So he can be replaced by a Republican and Mitch can decide nothing’s coming to the floor at all?
Uhhhhm… let’s not, hey?
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Why do you think I’m being entirely serious? I was just venting because the whole situation is frustrating. I’m not making a formal announcement. What I say here has little consequence, and I don’t take myself all that seriously. Buddha, lighten up.
you too @arrendis
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Hey, if germaphobe trump can raw-dog a porn star, whatever floats @teenlaqueefa or @sniffit’s boats is on them.
Since it’s not going to end in a child that I have to pay them stipends for, none of my business.
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This could be a blessing in disguise. The CTC is already being paid out now. Extending it as is denies the Dems an important campaign piece and having it under threat for some will give Dems a popular campaign pledge: to raise the ceiling on the CTC. It’s smart politics and could be a key issue in mobilizing a voting block to actually vote in the midterms.
It might actually serve as the tipping point for key senate races which could make both Manchin and Senema less relevant after 2022.
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Well, good evening, Sunshine!
You hit on a scratch off on the way home from work or something?
I figured you’d go straight to roving bands of death squads.
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It’s also fine to blow off steam and point out that having Joe on our camp makes it look like we have the numbers to govern but can’t get out of our own way.
It would help if the media were fair and pointed out that Republicans have opted out of governance and what we are actually seeing is one party taking responsibility and having the Left/Right tug of war to find an agreement.
That’s not where we are. So surely Joe is better than republican control, but it’s fine to say it not. It doesn’t hurt. Most really know it. We don’t need to scold friends/allies.
Respectfully, I think your read is wrong. The top line is where it is because progressive flex. Jayapal is not stupid, Bernie is also a pro, they also have tacit support from leadership to push. Joe has power to hold up things, the new reality is the left does too.
What we are seeing is that working itself out.
As noted above I think there is a recalibration going on but not in the way you suggest… yes Manch will hold sway, but I think the progressives have earned a seat at the table and can no longer be dismissed as crazies in the corner and leadership has not tried to squash this.
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Yup. Sinema is the unknown, Manchin will drag them kicking and screaming to a more moderate position that’s looking not radical but much more practical and without the pitfalls, likely with the backing of other Senate Dems who aren’t on board with the full far-left agenda but who are happy to let him take the heat.
Now that we’re seeing actual negotiation points from him, I’m much more confident that we’re at 49 votes for a reasonable deal.
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Yep, and we’ll keep our foliage all to ourselves, and razz our buddies to the north about who makes better Maple Syrup. Haha
Well call the new country “The Union” as it would be basically the old north + VA. And we won so we should get their old capital anyway.
I think it’s a solid plan.
Plan B - get the south to secede… then this time instead of fighting a war to keep them, we instead say “Buh-bye”. Racism is still a thing but slavery, less so, no need to keep a dysfunctional marriage together.
We can also work refugee programs both ways… I mean shit we could send a bunch of Mainers to Texas they’d do alright exchange for folks sick of the south.
I’m saying… there are options
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I think there is an appetite to pare down a little to avoid the risk of leaving the cupboard bare for 2022. If you deliver big on everything, you satiate your voters to the point that they’ll stay home in 2022. Manchin is being a stick in the mud because he can play the role.
The benefit of compromise in politics is that the outcome never fully satisfies your supporters, leaving them eager to renew the fight for full satisfaction via the next election. The tricky part is avoiding blame for hobbling your own agenda. Manchin serves that purpose; as for Senema, who knows what she thinks she’s accomplishing?
Still, I remain hopeful that a deal with Manchin will bring her on-board. Yes, she seems to thrive on the attention she draw to herself, but I suspect she might be less enthralled standing alone as Cruella to the entire litter of Democratic dalmatians (aka progressives).
We were always at 49 for something. Progressives convinced Joe they can keep both bills tied, and aren’t taking a pittance. He negotiating… we’ll get something from him. He’s old school in a way that you can see his motives and move/countermove strategy.
I agree Sinema is the wild card.
She may fold for a fig leaf after preening being the only holdout to bolster her BS “independent street cred”
Or she is totally misreading the moment and will act on things in a way the screws the whole pooch.
All the while Republicans refuse to participate. Which, I guess is better.
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The only Mainers who should be shipped south are the ones who voted for Paul LePage. When he was Gov., this place was the Mississippi of New England, so let’s send them there (or TX, their choice).
As for syrup, that’s my family business, and I’d willingly grant that Canada has better musicians if we get the award for syrup. However, here in Maine it’s hard to tell. Out in the NW corner there are large maple producers who straddle the border, and the syrup they make comes from both countries. Most of those big producers though are Canadien.
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I would be all for them seceding, but they are going to demand money/repartions from America because they will be a 3rd world country otherwise.
If they would go, and not ask for anything, I say let them.
The problem is, where is the compromise? Manchin has no to CEPP, carbon tax, etc. He has not offered anything in return, and that is the issue.
To the extent they cave to Manchin, they may as well make him “President” and let him dictate the Democratic agenda, and then see what happens.
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Ah, you both give up too easily. AZ and GA not only voted for Biden, but two D senators (yes, Senema isn’t acting much like a D but she was voted in as one all the same).
NC is next. Had a certain senate candidate kept his fly shut, he might’ve won another D seat. Meanwhile, Biden-Harris fell 74k votes shy of winning. Clinton lost by 177k in 2016.
So long as the Dems don’t take MI, NH, NV, PA, WI, for granted and fight like hell in AZ and GA, the future looks very bright.
Besides, by my best estimate, the Republicans have killed a net of around 300k of their voters and counting (and this is only from COVID, excess deaths simply add to that total) while new, blue voters are minted every day.
Cheer up. It looks bad. But it is getting better.
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Let?
He is the swing vote.
The Democrats are not “letting” anything. It is simply political math.
Nuking the process is idiotic Purity Pony foolishness.
Fucking hell, 10 months ago we had Trump and NOTHING of any hope of any of this. Get a grip.
Bernie is hardly a pro. He is certainly an old hand but a Pro… no his track record says he’s a posturer.
Earning a seat at a table is blather.
Dems need to bring something home so that the swing districts have something for Mid-Terms and the Swing Districts are not Squady territory, quite the contrary. Lefty Left will have “earned a seat at the table” when they show they can play ball in real world and compromise so there’s something for Mid-Terms and not playing yet again Purity Pony games.
And to expand: This NYTimes article on fusion highlights. Dump money into R&D - both long-game and near-term
I could get on board with a couple years of “alimony” if it will seal the deal
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Manchin may just be saving Democrats from themselves. I am pro-environmental initiatives but even I can see the risk of pursuing them during economic uncertainty. A carbon tax is quite a risky proposition and Manchin’s argument that CEPP rewards companies for steps they are already taking (though it ignores the incentivization for continued investment) smacks of corporate welfare to the ill-informed voter.
The issues most threatening to the Dems moving forward will not be COVID, the environment, or Afghanistan. It will be supply-chain, inflation and continuing labour shortages creating visible nuisance among the electorate. The original reconciliation proposals were baked in a different context, a context that has not retained relevance past 2020.
It is a mistake to fall into the trap that 2020 gave Biden and the Democrats an actual mandate. Both 2018 and 2020 were essentially a repudiation of Trump and, to a lesser degree, the Republicans. Yes, it moved the political needle ever so slightly to the left. And Biden has been nurturing his left as much as he can. But if things go too far, the Dems know they’ll lose both the House and the Senate.
Manchin is the stick in the mud. He will force a dial back to more modest outcomes while leaving Democrats with the ability to campaign (or not) on the original aims in 2022.
The long game here is to keep the House, win more Senate seats, and then nuke the filibuster for the second half of Biden’s term. Momentum into 2024 is what’s at play.
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The only “next” is watching GA and/or AZ throw out their states votes in order to have a gerrymandered gqp legislature decree the winners they’d prefer…at which point all holy fucking hell breaks loose over the WH and electoral college.
And if u think red county Trump Kkkultists aren’t going to fuck with vote tallies etc. In hopes of swinging statewide races by chipping away at narrow Dem win margins, you’re crazy. McAuliffe may lose due to precisely that kind of shit and have fun trying to do anything about it now that we have been forced to so strenuously defend how fair and free from fraud the elections are.
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