Manchin is out of control. He cares more about the money he is receiving than the well-being of the American people. Personally, my teeth have been neglected and I am in need of much dental work, whereas my husband is in need of a hearing aid. We are both on Medicare. The nation needs basic health care and it is doable. Those poor West Virginians! And yes, Roe vs. Wade should become the law of the land. We are only going backwards when it comes to the needs and human rights of the people. It needs to happen for us like in other developed countries.
As you have indicated through your Sunday cartoons, the Big Money corporate donors that drive Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema (the knight-in-shining-armor maverick standing up to the Establishment!) are the same as those who drive Mitch McConnell. I can imagine him sitting back enjoying the spectacle, while covertly egging Manchin on. President Biden and Majority Leader Schumer likely don't want to directly criticize Manchin and Sinema because it would be counterproductive, but they could join Bernie Sanders in relentlessly criticizing the corporate donors and their lobbyists who are getting in the way of legislation that will help ordinary Americans.
Manchin is a Republican. After the 2022 election if the Republicans take over the Senate he will become an independent or switch parties. After years of the DNC destroying the Democratic Party by undermining progressives why are you surprised that the chickens have come home to roost?
I am in no mood today to celebrate the stupidity of Joe Manchin. His flag of celebration does not show any Red, White or Blue in it. I think the public is pretty tired of having to 'SETTLE FOR' one person being able to hold back very important, life changing improvements for million's of people. My suggestion for the day is that our governing rules get updated to: Majority Rules!!!
I will try again to comment on the subject matter. As previous subscribers have already commented on the USSC I will limit my comments to USG ethical standards. I was employed by the USG for 38 years and was subjected to a variety of ethical oversight - including security clearances, FBI checks, financial disclosure forms- all subject to a variety of oversight by management. I observed colleagues punished for as little as altering a gasoline slip on their travel voucher. In contrast I see the Congress has no such ethical standards and if they do they are not enforced.. Thus we have campaign fund violations, inside trading, revolving door employment, off shore accounts, etc,etc,etc. Aren't the members of Congress government employees too??
I very much wish that someone would write the saga of the McCain-Feingold Act. How did it come about? What was in it? What would it have accomplished? How would govt be different today? Was it McConnell who was the force behind destroying it? Was CITIZENS UNITED the final nail in its coffin? Here's John Paul Stevens dissent in CITIZENS case: "It is very difficult for a democracy to function when its constituents believe votes are being bought and sold."
They don't make'em like him anymore, altho Justice Sotomayor comes very close.
I have been writing and calling Minchin's office regularly for about six months now (my mother grew up in Morgantown WV, although I live in the Northeast now), and will continue to do so with steadily more urgent wording as we go into the new year. I honestly think he is thinking his actions will win him Republican votes, but I sincerely doubt he's right. As many here have remarked, we are at a point now in the history of the country that requires real action, and his blocking of the vast majority who want that change will win him no favors with the historians.
And did any of you watch Chris Wallace’s last program on FOX yesterday? Lindsay Graham on there talking straight to Manchin, full face directly into the camera, to hang in there & stay tough. What are Graham & Manchin up to? If not Manchin, who else was Graham talking to? It put chills done my spine. Cynthia
since "money is speech" , every politician's speech or political ad should contain financial disclosure and contributors names and degree of contribution.
We didn’t get to this place by accident, monied interests have been methodically buying up representation for decades and made worse with the Supreme Court ruling on “Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010. They put their pawns in place, including local, state and federal politicians. Their strategy succeeded as they now have a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court. Whereas we have control of the White House, House and Senate, the numbers are too small to avoid handing power to the few who can and are stopping bills from being passed. We needed larger numbers in both chambers and we failed to deliver at the polls. Eliminating the filibuster would resolve this policy crisis, however I’m not holding my breath for Manchin and Sinema to provide the crucial votes needed to do so. If we lose seats in Congress in 2022 nothing will move forward and strides we already made will be reversed. Time for everyone to get involved to make certain that doesn’t happen.
Thank you for again underscoring the way in which Joe Manchin represents a dire threat to this country and to the possibility of providing the kind of care and concern that are second nature to Western democracies. The U.S. fails on all fronts to care adequately for its citizens and residents. Manchin, along with Sinema and the Republicans, is destroying us.
This latest drama is driven by the near disaster of the 2020 elections, which somehow was pulled back from the cliff to become a near miracle on razor's edge in favor of progressives.
James Carville has said that Democrats are in deep trouble when they can barely beat the worst President in US history. Apt.
Joe Manchin and senators and representatives with identifiably similar creeds who run as Democrats and caucus with the Democrats are the reason we can have any discussion and make any progress at all, and the reason we have already passed hugely significant Rescue and Infrastructure bills in this first Biden year, not yet a year, not yet even 11 months from January 20.
Will Rogers said, as you probably know, that he was not a member of an organized political party, he was a Democrat. That was before FDR.
I am a liberal progressive. I register Democratic Party to vote for liberal progressives. If there was a real progressive running in a different party against a regressive Democrat, they would be an easy choice. But in our current metastisizing insanity, nothing of the sort will happen.
---
We have $134 Trillion of net household / personal wealth. Trillions. Net. We have the money. This is according to the 'Z.1' report of the US Federal Reserve, but it is never cited in discussions or debates about 'what can we afford?'
We need to change that, and soon, and slam the table with our wealth - that is understandable by regular voters, somehow hidden in plain sight. $134 Trillions should be obvious -- let's talk about that! -- b.rad
( Yes, 7 million votes was a slam dunk, and 7 million is not a counting error. )
Politicians have always been beholden to wealthy supporters, but now that corporations are people and money is speech, ignoring what is in the best interest of actual human voters is that much easier for politicians who are not committed to public service that truly serves the people.
The Week Ahead: Biden's last stand
Manchin is out of control. He cares more about the money he is receiving than the well-being of the American people. Personally, my teeth have been neglected and I am in need of much dental work, whereas my husband is in need of a hearing aid. We are both on Medicare. The nation needs basic health care and it is doable. Those poor West Virginians! And yes, Roe vs. Wade should become the law of the land. We are only going backwards when it comes to the needs and human rights of the people. It needs to happen for us like in other developed countries.
As you have indicated through your Sunday cartoons, the Big Money corporate donors that drive Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema (the knight-in-shining-armor maverick standing up to the Establishment!) are the same as those who drive Mitch McConnell. I can imagine him sitting back enjoying the spectacle, while covertly egging Manchin on. President Biden and Majority Leader Schumer likely don't want to directly criticize Manchin and Sinema because it would be counterproductive, but they could join Bernie Sanders in relentlessly criticizing the corporate donors and their lobbyists who are getting in the way of legislation that will help ordinary Americans.
Thirty pieces of silver has appreciated considerably…
Manchin is a Republican. After the 2022 election if the Republicans take over the Senate he will become an independent or switch parties. After years of the DNC destroying the Democratic Party by undermining progressives why are you surprised that the chickens have come home to roost?
I am in no mood today to celebrate the stupidity of Joe Manchin. His flag of celebration does not show any Red, White or Blue in it. I think the public is pretty tired of having to 'SETTLE FOR' one person being able to hold back very important, life changing improvements for million's of people. My suggestion for the day is that our governing rules get updated to: Majority Rules!!!
I will try again to comment on the subject matter. As previous subscribers have already commented on the USSC I will limit my comments to USG ethical standards. I was employed by the USG for 38 years and was subjected to a variety of ethical oversight - including security clearances, FBI checks, financial disclosure forms- all subject to a variety of oversight by management. I observed colleagues punished for as little as altering a gasoline slip on their travel voucher. In contrast I see the Congress has no such ethical standards and if they do they are not enforced.. Thus we have campaign fund violations, inside trading, revolving door employment, off shore accounts, etc,etc,etc. Aren't the members of Congress government employees too??
If we think it's the donors then we have to name the donors. Interview their CEO's. A lot of donors are easily identified on Opensecrets.org. We can start here: https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/joe-manchin/summary?cid=N00032838&cycle=2022
I very much wish that someone would write the saga of the McCain-Feingold Act. How did it come about? What was in it? What would it have accomplished? How would govt be different today? Was it McConnell who was the force behind destroying it? Was CITIZENS UNITED the final nail in its coffin? Here's John Paul Stevens dissent in CITIZENS case: "It is very difficult for a democracy to function when its constituents believe votes are being bought and sold."
They don't make'em like him anymore, altho Justice Sotomayor comes very close.
I have been writing and calling Minchin's office regularly for about six months now (my mother grew up in Morgantown WV, although I live in the Northeast now), and will continue to do so with steadily more urgent wording as we go into the new year. I honestly think he is thinking his actions will win him Republican votes, but I sincerely doubt he's right. As many here have remarked, we are at a point now in the history of the country that requires real action, and his blocking of the vast majority who want that change will win him no favors with the historians.
And did any of you watch Chris Wallace’s last program on FOX yesterday? Lindsay Graham on there talking straight to Manchin, full face directly into the camera, to hang in there & stay tough. What are Graham & Manchin up to? If not Manchin, who else was Graham talking to? It put chills done my spine. Cynthia
since "money is speech" , every politician's speech or political ad should contain financial disclosure and contributors names and degree of contribution.
We didn’t get to this place by accident, monied interests have been methodically buying up representation for decades and made worse with the Supreme Court ruling on “Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010. They put their pawns in place, including local, state and federal politicians. Their strategy succeeded as they now have a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court. Whereas we have control of the White House, House and Senate, the numbers are too small to avoid handing power to the few who can and are stopping bills from being passed. We needed larger numbers in both chambers and we failed to deliver at the polls. Eliminating the filibuster would resolve this policy crisis, however I’m not holding my breath for Manchin and Sinema to provide the crucial votes needed to do so. If we lose seats in Congress in 2022 nothing will move forward and strides we already made will be reversed. Time for everyone to get involved to make certain that doesn’t happen.
Don't confuse me with the facts..my mind is made up.!
Thank you for again underscoring the way in which Joe Manchin represents a dire threat to this country and to the possibility of providing the kind of care and concern that are second nature to Western democracies. The U.S. fails on all fronts to care adequately for its citizens and residents. Manchin, along with Sinema and the Republicans, is destroying us.
This latest drama is driven by the near disaster of the 2020 elections, which somehow was pulled back from the cliff to become a near miracle on razor's edge in favor of progressives.
James Carville has said that Democrats are in deep trouble when they can barely beat the worst President in US history. Apt.
Joe Manchin and senators and representatives with identifiably similar creeds who run as Democrats and caucus with the Democrats are the reason we can have any discussion and make any progress at all, and the reason we have already passed hugely significant Rescue and Infrastructure bills in this first Biden year, not yet a year, not yet even 11 months from January 20.
Will Rogers said, as you probably know, that he was not a member of an organized political party, he was a Democrat. That was before FDR.
I am a liberal progressive. I register Democratic Party to vote for liberal progressives. If there was a real progressive running in a different party against a regressive Democrat, they would be an easy choice. But in our current metastisizing insanity, nothing of the sort will happen.
---
We have $134 Trillion of net household / personal wealth. Trillions. Net. We have the money. This is according to the 'Z.1' report of the US Federal Reserve, but it is never cited in discussions or debates about 'what can we afford?'
We need to change that, and soon, and slam the table with our wealth - that is understandable by regular voters, somehow hidden in plain sight. $134 Trillions should be obvious -- let's talk about that! -- b.rad
( Yes, 7 million votes was a slam dunk, and 7 million is not a counting error. )
Well reported, Robert.
Politicians have always been beholden to wealthy supporters, but now that corporations are people and money is speech, ignoring what is in the best interest of actual human voters is that much easier for politicians who are not committed to public service that truly serves the people.