As RedState reported on Wednesday morning, the June 2022 inflation report delivered horrific news to consumers across the country. Top-line consumer price inflation rose 9.1 percent compared to the prior year. The cost of eggs is up 33 percent. Milk is up 16 percent. Airfare for flights, used routinely by most Americans, is up 34 percent. Never mind the huge spikes in energy prices.

But as bad as 9.1 percent sounds, the reality is even worse when you consider that inflation had already spiked in June of 2021, which means real inflation since Joe Biden took office is probably closer to 15 percent (Donald Trump left office with it at 1.7 percent).

It’s impossible to overstate how devastating this is to normal American consumers who are watching their real wages shrink (-3.6 percent) and their bank accounts dwindle, just to live the same life they lived two years ago.

Yet, in the midst of all that terrible news, Democrats are still trying to push through another inflation-inducing, trillion-plus dollar spending bill. More importantly, until now, it seemed as if Sen. Joe Manchin, who nuked the original “Build Back Better” bill, was on board to provide the deciding vote. Have things changed after June’s inflation report, though?

More cold water from Manchin after inflation report: "No matter what spending aspirations some in Congress may have, it is clear to anyone who visits a grocery store or a gas station that we cannot add any more fuel to this inflation fire.”

— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) July 13, 2022

Manchin’s previous reason for nuking “Build Back Better” was inflation and the behavior of the White House. He signaled that he simply couldn’t support a nearly $2 trillion bill in the midst of price increases partially driven by overblown government spending. The only thing that has changed since then is that price increases have gotten worse. Given that, you’d think he’d be a no-go now, after seeing inflation rose again to 9.1 percent, right?

I can’t be sure, and you should never place your faith in a Democrat, but it sure looks like Manchin is just stringing his colleagues along. He’s been dragging these negotiations out for a year, and with the November elections less than four months away, the clock is getting closer to striking midnight. Why fold now, and what would be in it for him?

Manchin simply has no incentive to play ball here, and with inflation not going down as predicted by the expert class, he’s now got the perfect excuse to walk away. Will he take it, though? The pressure being put on him is immense. Many on the left are already lashing out, infuriated that Manchin could once again pull the rug out from under them.

My money remains on nothing getting done. If Manchin does eventually fold, though, he can kiss his dream of running for Governor of West Virginia goodbye. The senator has a choice to make. He can either try to appease his Democrat colleagues who will despise him anyway, or he can stand firm and cement his position among his constituents. That shouldn’t be a hard decision.