Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is one of the most prominent conservatives masquerading as a Democrat these days.
While some hail him as a great bipartisan figure, himself included — on his website, he proudly states no Democrat in the U.S. Senate has broken ranks and voted with Republicans more — Manchin and other so-called “moderates” are the biggest roadblock for the current administration.
The reality is that D.C. is highly polarized — Democrats on one side, Republicans on the other and never the two shall meet.
The Republican Party has moved radically to the right over the last few decades, so it’s a given that Republicans won’t go along with Democrats’ positions, even though they hold the majority at the moment.
The only possible way Democrats can keep the promises they made to the American public, including sending out $2,000 stimulus checks and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, is for all of them to get on board.
Democrats control the White House, hold a majority in the House of Representatives and by some populist miracle, managed to split the Senate right in half. In a 50-50 split in the Senate, bipartisanship with Republicans who would rather gouge their eyes out than pass a big stimulus package is not the way forward.
Some make the argument that a 50-50 split — effectively a 51-50 majority when including Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote — simply isn’t enough to bulldoze Republicans.
Except it is.
A simple majority is all that is required to pass most legislation in the Senate, which means 51 votes beats 50 votes, every single time. If Democratic senators hold firm, they could pass nearly any legislation newly minted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., places on the floor.
But because this argument isn’t persuasive enough for some, the argument then turns to the filibuster.
The filibuster is an archaic Senate rule that allows a minority of senators to block bills from coming to the floor. For decades now, the filibuster has been one of the Republican Party’s favorite tools for obstruction. Think back to 2013, when Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, stood on the floor for 21 hours reading “Green Eggs and Ham,” all in the hopes of defunding the Affordable Care Act.
Democrats have been eyeing the removal of this tool for some time, and with their new slim majority, they finally have an opportunity to.
To no one’s surprise, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is vehemently opposed to removing the filibuster. But for once, McConnell isn’t the villain of this story.
It’s two democrats, Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who oppose removing the rule.
Again, if Democrats banded together, they could have a real shot at taking the filibuster down and making major progress in this country.
But alas, when millions of Americans are still suffering financially, physically and mentally from this devastating pandemic, it is the Democrats claiming to be “bipartisans” who have blocked progress.
Manchin is leading the charge with other so-called moderate Democrats and Republicans to slow down the process of passing President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 stimulus bill.
Their aim is for the next round of stimulus checks to be “more targeted,” though the measure fails to specify exactly how the checks will be targeted, according to an article by The Hill.
It should come as no real surprise that Manchin would lead this kind of charge.
Throughout his career, Manchin has voted with former President Donald Trump’s positions 50 percent of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight.
He voted to confirm two of Trump’s right-wing appointments — Associate Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch — to the Supreme Court and supported Republican attempts to limit access to safe abortions. Manchin even sued the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration during his tenure as governor over guidelines aimed at decreasing pollution caused by coal mining, and bragged about it.
Manchin claims to be representing his constituents when he breaks party lines, but he isn’t representing them at all on the matter of stimulus.
He is so out of touch with his constituents that the Republican governor of his home state, Gov. Jim Justice, has managed to out-flank him on the issue.
Justice came out in full support of Biden’s package earlier this month.
“I don’t think that America can go wrong being too high. I think, today, America’s got to go to the higher number,” Justice said during a West Virginia coronavirus briefing.
Not a very good look for the senator.
In what appeared to be an effort to get Manchin back in line, Harris took a trip to his state and gave multiple interviews to local outlets.
“If we don’t pass this bill, it is our sincere belief that more people will die who should not, more people will lose their jobs who should not, and more children will miss critical days in class,” said Harris.
Manchin griped in response.
“That’s not a way of working together,” he said.
Well, Manchin, blocking a crucial stimulus package that would help millions of suffering Americans — a package that has the overwhelming support of both the American public and the Democratic Party — isn’t exactly a way of working together either.
I believe in disagreements among party members and debate within a caucus. But on such a pivotal piece of legislation such as this, there is no room for nonsensical back and forth. Americans need help immediately.
Instead of fighting with Democrats who want to help his constituents, Manchin should thank the party and the broader left for allowing him to call himself a Democrat and a great bipartisan figure.
