The first thing that broke after Sen. Joe Manchin announced his opposition to President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, ostensibly because of his economic concerns, was news that Goldman Sachs was downgrading its economic forecast for the nation for the next quarter. “A failure to pass BBB has negative growth implications,” Goldman Sachs economists told clients Sunday.

The economists wrote in a report that the failure to pass BBB has “negative implications for near-term consumption” and said that the uncertainty of the expanded child tax credit’s fate is the “most important question for the near-term outlook.” That’s the provision Manchin supposedly specifically opposes because he thinks “parents would waste monthly child tax credit payments on drugs instead of providing for their children,” to quote sources who are familiar with his comments to fellow Democrats.

Robert Shapiro, economist and adviser to the Obama administration, toldThe Washington Post’s Greg Sargent that “Goldman Sachs is saying the impact on growth will be greater in not passing BBB than any marginal effect BBB might have on inflation.” He’s written about the fact that “President Biden and the Democratic Congress are set to preside over the strongest two-year performance on growth, jobs, and income in decades.” At least, that was his prediction pre-Manchin tantrum.

Now? “Instead of having a Biden boom, we could have a Manchin slowdown,” Shapiro told Sargent.

Manchin’s economic arguments against the bill have always been specious. His absolute insistence that it would drive inflation has been debunked repeatedly by leading economists. But like an anti-vaxxer or climate change denier, Manchin has apparently done his own research and refuses to listen to or believe people with more expertise and knowledge. He’ll likely reject the idea that he is responsible for an economic slowdown, but given that Wall Street types are the most likely people he’d listen to, maybe the message will resonate with him.

But since this whole tantrum seems to have been kicked off by an innocuous press release the White House put out last week in which they talked about Biden’s ongoing discussions with Manchin, it’s possible that this is an emotional, irrational fit of pique by the guy which can’t be ameliorated.

It seems that this statement from Biden, in which he said, “My team and I are having ongoing discussions with Senator Manchin; that work will continue next week” was viewed by Manchin as an unforgivable breach of etiquette. At least that’s what Manchin whisperer Steve Clemons writes, calling it “White House incivility.” Manchin was mentioned by name and supposedly felt that he was being singled out and had a hissy fit.

As if the entire world did not know that Manchin was the single hold-up to Democrats being able to pass this bill. As if the whole world didn’t know that Biden and Manchin were talking regularly. As if he hadn’t already cemented his reputation as a dim and stubborn diva, an intellectually lazy and incurious empty suit. 

Also an irrationally angry one, who has a real problem with being asked mundane policy questions about stuff he apparently hasn’t bothered to explore and consider.

Manchin blew up at Delaney, swearing at him and dismissing the rest of the reporters around him, simply for asking for his position on child tax credits. The man is totally out of his depth, and instead of stepping back and learning, he’s blowing everything to smithereens. 

Including the economy.