The more things change, the more they stay the same
Same old Joe. The man who became a millionaire on the fortune of his family’s coal business, and who has taken more campaign kaboodle than any other Senator, and he officially turns around and throws a wet blanket on the Democrats last, best chance for major legislation before the midterms.
Look, granted that gas prices are coming down nationwide, but the Biden administration and the Democratic caucus could use one moreĀ major legislative accomplishment going into November. And Manchin just put the kibosh on Biden’s progressive climate bill. So much for another accomplishment to tout in 2022.
But here’s the McGuffin. Knowing full well that he was stabbing his own party in the back, Judas Joe tried to put lipstick on the pig by announcing that he was in total favor of a much narrower, reconciliation billĀ that would lower healthcare costs in the US. TheĀ gold medalĀ in that bill is a clause thatĀ Allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices directly with drug companies for Medicare and Medicaid recipients.
Chuck Schumer would have to be a moron, and he’s not, to not ram this bill through the Senate on a purely partisan vote, with Harris breaking the tie, and let Speaker Pelosi ram it through the House, and get it to Biden’s desk. For more than a decade the Democrats have been advocating to let Medicare lower drug costs for seniors by negotiating directly with drug companies. And in a gesture of atonement, Manchin just threw the caucus this bone.
Here’s why this is so important. With the GOP going further and further off the rails, more and more seniors are wondering who actually speaks for them? And if the Democrats can pass and sign a bill that lowers their drug costs, those seniors may well have just found a new home. Believe me, I’m a senior on disability and Medicare, andĀ cash is king.
Here’s the second gift thatĀ The Manchinurian CandidateĀ just gave to the Democrats. Polling shows that in the wake of theĀ Roe v wadeĀ decision, polling finds that voter enthusiasm among 18-25 voters is high, although not as high as in the Blue Tsunami in 2018. And their major issues areĀ Reproductive rights, gunĀ control, and climate control.Ā
Well,Ā Sweet Jeebus,Ā guess what? Manchin is against common sense gun controls, voted to confirm Gorsuch and Brewski Brett, and just torpedoed Biden’s aggressive progressive environmental package? Damn! Talk about a progressive poster child for change.
Of course young voters nationally can’t do anything about Manchin, he isn’t up for reelection until 2024, and most of those voters don’t live in West Virginia. But what it does do is that it allows the Democrats to hold Manchin up to scorn, and forcefully campaign on votingĀ more DemocratsĀ to the Senate in order to neuter Manchin’s influence.
God knows that Manchin loves the persona of being a Big Fish in a little pond. But in his treacherous, self-serving double sealings, Manchin might well have just sown the seeds that will make him totally immaterial to the Democratic caucus come January of 2023. Whatever you do, don’t touch that dial.
Auto corrupt strikes again
Yes, I’m a senior (71) on Medicare but I do have a great insurance plan United Health care through AARP and my multiple prescription cost are really low. Some are no cost at all and most are around $3.80 or so. The truth is I get extra care due to my very low income but I still support Medicare being able to negotiate prices for other people who don’t get extra help.
Manchin would have to repent, stop lying & worshipping power & money to move up to being just a ‘dick’.
Manchin does have certain qualities, dependable response to common sense plans, [NONE], makes more dark money than anyone else, causes years of pollution and black lung as a reward to hard workers in dangerous conditions …
I can’t say I have any respect for the dim wit, but he DOES piss me off frequently …
I just hope, we can go over the amount of Senators to override them without more blue dogs stepping in, trying to make a name for themselves. They could have gotten so much done in his first year now who knows.
Why are Dems not primarying this
DINOsaur???
I lived in the eastern panhandle of WV for the better part of eleven years after dropping out of the DC Beltway rat-race. In an awful lot of ways (some nice, some very NOT nice) it was like I’d moved back to where I was born and spent my first 26 years. (Deep southern IL) Machin was Gov. while I lived there and had become a Senator by the time I relocated to NC in 2014. I watched how Jay Rockefeller got replaced by a Republican and how all the goobers in West fucking Virginia increasingly bought into conservative bullshit. Manchin was always conservative and always about coal, and WV still has fantasies about what weren’t really good old days and coal. Sure, they hate the fucking coal companies but they remember when a lot more people had jobs that paid WAY more than many Americans got and it had a particular impact in Appalachia.
So, even as the state legislature went increasingly Republican promises that one day coal would be the world’s fuel and they’d all get rich after high school because of his coal ties Manchin still got elected. And in fact is the only statewide elected Democrat. However, his margin of victory has steadily declined in his last three elections and I don’t see him getting another shot. If Jim Justice decides he wants to be Senator then that’s it. And frankly any Republican with statewide name recognition will probably be able to beat Joe. I can easily see him retiring rather than run again knowing he’ll lose.
However, there has always been an air of corruption around Manchin and his family and I think various people/entities have him over a barrel. Not that he isn’t inclined to be what the whole country now sees in the first place, but any thoughts of trying to go out by leaving a “tried to do the right thing in the end” legacy isn’t in the cards because the right people have enough dirt on him to ensure he blows through a shitload of money – before heading to prison for a length of time that could well be the rest of his days.
But the bottom line is that just as many Republicans held their noses as they voted for Trump, the same is true of many West Virginia Democrats. Hard as it is to believe, the thought was a Republican would not only be worse but maybe WAY worse. The best they might hope for is a Capito clone (Shelly Moore Capito won the race to replace Rockefeller) but she’s no bargain either. And we’re talking WV here – if not Manchin we could have a full blown Trumpkin on our hands and bad as those asshats are in the House, in the Senate they do even more damage as you know.
He’s a petulant fuckwad to be sure and there’s always the threat that if pushed to hard he’ll tip the balance of power in the Senate back to the GOP. He knows damn well how horrific Democrats view the prospect of Leader McConnell in the Senate is and has done a masterful job of milking that card for all it’s worth. The thing is, if he switched he would no longer chair the Energy Committee = McConnell would put someone else in charge. In fact, if he feels less than loved in the Democratic Party the fact is he knows deep down inside that however welcoming they are right now he’d be held in utter contempt by the GOP.
My prediction is he’ll keep being the asshole he’s been being and retire at the end of his term. The question will be what kind of Republican replaces him. But in the meantime he’ll keep doing the bidding of those who own his ass so that he can enjoy a comfy retirement and his family will be left along to enjoy their ill-gotten spoils as well. In a perfect world we’ll wind up with 53 or even 54 Senators this fall leaving a bit of room for a couple of defections on key votes – with at least one to spare. Then Manchin (like Sinema) becomes irrelavent, and he can be stripped of his position on Energy. If he doesn’t like it then tough shit.
Because heās not up for re-election till 2024
My husband is diabetic and had quintuple bypass in2014. Insulin is expensive, even on Tricare.