Senator Manchin has restated that he won’t support Build Back Better, the $3.5 trillion proposed spending bill which he’d already cut down to $1.75 trillion. The Senator says there are no ongoing talks with President Biden to bring him onside. This may simply mean Senator Manchin wants the bill further cut and reshaped to suit his interests – though a Democrat, he represents the right-wing electorate of West Virginia, which also has a strong fossil fuel lobby, not to mention his own family’s coal assets. Outright refusal throws away the easy leverage he gets as the last Democrat Senator of 50 whose vote would allow Vice-President Harris to cast her tiebreaker vote and pass the bill through the Senate –…