In one of the most offensive political moves the Democratic Party has seen in a long time, Sen. Joe Manchin used Fox News Sunday to announce that he just cannot support Build Back Better, despite the fact that as of last week, the White House was listening to his concerns and working with him on the changes he wanted to see.
If it were not for the fact that it would make Mitch McConnell Majority Leader in the Senate, many people believe that if Manchin is determined to be a Republican (Stab Biden in the back and go on Fox News to announce it), then let him go be the single most irrelevant Senator in that grotesque caucus. After all, he is doing more harm to the Democrats than good right now.
But Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is not going to make this easy. He plans on holding the vote, perhaps more than one, to possibly move Manchin to the yes side:
According to Reuters:
On Sunday, moderate Democrat Senator Joe Manchin dealt a potentially fatal blow to Biden’s $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill, telling Fox News he would not vote for the measure. read more .
The Build Back Better plan codifies many of Biden’s signature domestic policies, aiming to expand the social safety net and tackle climate change. Many Democrats have said the bill is essential to the party’s chances in next year’s midterm elections.
Ironically, with West Virginia being one of the poorest states in the Union, Manchin’s constituents are likely among the most in need of the relief provided within this bill, which forces one to ask exactly who Manchin considers his constituents. Build Back Better contained a lot of global warming measures. Coal-extraction backs Manchin, so does the Koch enterprise.
A vote would force Manchin to publicly record his objection to the bill ahead of the elections, in which Democrats seek to keep control of the Senate as well as the House of Representatives.
Exactly. Make him stand up there and vote against some of the most popular programs to be proposed in a long time. And if he votes no, hold another vote the next week, continue to make Manchin vote no as pressure continues to ramp up.
Meanwhile, there is talk about the focus now turning to voting rights, which seems like even more of a lost cause with Manchin (and Simena) than Build Back Better.
Until that vote occurs, it is not over. Joe Manchin can go on Fox and piously say all he wants, but he still has to face a president that has been his friend for twenty years and a Democratic Party that has the ability to make Manchin’s life miserable. There will be more negotiations, even if Manchin isn’t in the room. Manchin is not only threatening the greatest piece of legislation in two generations, but he’s inviting Donald Trump back into the presidency by near proving to the public that voting Democratic does no good.
There will be further threats, and it seems plainly obvious that the DNC (or someone) must flood West Virginia with commercials and videos regarding exactly what Manchin is opposing. It may even be worth buying him off, this one time, by shoveling more pork into West Virginia than originally announced, to make it near impossible to say “no” to the legislation.
But if he remains a “No” vote through all of that, it is time to have a real primary and force Manchin to change parties, and fund out how irrelevant he might be in a party that is so much further right than him.
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