The causes of all this are clear: Democratic spending spurred a surge of demand at the same time supply was constricted by the pandemic and labor shortages caused by government incentives not to work. This will get worse with BBB’s taxes and regulation. Jerome Powell and the Fed contributed by cheering on this excessive spending and keeping an historically easy monetary policy long after the pandemic economic emergency had passed.

This inflation is exactly what Mr. Manchin warned about this summer, and he’s been vindicated. He should follow his instincts and shelve BBB for now, and make clear that before any revival next year it has to be honestly scored for its real spending burden. This would also be better for the Democratic Party and Mr. Biden, who now own the inflation that has occurred on their watch.

The Fed, which is behind the curve, will have to accelerate its bond buying and rate increases. Tighter money carries risks. But letting inflation gain more momentum will make the policy correction even more difficult and the squeeze on the American standard of living worse.