Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect warns that Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Senator Krysten Sinema of Arizona threaten the fate of their party in 2022 by their stubborn opposition to President Biden’s ambitious $3.5 trillion budget plan (over ten years). In addition to rebuilding the nation’s highways, bridges, tunnels, and other parts of its essential infrastructure, Biden wants to lessen the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and combat climate change. His proposal would expand Medicare and Medicare and lower the cost of prescription drugs. It would provide child care credits that would lift millions out of poverty. The plan would make two years of community college free. Republicans oppose everything in his plan, even though it would bring economic relief and jobs to their constituents. Manchin and Sinema have forced their party to drop major parts of the plan and have thus far opposed raising revenue to fund it.
Meyerson writes:
I’m not aware of any poll that has asked the question “Do you think President Biden is being jerked around by two senators?” but I think a large number of Americans, if asked, would answer that in the affirmative. Of course, it’s not just Biden but the entire Democratic Party, root and branch, that’s being jerked around by Sens. Manchin and Sinema—and it’s the entire Democratic Party that will likely pay a price for this in next year’s midterm elections.
We’ve been here before. During the initial two years of his presidency, Barack Obama engaged in what seemed at the time like an endless succession of negotiations with Republicans and centrist Democratic senators over his proposed Affordable Care Act. In the end, the Republicans flatly rejected it in any way, shape, or form, but perhaps even more nettlesome was the determination on the part of two Democratic senators in particular—Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus of Montana and Connecticut’s Joe Lieberman—to pare back the bill. And pared it was, with Obama and his fellow Democrats forced to bow to Baucus and Lieberman’s demand to scuttle the establishment of a public option that could compete with profit-driven, coverage-denying private health insurance corporations.
As I’ve written in the current print issue of the Prospect, time plays a crucial role in the public’s assessment of elected officials and their programs. A program that’s slow to roll out and slow to deliver its benefits to the public doesn’t usually benefit its authors in the election following its enactment. Similarly, a president who proclaims a bold program, only to spend months being compelled to hack away at it due to the obstinate resistance of a handful of legislators who have the upper hand in the proceedings, doesn’t emerge unscathed from that process. Obama surely didn’t, though his inability to persuade some nominally Democratic renegades to support the public good over their insurance industry donors was only one reason why the Democrats bombed in the 2010 midterms, losing both houses of Congress in the process.
My concern is that Joe Biden is trapped in the same dynamic that plagued Obama, with his polling dropping precipitously as the two Democratic renegades, similarly more in the sway of donors (and innumerate economics) than the public interest, are prevailing over the president and the rest of the party in paring back a long-overdue shift to bolstering the fortunes of most Americans. Indeed, Biden has publicly stated that with only 50 Democrats in the Senate, just one senator—or in this case, two—effectively has presidential powers. What with Manchin compelling his fellow Democrats to halve their proposals (or, if he won’t budge from $1.5 trillion, cut them to three-sevenths), and Sinema rejecting an increase to tax rates on the wealthy and corporations, they’ve clearly diminished the appearance and actuality of Biden’s power, whether that’s their intention or not.
To be sure, there are other factors behind the erosion of Biden’s public support, as there was with Obama’s, and there’s a distinct possibility that when the infrastructure and Build Back Better bills are finally passed, and their programs promptly (one hopes) implemented, Biden will rebound. But just as Baucus and Lieberman played a role in dragging Obama down and giving the Congress over to the Republicans, so Manchin and Sinema seem poised to have a kindred effect over the fortunes of Biden and their congressional colleagues.
Sometimes, tragedy repeats itself as tragedy.
“An estimated 278,734 West Virginians lived in poverty in 2019, for a total poverty rate of 16.0 percent. While poverty declined by 1.8 percentage points from 2018, West Virginia’s poverty rate is still 3.7 percentage points higher than the national average, making it the 6th highest rate among the 50 states [down from the 4th highest in the previous year].” –wvpolicy.org
And sour-faced garden gnome Joe Manchin III continues to work diligently against the interests of his own constituents and in the interests of the coal-mining operations in which he has a huge financial stake. Manchin managed, for example, to get dental care knocked out of Biden’s bill. I don’t have any stats on dental care in West Virginia, but in the very near future, the toothless in West Virginia can thank Senator Joe for their embarrassment and pain.
Or the financial stake that his daughter and wife have in Big Pharma….both tied to the EpiPen scandal a few years back. W Va also has a very high opioid problem that just won’t go away. Sorry, but I hope his big boat will take on water and sink to the bottom of the Potomac. Manchin is a cancer on society….Sinema, I can’t figure her out yet.
Agreed, Lisa, and well said!
From Manchin’s political site under the heading, “Deep faith long part of Manchin’s life” …”what matters is sacrificing for your neighbor.”
Btw- Manchin studiously avoids in his paragraphs, the mention of his particular sect, a common practice among media when whiting-out the conservative religion that is not evangelical.
Manchin has been described as the only pro-birth Democrat in the Senate. It’s important to make the point that if he was pro-life instead of being in favor of a theocracy that takes away women’s rights (his religious faith overtly discriminates against women), he might approve of family medical leave.
There’s an internet site that presented Manchin as a singular hero in Congress for practicing his faith. It’s tribalist spin that never gets challenged. Of course, the spin’s an amusing position given all of the successes that the conservative religious have had in public policy to the detriment the advancement of the poor, women, LGBTQ, majority opinion, etc.
Manchin is really just pro-birth not pro-life. He is not interesting what happens to a child and family after the birth. Pro-life is that you care about a person from birth to death.
making it very clear that being ‘pro-birth’ is free but being pro-life costs money: a no go for guys like Manchin
Well observed, Linda!
And Moe–is it Moe?–well observed!
Pro-control is a much better description for people like Manchin because it is ALL about controlling what women can and can not do with their own bodies.
It’s a lot like rape in that regard.
Both Sinema and Manchin depend on corporate dollars to finance their campaigns. The only way to get representatives to truly represent their constituents is to get the money out of politics. When money is “free speech,” it is the wealthy that do the talking.
Exactly. This isn’t going to change anytime soon, either, is it? We are in deep doo-doo on climate change. Truly frightening. Our kids and grandkids are facing enormous unaddressed peril while these fools prance and enjoy their passing fame.
their entirely accidental, unearned, passing fame
RT: Agreed. Citizens United lies at the core of our rotted system, nonwithstanding the acceptance of these judges, who hold their bowels with their skull, and work the discharge into rulings.
I beg to differ . As loathsome as Manchin is , it is the people of West Virginia who elected him that are to blame for this. Not only did they vote for Manchin, they voted for Trump by near 30 points twice. Of course 30% of West Virginians did not vote for Trump and sadly some of them will suffer from Manchin’s obstruction of progressive policy. I would be curious about what the economic, educational and racial demographics of that 30% are.
I am betting a fair amount of toothless West Virginians voted for those who threaten their economic interest and future prosperity . And this did not start with Trump .
The reality is that long before climate concerns were even on the table, mountain top removal decimated coal jobs in West Virginia. The UMW joined with the Mine Operators in assaults against environmentalists who were warning about the impacts of toxins leaching into the water supply of those same mining communities. Environmentalists and liberal Democrats became public enemy # 1. Yet they continued voting for segregationist Dixiecrats.
Mine jobs were replaced by 20 story tall earth movers .
By the time Obama was in office there was barely a Union Mine in West Virginia. Today not one major mine is Union. And for over 2 decades West Virginians have been Voting Republican. As soon as the Legislature became Republican their first act was to pass Right to Work legislation.
So who do we blame Manchin or those that elected him.
I think we are supposed to blame Biden and “the Democrats” because it’s all their fault for not punishing Manchin because that’s sure to make Manchin start voting the way progressives want.
Yes, the ignorant folks of West Virginia will continue to vote against their own interests. Perhaps their children will have more sense.
Pro corpoarte toadies who are beholden to the big bucks from big business. They are determined to see the GOP take over Congress and the white House again. Who knows, maybe they are secretly supporting Trump for some extra cash flow in addition to all the $$$$,$$$,$$$ they get from the polluting industries. Manchin and Sinema are having a ball stabbing Biden and the Democrats in the back. It’s disgusting beyond words.
A political scientist of my acquaintance (introduced to me by Roy) recently described the “dysfunctional ballet” in Washington. This phrase brought to mind a simultaneously HILARIOUS and disturbing image of Joe Manchin in a tutu, prancing over the poor as in some sort of demented remake of the dancing hippos in Fantasia. TO change up the metaphor, Hurricane Manchin has left devastation in its wake.
My friend would be amused that you think him a political philosopher. He actually works as a librarian. In his last installment, he points out that the opposing sides of the modern American political debate both perceive a political existential crisis. He is way more perceptive than he admits.
My guess is that Manchin sees himself as the dutch boy holding his arm in the levee against some perceived onslaught. I doubt he sees himself as a dancing hippo. You can, though. Nothing wrong with amusement.
Nope. Manchin simply knows how to count the cash. And he takes such glee in the Dancing Hippo act.
And Jorge Luis Borges was a librarian. AND, one of the greatest fiction writers and critics of his age.
And you nailed it re: Citizens United, Roy
What penalty have either Manchin or Sinema paid for their opposition?
One of the first things you learn as a teacher is that unless you establish consequences for misbehavior and follow through on them,the misbehavior will not only continue but likely get worse and even spread to other individuals.
So my question to Biden and Democratic leaders would be “What are the consequences going to be forManchin and Sinema?”
Here are the committees Manchin serves on
Committee on Appropriations
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (chair)
Committee on Armed Services.
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
Sinema serves on the Homeland security committee, subcommittee on Government operations and border management.
The fact that Sinema is actually chair of the latter subcommittee gives her considerable influence in her state of Arizona.
Serving on these committees is not a right. It is a privilege and should be treated as such by the other Democratic Senators.
Without clearly defined and significant consequences for their current recalcitrance, there is absolutely no reason to expect ANY change in the behavior of either Manchin or Sinema.
But here is the problem – with only 50 Democratic Senators, if the Democrats push Manchin out, all he has to do is cut a deal to change his party registration with Mitch McConnell and he can remain as chair of whatever committee he wants.
What the Democrats need is everyone who cares about democracy and moving this country toward a progressive future voting for more Democrats, not punishing the party for its’ own powerlessness by blaming them.
We had a chance in 2016 to get rid of Citizens United. Now we are stuck with a right wing Supreme Court. The only way to change things is to vote for as many Democrats as possible because we would have filibuster reform if there were 53 or 54 Democrats in the Senate and if Manchin chose to change parties, he would have to join the party in the minority.
Manchin loses all power the more Democrats there are. But with 50/50, what exactly are Dems supposed to do? Call his bluff? You think Manchin would stick with the Dems once he is stripped of chairmanships?
Manchin’s wife, appointed by Biden to a $160,000 government job. We the taxpayers and voters are generous to party traitors.
No consequences and misbehavior continues.
That’s the memo.
And regardless of whether one understands how to deal with misbehaving children, Manchin and Sinema are making Biden look weak and ineffective.
Linda and SomeDAM Poet,
Manchin isn’t a recalcitrant child. He is Senator who knows all he has to do is switch parties to quash the entire Biden agenda. I actually don’t know why he hasn’t just done that, but are you going on record as saying you want Biden to call Manchin’s bluff?
We need a lot more Democrats, not just 50. And the fact that we have 50 is actually nothing short of a miracle that Stacey Abrams deserves much credit for.
They sure act like children.
But regardless, no consequences?
Just let them do whatever the hell they please?
Yeah, I am sure that will work.
SomeDAM Poet,
What should the consequences be? Do you think the odious Manchin would have any problem switching parties if he didn’t like the “consequences”? Then what?
Getting Senator’s votes is one of the main jobs of a President.
Consequences can come in many forms and varying degrees and there is actually historical precedent for Presidential “arm twisting” that actually didn’t lead to Senators changing party (not incidentally)
But the calculus actually has to take into account not only the possibility that Sinema and/or Manchin will switch parties but also potential losses for Democrats in the midterms due to disaffection among Democrats and independents resulting from failure of Democrats to deliver (the subject of the above post, not incidentally)
These posts demonstrate how much the right wing propaganda has become “truth”.
It isn’t Biden or the Democrats’ fault that the Senate is divided 50/50 and without Manchin and Sinema’s votes, the Dems can’t get anything passed.
If we didn’t live in a country where the right wing narrative was so embraced, the prevailing narrative would be “how can we do everything to elect more Democrats in the Senate so that Manchin and Sinema have no power”.
Instead it’s “how can we punish the Democrats for not forcing Manchin and Sinema to vote for the progressive agenda that 48 other Democrats support and that we have come so close to getting done.”
It’s the narrative that the right wing billionaires want progressives to believe because having 48 Dems who would make this country more progressive is much to close for comfort, and they want that number pushed down as low as possible.
What no one notices is how outspoken and more progressive Senators who were known as “moderates” now are. Amy Klobuchar leading the fight for filibuster reform? We need to empower them, not blame them because 2 Senators can threaten to switch parties and cause tremendous harm.
How many here are willing to go on record saying they would rather have Mitch McConnell in control of the Senate to “punish” Manchin and Sinema? And is it punishment if they get what they want from McConnell in exchange for switching parties?
So, the suggestion that there be consequences for the recalcitrance of Senators like Manchin and Sinema is now “right wing propaganda”?
Did I get that right?
Ha ha ha!
It’s right wing propaganda that you are pushing the narrative that there are some “consequences” that are supposed to fall on Manchin, without explaining what they should be. Strip him of his power? Are you good with him switching parties?
The PROGRESSIVE reality – which is the reality of the squad and Bernie Sanders – is to criticize Manchin without making the Democratic party the scapegoats.
Because real progressives aren’t calling for Manchin to be punished. Did you ever hear Bernie Sanders suggesting that?
Real progressives are calling to elect a lot more Democrats. Because they know THAT is how you strip Manchin of his power.
You think forcing Manchin to be a Republican is “consequences”? That is exactly what the right wing wants you to do. Bernie Sanders, AOC and the squad know that.
The progressives on the squad know the reality. They want more Democrats elected, not more Republicans. They know that is the kind of “consequences” that hurts Manchin the most.
SomeDAM Poet,
“Consequences” that empower Mitch McConnell is a progressive victory and not right wing propaganda?
Did I get that right?
Ha ha ha!
Manchin and Sienna make me SICK. 🤮
Oh, exactly what I was going to say, Yvonne!
Sinema walks right by reports, smirking, refusing to answer questions while Manchin bloviates B.S. at them.
Except that I won’t take any Big Pharma medicine for my ills. I’ll simply work with others to get them primaried & out.
&, BTW, when is Garland going to prosecute it45 already?
If Manchin is “dooming” the Democratic Party, how do you explain Biden giving his wife a plum position?
For that matter, how do you explain appointing the likes of Rahm Emanuel and Neera Tanden? How much clearer do the Democrats have to make it for you? When someone tells you who they are, listen to them.
Excellent point. If there are no consequences then, we can conclude the two DINO’s are carrying freight for other DINO’s.
And if the consequences are Manchin switching parties and Mitch McConnell being empowered?
Do we think this poster is carrying freight for right wing Republicans?
Republicans also tell us who they are.
I didn’t realize that co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission is a “plum position”. I’d rather have Manchin’s wife in it than a Trump appointee whose goal is to destroy, but I imagine that those who fought so hard to defeat the Democrats because having a right wing Supreme Court was not a problem for them definitely disagree with me. They got their wish in 2016 and they are very unhappy the Republicans don’t have power anymore.
Maybe Biden gave Manchin’s wife a plum position so Manchin wouldn’t do what pretend progressives who like to empower right wing Republicans want Manchin to do and change party registration and put Mitch McConnell in control of the Senate so we can end democracy even sooner, just like the pretend progressives who like to empower Republicans want.
If giving Manchin’s wife a plus position so Manchin would stay a Democrat is the cost of preventing Mitch McConnell to have total power, it’s a small cost to pay.
I don’t expect this argument to hold any weight with those who push eight wing propaganda here and are still very angry that the Democrats won in 2020 after they were so successful in 2016 in defeating the Democrats and iunsu8reing a right wing Supreme Court for the next decade or more.
FYI – being Ambassador to Japan is NOT a position of power. Don’t listen to this right wing propaganda pusher. Rahm Emanuel has exactly the same “power” that Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg had when she was Ambassador to Japan.
Of course this person who was absolutely fine with the control of the US post service being in the hands of a Trump appointee is complaining that Biden appointing a despicable guy to replace Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is giving that despicable guy too much power?
Although I gotta say that any woman of color that riles up the far right Trump Republican party like Neera Tanden can’t be all bad.
When certain Trump-defending posters who are still angry that Biden won and desperately wish the Manchin would change parties and empower Mitch McConnell tell you who they are, listen to them.
They post lies trying to normalize the Republican Trump policy of ripping kids from their migrant parents and losing track of those kids by saying that it is no different than the Biden policy of trying to find suitable homes for UNACCOMPANIED minors who cross the border illegally instead of sending them back.
If there were a lot more Democrats in the Senate, Manchin would have no power. So when people who keep insisting that defeating the Democrats is the only way to make this country more progressive show you who they are (people who want to empower Republicans) — believe them.
“what matters is sacrificing for your neighbor” -Joe Manchin in his political webpage entry under “Deep faith long part of Manchin’s life.”
Manchin’s spiritual leaders and fellow faithful could call on him to tax billionaires and fund medical leave. They could call out extortion.
I want Manchin to have consequences.
But I know the best way to insure he has serious consequences is for him to be one of the lone 1 or 2 Democrats railing against progressive legislation in a Senate that passes that legislation Manchin hates because the Democrats have a big enough majority that they don’t need his vote.
That will hurt Manchin where it matters. Right now, I see others (not you) playing right into the right wing’s hands in which they think punishing Manchin by having him leave the party and empower Mitch McConnell is a progressive victory! It isn’t.
Another one who makes me 🤮: Rahm.
Why do we have so much gun & gang violence in Chicago? Looking beyond Rahm’s role in the McDonald cover up (the teary-eyed testimony at the ONE solid ?, “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about Laquan McDonald…” yeah, right. More like not a day goes by that I don’t think about 🤑🤑🤑, & making more), never forget that he’s the mayor who closed 54 community schools (& bragged about it), whereby kids lost their school communities: teachers, staff, adults who cared about them & made their perhaps intolerable lives outside of school mean something, made them feel loved. & then there was his mass closing (much like his Republican twin, Gov. Bobby Jindal, did in Louisiana) of mental health clinics. Where were adults–so many breadwinners & parents– to get help, to get the strength they needed to keep their families together? A highly-praised doc that just came out said that the Cook County Jail, at the time, was “the country’s largest mental health clinic.” Not just a DINO: we’re talking pure, unadulterated evil.
& then you have Arne Duncan, Mr. Heart-of-Gold who is “helping” all of these poor adolescents (he helped put, w/his b.s. Ed policies, both in Chicago & nationally)in our jails (while making, probably, a 6-figure salary at least from his office on the tony N. Michigan Avenue, living in a million+ mansion down the street from Obama’s (it’s empty, BTW, but still Obama-owned), sending his kids to the UC Lab School, where they don’t test students &, of course, being asked if he’s going to run for mayor (b.s., non-committal answer).
Meanwhile, Rahm’s youngest daughter is at Princeton while, 2 weeks ago, a bright, joyful, athletic 16-yr-old girl will never get the chance to go to Princeton or anywhere else. She was standing outside, talking to friends & died in the hospital after being shot.
Her 17th birthday was 2 days later.
retiredbutmissthekids,
Can’t STAND RAHM-BOO, too. He’s disgusting. Sad Chicago.
Most if not all GOP Trumpists (many are among the most ignorant, stupid, and/or angriest people in the US) have no idea why Biden can’t get his infrastructure bill passed. When I read a Trumpist ranting about Biden, they are usually claiming he stole the election and is incompetent, the worst president ever, because he can’t get anything done and if he did, he would destroy the US.
Why is that?
Because Trumpists get their news from extreme right talk shows on FOX and other extreme conservative media sites, and they do not trust any other sources. The Extreme Right media has had decades to program this ignorant, dangerous mob to think like this.
Is it really true that Manchin and Sinema are dooming the Democratic Party, or is the Democratic Party dooming itself by refusing to pull any of Manchin and Sinema’s financial strings? President Lincoln did not sit idly by when senators tried to sidestep the 13th Amendment. FDR used fireside chats, executive orders, and other methods to pressure Congress into allowing him to be a “traitor to his class”. What has Biden done? What has Senator Schumer done? Whine? I hope there are some behind the scenes actions taking place because from the outside it looks like the engine of the Democratic Party is stuck idling in neutral.
“The Senate voted Monday to confirm voting rights advocate Myrna Pérez as a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, making her the only Latino on the court and its first Latina since Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed for the Supreme Court.
Pérez was confirmed on a 48-43 vote as the country is gripped in a struggle over voting rights….
…Pérez is the former director of voting rights and elections programs at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, which has been critical of voter ID laws and laws shortening time for early voting, as well as other measures restricting voting.”
Instead of listening to anonymous posters who are angry that Manchin wasn’t “punished” into leaving the Democratic party, Biden listened to wise progressives like Bernie Sanders who know that holding power in the Senate is the first step to insure a progressive future. Holding power in the Senate isn’t something that Bernie Sanders would sacrifice because he understands that having an even bigger majority is the key to destroying Manchin’s power.
As much as I despise Manchin and Sinema, I agree with Bernie Sanders and not right wing trolls. Because of Manchin and Sinema, we have a chance at a fair 2022 election. If one of them changes parties, there won’t be any more judges like Perez.
It is already too late for President Biden to walk away from his commitment to engage Republicans in bipartisan governing. Republicans wan to rule, not govern. They are doing the exact thing to this democratic administration that they did to the last one— obstruct everything and then blame it for not getting anything done.
Does anyone question for a minute that when McConnell is majority leader in January 2023 and his fellow nihilists occupy the chamber as victorious terrorists instead of leaders of a coup he will not ditch the filibuster? Biden and his party have little time to accomplish what is left of his plans for the economy and residents of red states. Their political unwillingness to risk everything compared to the patient and hard-fisted passion of the opposition will plunge this democracy into a darkness that no progressive light will ever again penetrate.
Thanks for the comment.
David,
They Democrats can’t repeal the filibuster unless Manchin and Sinema vote for it.
So what is your game plan now?
How about the obvious? Give the Democrats such a sweeping victory in 2022 so that Manchin and Sinema’s votes aren’t needed.
And the way to do that is to place the blame where it belongs. Telling voters that unless they vote in a lot more Democrats, that Manchin and Sinema will always be able to block all legislation.
Do you think that the Republican voters blamed the Republican party when John McCain voted not to repeal Obamacare? Did they blame Mitch McConnell?
They blamed McCain, and worked to elect a lot more Republicans so that McCain’s vote didn’t matter.
Democrats vote to help elect a lot more Republicans to punish their party when one or two right wing Dems prevent legislation they want.
These two have exhausted my patience. That is all.
Well-stated, LCT. Yes, I’ve always thought of Chick Schumer as a “whiner,” too.
It’s not just Manchin & Sinema, it’s the unwilling-to-fight for the very POSSIBLE dream & make it reality. S & M (how about that!) are the symptoms (or the results) of the wimpy, Centrist Dems (not to mention all the DINOS).
Again, I ask, why was Jeff Merkely the ONLY one to throw a hardball question at Rahm?
& Merrick Garland is an appeasement: WHEN will he even START the ball rolling to prosecute it45? AFTER it declared its intent to run again in 2024? (Yes, I know M.G. isn’t a Dem… but he was APPOINTED by a Dem.
Of course, the irony in all these comments is that the only reason that Biden has been able to have any progressive appointees and take any progressive action – and FYI, Biden does have progressive appointees in his cabinet — is because of Manchin and Sinema being Democrats.
If Manchin and Sinema weren’t Democrats, Bernie Sanders would not be chair of the budget committee. Lindsay Graham would be !!!
That’s how thin the line is. In fact, it’s a shock that the Democrats had even nominal control of the Senate to begin with when 2 Georgia Dems won run offs in January.
This important post by Diane Ravitch was about criticism of Manchin and Sinema, who are doing the right wing’s bidding by preventing the progressive legislation Biden and 48 Democrats in the Senate want. The narrative should be how can we elect more Democrats to the Senate so that Manchin and Sinema’s unwillingness to vote for progressive legislation doesn’t matter because their vote isn’t needed.
The ONLY way to disempower Manchin and Sinema when the Senate is tied 50/50 is to elect a lot more Democrats. If the Senate was 53-47 Democrats, Manchin and Sinema would be powerless. But instead we have some people trying to undermine the Democratic party for not “punishing” Manchin and Sinema, because they think Bernie Sanders being replaced by Lindsay Graham is the road to a progressive victory. Just like having 3 right wing Justices with lifetime appointments will help progressives win, right?
Despite how reprehensible he is, Manchin still helps progressives because his being a Democrat is why Bernie Sanders chairs the Senate Budget Committee.
Democrats are somehow expected to perform miracles – like leave Afghanistan with the entire country safe and free and democracy enshrined forever – and anything less than perfection is always couched as a massive failure that is entirely the democrats’ fault.
Instead of making this a call to vote for a lot more Democrats in the Senate, the purveyors of right wing propaganda want it to be a wake up call to disempower the Democrats entirely to “send a message”.
It’s like trickle down economics. It doesn’t matter how many times the idea is shown to be a massive failure, you still have disingenuous people – helped by a billionaire-funded right wing propaganda machine – saying it will help the economy. And no matter how many times it has been proven that voting to “send a message” has simply empowered the Republican party to become even further right wing and make it even harder for progressives to win, we still have disingenuous people telling us what a good idea it is.
We need to stop helping that false narrative get legitimized. Our guides should be Bernie Sanders and Pamala Jayapal and AOC and not the very people who lied to us about how important it was to prevent a Democratic president from being elected and appointing Supreme Court Justices that would repeal Citizens United.
Bernie Sanders isn’t blaming the Democrats. He is far more trustworthy than the people who insisted that having Trump appointing far right Supreme Court Justices was not a big deal.