I don’t entirely disagree. But a less obstinate Democrat would be better.
If Manchin holds up and prevents the bills from passing that need to be passed for the good of the country, then in that respect, he’s no better than a Republican. If he’s going to act like a Republican, then it is in some ways better that he actually be one.
Many people who do not pay attention to politics still know that the Senate is held by democrats. If the Democrats control both houses and the presidency, and still can’t get the bills passed that need to be passed, then they will be held as at fault.
It’s not just elections, it’s not just the Democratic party, it quite literally is the future of the country, and potentially the world, that is in his hands right now.
Hey, I don’t entirely disagree with you either! You’re absolutely right that the danger here is that Democrats fail to pass legislation that people want passed, and they get blamed because they’re in charge. Getting the stimulus passed was an enormous step in the right direction, and despite some grumbling Manchin went along with it. We’ll see how much his actions match his rhetoric going forward.
Think about what coming out and declaring an end to the filibuster means from Manchin’s perspective. He’s a swing vote in the Senate. That makes him pretty powerful. One sure way to guarantee he has enduring power in the Senate is to protect the filibuster. However, he also doesn’t want to be the guy who gets blamed for not helping the working class guy - and W Virginia is about as working class (working poor, maybe) as any state in the nation. So I tend to believe as you do, Manchin will come out and be a little loose with reconciliation while being more cautious about giving away more of his power, which means the filibuster might be with us for a little while longer, but there will probably be some workarounds.
Which is why I kinda agree with Andy: I think he’ll be with the Democrats on things that matter, but he might slow things down a little and might force some compromise. There may be some occasional disappointments but I think he’ll be there when it comes to economic stimulus, particularly if he can use appropriations to steer money to his state. I get the feeling that when Manchin’s referring to the days when the Senate worked, he’s talking about going back to pork barrel. It’s the pork that has the potential to make senators and reps maybe just a little less radical/ideological and a little more practical.
Without the filibuster, he’s the swing vote. With the filibuster, these bills never make it to the floor.
Maybe he’ll change his mind on backing a reconciliation bill, but even if he goes for it, that still limits it to a maximum of 3 bills a year that can be passed.
There are a number of reasons why Washington is functioning poorly these days, but I think that getting rid of porkbarrel spending is one of the biggest. Much easier to justify voting for some social project or the like when you can also point to the jobs and infrastructure improvements you brought to your state.
Without that, there is no reason for the minority party to allow the majority to govern, especially if the minority party fundamentally rejects the notion of governance.
Why do you think this? I mean I don’t know Manchin from Adam. I’ve never lived in WV and haven’t paid more than cursory attention to him before this past year or two. Further I’ll grant most or all Federal-level politicians have a bit of ego to them and like playing games for their base. So could be I’m missing some gloating and grandstanding.
But some of the complaints about him kinda sound like a visceral emotional reaction, rather than a sober assessment. “Sonofabitch is gumming up the works, I bet he is getting off on it!” And maybe he is just doing it because he can . I don’t know, but it isn’t blindingly obvious to me from where I’m sitting.
I think he’s just a moderate to conservative pro-business Democrat and is genuinely to the right of most of his party outside his state. But still within it, because in these precarious days better a moderate Dem than a soon-to-be-caucased-out liberal Republican.
Right now, yes, Manchin is a swing vote, but if he’s calculating that Democrats potentially increase their advantage in the Senate in the next cycle, then he may figure that he might not be the swing vote, but instead one among several. By pushing for a filibuster, he absolutely ensures that legislation has to factor him into the equation.
A related concern is that a vote of 51-49 or 51-50 (with Harris as the decider in a senate split) means that legislation passes strictly along partisan lines, which puts him in the spotlight in a state that’s conservative and may find any reason to vote him out if he’s not careful. I think his thinking is in alignment with Biden’s in that he wants to see the senate get back to a situation in which it’s possible for perhaps 10 senators from the other side to jump over and sign legislation that’s not a hot-button partisan issue - bills like infrastructure for instance.
Manchin’s far from my favorite senator but there’s likely a method to his madness. To win elections as a Democrat in a state that Trump dominated in 2016 and 2020 says something. It tells me this guy has solid political survival skills.
I don’t know him either, but just observing the public statements and grandstanding. Making a point about what he (by damn!) will and won’t do (harrumph!)-- to me that is adolescent show-off behavior.
It’s close to, but not at, the top — right under a link to “Republicans slam Biden plan to send your money to Central America” and right above a link to “Rep. Brad Wenstrup: Biden border policies are benefiting cartels.”
There’s also a separate bit there going on about “Drugs, cartel members and gangs coming across the border” (which is a link to stuff about “Joe Biden’s border crisis, and how his policies are bad for America and the immigrants’ home countries”), and another other bit about “a ‘travesty’ at the southern border” (to stuff about how “you have an open sieve at the border, and you have unfettered criminal conduct inside this country. It is a travesty, and Republicans should talk about this every single day”).
They’re soooo close to going full explicit racist. I’d actually respect them a smidgen more if they were honest enough to do it.
Should the filibuster news be its own thread? Everyone hypes it up as THE key to this administration doing anything for the rest of its existence. If so, shouldn’t it be higher profile?
Umm, John? We like it this way. It used to be every day was like a jackhammer firing up at 7am right outside the window and continuing into the late evening. We to not yearn for that again.
. I don’t know, but it isn’t blindingly obvious to me from where I’m sitting.