, and teach him the same lesson they taught Liz Cheney; if you fail to do the job the people elected you to do and wield your borrowed power for selfish reasons, it will be taken from you.