Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) declared his opposition to the House-passed For the People Act, and reaffirmed his refusal to eliminate the filibuster, in an op-ed published in the Charleston Gazette-Mail on Sunday.
Sic:
“I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening blinds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For The People Act,” Manchin wrote.)
Tired of this self-satisfied fuck.
LM fix Manchin’s statement:
As I watch RepubliQans pass one stunningly ultra-partisan voting bill after another across the country, “I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening blinds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For The People Act,” Manchin wrote.
Basically, Manchin is just another RepubliQan and now he has publicly written off anything and everything that President Biden wants to do for the country.
Hopefully, he won’t complete the process and put McConnell back in charge of the Senate.
He’s actually kind of right that it is really bad for voting rules to be passed on party line votes for perceived partisan advantage. Is he at all aware of what is going on in every single Republican-run state in the country? If we didn’t have to defend democracy from a Jan 6 coup attempt that continues and is ongoing, I would agree with Joe.
But, hey, he just became Senator of WVA for life.
Of course! We knew that, just couldn’t acknowledge it. Now what?
No, he’s not right. That’s called the majority, and if the majority votes for X, and if they happen to belong to same party, then that’s how it goes.He’s doing his best to poison the jury pool by acting as if getting rid of the filibuster will mean no bipartisanship on anything which is another goddamned lie of his.
In the balance: Continuation of filibuster v. continuation of democracy is a no-brainer. WTF is wrong with him??
And he isn’t one of them.
Well, this clarifies things. The Dem Party has benefited from Manchin’s uniquely opaque and self-serving political skills to the extent that it has gained a Senate majority, but no further. In any case the legislative futility of the Democrats in the Senate was clear when it became obvious that the filibuster would remain in place and Rs would obviously not let Ds pass legislation on anything except maybe renaming a post office after a white guy. Biden and Schumer have to focus on saving the Democratic Party from utter electoral implosion in 2022. That obviously requires focusing on the insurrectionism of the GOP rather than absurd bipartisan rituals. Make the political question du jour not the failure of Dems to do something, anything, but the GOP’s ongoing attack on US democracy. That’s why talking about Trump is the way forward. Otherwise it’s game over.
With Manchin not willing to vote for voting rights or infrastructure, his only leverage point is judges. I’m not sure if he’s even reliable on that, and Dems are likely to get a senate majority without him in 2022. It’s a gamble, but it may be time to throw him to the wolves. Shut down every coal mine in WV. I’m sure they all have a technical violation or two. Let him switch parties so we can blame Republicans for the obstruction they are already getting away with due to Manchin being on their side.
This is where I wish someone like Rahm Emmanuel ran the DOJ. Someone who might have a little private meeting with Manchin and show him the nice evidence of indictable offenses against his daughter if he doesn’t play ball…
The votes against the bill are the partisan ones. Manchin swore an oath to the Constitution and majority rule, not to some fuzzy idea of perfection or Mitch McConnell. Pass this and let the rest work out over time. If he can’t base his vote upon the merits of the bill and the needs of our country at this unique point in time - what with the insurrection and Putin’s success in destabilizing our society, he should resign.
If Manchin can’t man up when his nation needs him, he should consider whether he is in office for the benefit of the country, or if he is in the Senate only for the benefit of Joe Manchin.
He wants to be a kingmaker. He relishes the attention and power that is in his lap (Sinema as well). That is what is wrong with him.
His acting like Jimmy Stewart is just a disingenuous con job to appear otherwise.
At this point, I really don’t care if this is all theater because it’s cruel. People’s basic rights hang in the balance and he’s sitting around whining about a tool of slavery because he wants to work with the pro-slavery party. Fuck him.
Dems just have to face the fact that they have a 48 seat “majority.”
Put as many bills as they can up for votes. Make Manchin vote with the repugs.
Edit: His major error is believing the Senate IS the country.
“Herr Hitler’s party members in the Reichstag can be reasoned with. To oppose their efforts to end the Weimar Republic without their support is too partisan.“
Manchin has just destroyed all prospects of bipartisanship. Why should the GQO compromise when he is going to insure that they get their way in everything anyway.
What in earth makes him think they are acting in good faith when he can’t even find 10 GOP votes for a good and popular bill?
Ready to donate money to his Republican “opponent”.
I agree with you on majority rules and no filibuster for most legislation. But voting rules should be in a separate category. Civilized countries try to establish independent electoral commissions that at least try as best as possible to take the politics out of voting rules. Barring that, normally self restraint by parties is good and necessary. But Republicans have thrown restraint to the wind and For the People in some version is the last defense we have of democracy.