Sen. Sanders Hits Manchin's "Sabotage"

On this morning's "This Week" on ABC, Sen. Bernie Sanders lit into coal country neo-Republican Sen. Joe "Fossil Fool" Manchin for sabotaging President Biden's Build Back Better legislation, in particular the climate change-related provisions. Sanders complained that Manchin was being treated in good faith as a serious bargainer, when he was not.

Despite them being whittled down to satisfy him, Manchin refused to support the provisions in the legislation on climate change and increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans, saying "inflation" was his concern regarding the price tag. His vote on the Build Back Better legislation would have been vital, due to the split Senate. Sanders didn't hold back:

“[Manchin] has sabotaged the president’s agenda. No, look, if you check the record, six months ago, I made it clear that you have people like Manchin,  Kyrsten Sinema to a lesser degree, who are intentionally sabotaging the president’s agenda, what the American people want, what a majority of us in the Democratic Caucus want. Nothing new about this. And the problem was that we continue to talk to Manchin like he was serious. He was not. This is a guy who is [a] major recipient of fossil fuel money, a guy who has received campaign contributions from 25 Republican billionaires. [snip]

In my humble opinion, Manchin represents the very wealthiest people in this country, not working families in West Virginia or America.” (our emphasis)

Unfortunately, deeply red West (by G*d ) Virginny swallows Manchin's fake fiscal conservatism, despite having the most to gain from progressive legislation aimed at economic dislocations and inequality. Being the Senator that sabotaged climate change legislation won't look good -- to say the least -- for Manchin's already questionable political legacy.

(photo: composite via CNN)

 

Oops! He Did It Again

 

Surprise not surprised:

Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) told Democratic leaders Thursday he would not support an economic package that contains new spending on climate change or new tax increases targeting wealthy individuals and corporations, marking a massive setback for party lawmakers who had hoped to advance a central element of their agenda before the midterm elections this fall.

The major shift in negotiations — confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the talks — threatened to upend the delicate process to adopt the party’s signature economic package seven months after Manchin scuttled the original, roughly $2 trillion Build Back Better Act, which President Biden had endorsed.

As long as this Republican cat's paw can delay and, ultimately, sabotage major parts of the Democratic agenda, he'll do so -- up to the point when he leaves the Democratic Party after the mid- terms (wait and see!).  Netting two Democratic senators will end the Sinemanchin tyranny in that body.

In the meantime, Senate Dems need to take the "Kick me, Joe Manchin" sign off their backs.  He's not your colleague or your "friend."

(To be scrupulous, Manchin is reported to be "open" to an extension of the Affordable Care Act for two years and lower drug pricing for seniors -- but with Manchin, we'll believe it when we see it.)

(Photo:  "How am I doing, Malignant Loser?"/ Saul Loeb/ AFP via Getty Images)

QOTD -- Back-stabbing Democracy

 

“History will remember Senator Sinema unkindly. While Sen. Sinema remains stubborn in her 'optimism,' Black and Brown Americans are losing their right to vote.

“She’s siding with the legacy of Bull Connor and George Wallace instead of the legacy of my father and all those who fought to make real our democracy.”  -- Martin Luther King III, today on back- stabbing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's refusal to change the Senate filibuster to pass voting rights legislation.  Shortly after Sinema's betrayal, fellow back- stabber Sen. Joe Manchin announced he also would not vote "to weaken or eliminate the filibuster."  Their rationales are so preposterous that a question remains, "Who bought them off?"

The response from the President and the Democratic Party should be commensurate with the gravity of their betrayal of our democracy.  Especially on the eve of the Martin Luther King holiday, anything less is unacceptable. 

Take the gloves off.

 

White House Statement On Manchin Tanking BBB (On Fox!)

The gloves are off.

Bastard Sen. Joe "Maserati" Manchin played the White House and Congressional Democrats for months, constantly moving the goalposts and blocking the President's Build Back Better bill.  This morning he had the gall to go on Fox "News" to announce he was a "no" on the bill's passage.  Here's the blistering statement from the White House issued by Press Secretary Jen Psaki in response:

Senator Manchin’s comments this morning on FOX are at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances. Weeks ago, Senator Manchin committed to the President, at his home in Wilmington, to support the Build Back Better framework that the President then subsequently announced. Senator Manchin pledged repeatedly to negotiate on finalizing that framework “in good faith.”

On Tuesday of this week, Senator Manchin came to the White House and submitted—to the President, in person, directly—a written outline for a Build Back Better bill that was the same size and scope as the President’s framework, and covered many of the same priorities. While that framework was missing key priorities, we believed it could lead to a compromise acceptable to all. Senator Manchin promised to continue conversations in the days ahead, and to work with us to reach that common ground. If his comments on FOX and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate.

Senator Manchin claims that this change of position is related to inflation, but the think tank he often cites on Build Back Better—the Penn Wharton Budget Institute—issued a report less than 48 hours ago that noted the Build Back Better Act will have virtually no impact on inflation in the short term, and, in the long run, the policies it includes will ease inflationary pressures. Many leading economists with whom Senator Manchin frequently consults also support Build Back Better.

Build Back Better lowers costs that families pay. It will reduce what families pay for child care. It will reduce what they pay for prescription drugs. It will lower health care premiums. And it puts a tax cut in the pockets of families with kids. If someone is concerned about the impact that higher prices are having on families, this bill gives them a break.

Senator Manchin cited deficit concerns in his statement. But the plan is fully paid for, is the most fiscally responsible major bill that Congress has considered in years, and reduces the deficit in the long run. The Congressional Budget Office report that the Senator cites analyzed an unfunded extension of Build Back Better. That’s not what the President has proposed, not the bill the Senate would vote on, and not what the President would support. Senator Manchin knows that: The President has told him that repeatedly, including this week, face to face.

Likewise, Senator Manchin’s statement about the climate provisions in Build Back Better are wrong. Build Back Better will produce a job-creating clean energy future for this country—including West Virginia.

Just as Senator Manchin reversed his position on Build Back Better this morning, we will continue to press him to see if he will reverse his position yet again, to honor his prior commitments and be true to his word.

In the meantime, Senator Manchin will have to explain to those families paying $1,000 a month for insulin why they need to keep paying that, instead of $35 for that vital medicine. He will have to explain to the nearly two million women who would get the affordable day care they need to return to work why he opposes a plan to get them the help they need. Maybe Senator Manchin can explain to the millions of children who have been lifted out of poverty, in part due to the Child Tax Credit, why he wants to end a program that is helping achieve this milestone—we cannot.

We are proud of what we have gotten done in 2021: the American Rescue Plan, the fastest decrease in unemployment in U.S. history, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, over 200 million Americans vaccinated, schools reopened, the fastest rollout of vaccines to children anywhere in the world, and historic appointments to the Federal judiciary.

But we will not relent in the fight to help Americans with their child care, health care, prescription drug costs, and elder care—and to combat climate change. The fight for Build Back Better is too important to give up. We will find a way to move forward next year.

Here's the aforementioned clip from his appearance on Fox:

 

BONUS: The twitterverse reacts -- 

 

If Joe Manchin does not have the guts to stand up to the powerful special interests, he's going to have to explain that to the people of West Virginia who are hurting and hurting badly. pic.twitter.com/U5OeNlk6ea

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) December 19, 2021

 

Democrats put Manchin in charge of negotiating infrastructure.

We cut the proposed $6T BBB bill to $3.5T (he said he’d support $4T).

We cut out taxes on rich, paid leave, tuition free college, prescription drugs.

We caved to him at every turn—and he still tanked the bill.

— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) December 19, 2021

 

Senator Joe Manchin might as well have made his BBB beheading tape from the Mar-A-Lago omelette station.

— Mr. Newberger (@jeremynewberger) December 19, 2021

 

Now that DINOs like Joe Manchin killed Build Back Better, people who criticized the progressive caucus owe them an apology.

This is exactly what they said would happen and it did.

Progressives conceded to pass the infrastructure bill in exchange for assurances about BBB.

1/

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) December 19, 2021

 

what kind of shithole Democrat sabotages the entire Democratic agenda

— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) December 19, 2021

 

A party-switching "Democrat"?

Manchin's The "Patsy" And America Suffers

James Downie, writing on the Washington Post's op-ed page, nails West Virginia Senator and obtuse patsy Joe Manchin for the delusions that the country will pay for:

"Manchin has become the Senate’s Walter Mitty: a man who believes himself the champion of a fantasy and who has hope but no plan. He believes he will save the country by recruiting '10 good Republicans,' even though dreaming doesn’t will into existence that many Republicans who will cast a fair-minded vote. Anything that would snap him back to our partisan reality he either ignores or treats as divisive. Meanwhile, McConnell and the rest of the Republican Party laugh all the way to the ballot box.

That’s what makes Manchin so infuriating. In his mind, he’s the hero of this story. In truth, he’s the patsy. And the country pays the price for his delusions."  (our emphasis)

If we give him the benefit of the doubt that he's sincere (but a Pollyanna), he's so focused on what happens in the Senate with his non-existent "10 Republicans" and Senate filibuster rules, he ignores what Republican vandals are doing in dozens of state legislatures with the support of their Governors to disenfranchise Dem voting blocs, actions that can only be stopped through Federal legislation. His bipartisan fetish in the face of corrupt Sen. Moscow Mitch McConnell's "100% focus" to stop President Biden's agenda is destructive, because for the Republicans, there's no "bi" in bipartisan. It may be safe politics in deeply red West Virginia, but it's undermining democracy nationwide.

(photo: "Thank you Mitch, may I have another?" Patrick Semansky /AP)

QOTD II -- Destroying Democracy

Our democracy has been screwed by this goddamn son of a bitch:

"I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For the People Act. Furthermore, I will not vote to weaken or eliminate the filibuster. For as long as I have the privilege of being your U.S. senator, I will fight to represent the people of West Virginia, to seek bipartisan compromise no matter how difficult and to develop the political bonds that end divisions and help unite the country we love."  Sen. Joe "Jim Crow" Manchin in today's Charleston Gazette-Mail.  We don't know any other way to say it but "Damn you forever, you dim-witted, fascist-curious bastard!"  And you can quote us.

That no one was able to move him off of his disastrous position is also a failure to be reckoned with. 

BONUS: 

 

Manchin: The right to vote is fundamental, but because the other party opposes it, so must I. https://t.co/13PdPXYDAv pic.twitter.com/zYkUCrJR6U

— Seth Masket (@smotus) June 6, 2021

 

“Partisan voting legislation” - it’s beyond a joke that he’s referring here to the For the People Act with this phrase and not to the various GOP bills in Texas, Georgia, Florida, and beyond. It’s actually a declaration of war on on democracy by him. Shameful. So shameful. https://t.co/pDOC0qJ6BR

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) June 6, 2021

 

OK, students of logic, find the flaws in the senator's thinking. What a complete freaking meathead. https://t.co/vm8WZ3ZbJ0

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) June 6, 2021

 

(Cartoon:  Rob Rogers, Tinyview.com) 

The Filibuster And Bipartisanship: A Prebuttal To Manchin

 

Weathervane conservaDem Sen. Joe Manchin (?- WV) is at it again with an op/ed in today's Washington Post (which we won't link to).  Basically he states that he won't support an end or changes to the Jim Crow filibuster rule in the Senate because he wants "bipartisanship."  Having obviously slept through the Obama Administration, Manchin wants us to believe that there are Republicans who are willing to cross the aisle and work with Democrats on major legislation like voting rights and infrastructure (or at least 10 of them, to allow cloture).

A veteran of filibuster wars and one of our heroes, former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), published what amounts to a prebuttal of Manchin's argument back on March 24.  In it, he explains why the filibuster and "bipartisanship" are two separate issues, from a practical and historical perspective.  Here are brief excerpts:

As discussion of reforming the filibuster has picked up, a myth has sprouted up alongside it. This myth says the filibuster is the primary key to bipartisanship in the U.S. Senate. Reform the filibuster, or worse do away with it completely, and bipartisanship will become extinct, according to the myth.

It’s time to bust that myth. I know firsthand how bipartisanship actually works in the Senate, and I can attest that the filibuster is not an essential ingredient to bipartisanship. Full stop.

To have bipartisanship, some members from both parties need to agree on what the problem is and on how to solve it. If this doesn’t happen, there will be no bipartisanship whether the filibuster is on the table or not. I spent eight years working with Sen. John McCain to advance and negotiate one of the last comprehensive bipartisan pieces of legislation to be enacted — the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act of 2002 — and the filibuster was an obstacle, not an assist, in the process. [snip]

Today, Democrats and Republicans do not agree on what the problem is, let alone what the solution is, when it comes to critical issues including voting rights, labor rights, climate change, or immigration. Keeping the filibuster in its current form will not change this, but it will almost certainly prevent any legislation on these issues from passing.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s sudden defense of the filibuster as necessary for bipartisanship is a rewriting of history. [snip]

The filibuster is a Senate rule that empowers a minority of senators to thwart the will of a majority of senators. That’s its purpose and its power.

There is no bipartisan-inducing power to the number 60. The filibuster would be just as effective at thwarting a bill backed by 25 Democrats and 26 Republicans as it is at thwarting a bill backed by 51 senators of the same party. The current Senate could achieve bipartisanship with 51 senators, or even 55 or 56. And yet in such an instance of bipartisanship, the filibuster would still be lethal, just as it was for many years with McCain-Feingold. [snip]

The GOP’s perpetuation of the myth that the filibuster inspires bipartisanship is mere subterfuge. To achieve 60 votes on critical issues like voting rights or immigration in today’s hyperpartisan world, a bill would likely consist of little more than the effective date, as McConnell sought with McCain-Feingold.

The filibuster should be reformed, and bipartisanship should be pursued. These are separate issues and separate discussions. One should happen soon. The other is an ongoing struggle that involves senators and their voters, not Senate procedure.

We don't know what Manchin's (and Sen. Sinema for that matter) play is, but we know that unless his views are somehow more nuanced than they appear on the surface, it will put him squarely in the obstructionist caucus now populated exclusively by the 50- member Republican Senate contingent. Maybe he needs to have a "come to Russ" moment?

In the meantime, a few reactions to Manchin's latest pronouncement:

 

“There is bipartisan support for voting reform,” Manchin writes, as Republicans introduce 361 bills to restrict voting rights in 47 states https://t.co/TdztZIRJEM

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) April 8, 2021

 

Joe Manchin represents a state that is 1/22 the population of California & 92% white yet he can singlehandedly block policies supported by 70-80% of Americans. This is why the US Senate is so broken

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) April 8, 2021

 

Manchin is setting himself up to be Mr. Gridlock. He's putting himself on the hook to deliver 10 GOP votes on everything. When he fails, as he will, he'll be the one blocking broadly popular policies that improve people's lives & which Dems must pass to hold the majority in 2022.

— Adam Jentleson 🎈 (@AJentleson) April 8, 2021

 

Manchin is right that democracy reforms have broad bipartisan support. Just not in the senate. Ultimately there’s not much new in his op-ed - it’s all talk until the vote is called. Like all politicians, he’ll stick his finger in the wind, and it’s up to us to change the weather. https://t.co/JjgLMDmv3z

— Ezra Levin (@ezralevin) April 8, 2021

 

And, from that same Adam Jentleson who literally wrote the book on the filibuster, this primer that even Joe Manchin might understand:

 

Mitch McConnell says the filibuster is ‘the essence of the Senate.’ Other Republicans say it’s how the framers envisioned the Senate and that it has a noble place in governing.

That’s all BS, says @AJentleson pic.twitter.com/Usn70ohxl9

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 7, 2021

 

 

Nominal Democrats Manchin, McCaskill and Heitkamp -- "Let Them Lose"

Alex Ruthrauff at Wonkette must be reading our mind:

On Monday, beltway bullshit scorecard POLITICO reported that nominal Democratic senators like Joe Manchin, Claire McCaskill, and Heidi Heitkamp appear eager to help the new Republican majority advance legislation. Manchin even called the idea of not working with Republicans to promote their agenda “bullshit.” They probably think that burnishing their “moderate centrist” credentials in this way will help them keep their jobs when they face the voters in 2018. They are wrong. 

Assuming a Democrat is elected president in 2016, and middle class wages remain stagnant or continue to shrink, here is what will happen to Joe Manchin and Claire McCaskill and Heidi Heitkamp in 2018: They will lose.  [snip] 

Let them lose. Then start running Democrats who are recognizable as Democrats in a blind taste test. Even in places where the conventional wisdom says they won’t play well. These candidates will almost certainly lose too, at first. But at least the party’s resources will be spent on promoting candidates who support the core agenda that rank and file Democrats go out and vote for. 

It doesn't matter if these three turds have a "D" beside their name anymore (and we would add soon-to-lose Mary Landrieu).  They didn't stand behind Harry Reid for Minority Leader.  They don't support core Democratic principles.  Indeed, they're willing to hop in the sack with ethical black hole Sen. Mitch "Missy" McConnell (Money-KY) at the earliest craven opportunity.  God, we're tired of these spineless careerists taking resources away from progressive Democrats.  They're up for re-election in 2018, which is a long time away, but we'll be damned if one cent of ours goes to any of them (three more reasons, if more were needed, not to contribute to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee).  Until then, they should be marginalized by the leadership whenever necessary.

BONUS:  Charles P. Pierce adds his take on the turncoats, with special attention to Landrieu.

Three Little Pigs

-- Sen. Joe "My Other Mansion Is A" Manchin (DINO-WV), a.k.a. Cornpone Joe Lieberman, is reading Rethuglican talking points... again.

-- Space invader and former Rep. Allen West (R-Uranus) will no longer be employed by right-wing wurlitzer Pajamas Media because he just might be anti-Semitic (but not because he's a raving loon, oh no!).

-- The State Representative referenced by President Obama in the clip below -- the one who likened the Affordable Care Act to the Fugitive Slave Act -- is State Rep. Bill O'Brien, former New Hampshire House speaker and current Ign'ant Analogy Champeen.

The Cowardly Sen. Manchin

When asked if he'll support President Obama for President, the erstwhile "Democrat" Sen. Joe Manchin (?-WV) lets everyone know what he's made of:

“I am just waiting for it to play out. I am not jumping in one way or another,” Manchin said. “I’m worried about me. I’ve said it’s not a team sport. You need to go out and work for yourself.”

Thanks for the character portrait, asshole. We hope our team feels the same way about Manchin and supports more worthy candidates.

(Photo: The cowardly Sen. Manchin.)

You Can't Run, You Can't Hide

Budding spine-challenged Dem Sen. Joe "Manly" Manchin (D?-WV) was the only Senator to miss the vote on DADT repeal yesterday. Even Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) managed to show up, even though he had to cancel a doctor's visit (he'll be undergoing surgery for prostate cancer next week). Manly Joe's excuse? Why he had to go to a family Christmas party in West Virginny! Manly Joe, who's brand new to the Senate, is apparently trying to avoid casting controversial votes in the hopes the mean ol' Rethugs will lay off him when he runs again in 2012. Ha ha! In fact, they wasted no time in unloading on him for his lack of a spine. Moral of the story: The Rethugs aren't going to show you any love even if you roll over and play dead for them, so you might as well act like a man and stand up for your country and your party.

(Photo: Is it a coincidence Manchin's shirt is yellow?)