Excellent! I daresay it's been mentioned before, but I usually get an image of Lucy, Charlie Brown and a football when Manchin (and Collins, etc.) allege support for doing anything good.
I was thinkin' "Frick & Frack" after the old street hustle. Looks like we will now start having one that will support certain legislation the other won't - and vice-versa - instead of having them >both< opposing some legislation. It'll kill the legislation either way. That's new, given that Sinema's keeping her trap shut on what she plans to do.
UPDATE: I just heard Manchin say he's not getting into the politics of '24, saying: "Whoever is president is >my< president." What disingenuous crap! I shudder to think who he'll consider >his< president, when he certainly seems to have no perceivable respect for >this< president!
Sinema needs to cover her arse. If Dems actually increase in power without her pretending to vote blue, House Rep Gallego is going to announce his candidacy for her seat on Nov 9th
Nate Silver 538 shows Dems may INCREASE power in the Mid-Terms due to DZK's ego-maniac "tweety" (aka theRump) making the conversation about him. Tweety's last minute involvement in GA is why aimless idiot Ossoff was able to win, when he wasn't lifting a finger to help Stacey Abrams carry him to victory
I hope Nate Silver 538 showing Dems may INCREASE power in Mid- Terms is accurate. Also tRump just filed lawsuits against CNN and any and all media for defamation because they keep saying He lost the election! It is his 'subjective judgement'that he won! ; In other words ; he is filing frivolous lawsuits which will cost him money He will owe his targets.. What a loser!
If Garland was/is worth a damn, there should be an indictment of Trump before the midterms; a real 'October surprise' to absolutely no one. Even Trump loyalists are sagging in their love for him. Nothing better for the Democrats could occur than to shove one foot of that malevolent buffoon into the newspaper shredder and have his loyalists deflate as he is slowly dragged into the shears of the legal system.
Deux Manchinema has wrecked the last year and a half of Congressional process, as the two in combination have, to this point, thwarted virtually the entirety of the 2020 electoral program on which the Democrats ran. Only a 50-50 Senate has put them in a position to piss so flagrantly in the face of the party and the country however, and I have bad news for them and more so for the Repugnicant Party generally: there will be no Red Tide in the 2022 midterms. That has always been a fable that the Red Hat crowd has told themselves, that they deserved, no, were _entitled_ to a massive swing in representation in the midterms because, well just because. They've done nothing to earn it. The polls show exactly the situation of November, 2020 now, with an evenly divided public (though the polls do not capture a sizable block of Red Hat voters who dislike both parties, revere Trump, and don't answer polls). Repugnicant gains in three months for the House are likely to be in the single digits, in my view, and there is an outside possibility that the Demos will hold the House. More certainly in the Senate, the Democrats will very likely see actual gains of several seats, the point germane to what is to be done regarding these two individuals.
Manchin and Sinema are united in one central characteristic in my view, speaking to Robert's larger point: they are all about themselves. I continue to maintain that Manchin is not a Democrat. He is a lifelong Republican who registered Democrat for purely local convolutions in West Virginia politics. He openly despises the entirety of the Democratic voter base. He votes 'dirty and rich' more than Republican per se. He is clearly indescribably vain, and an extreme practitioner of payback politics. It has been reported that, after rejecting the bill flatly two weeks ago, he crawled back to Shumer and begged to restart negotiations, with Shumer not even being willing to do that but effectively had Manchin write a bill he would vote for rather than continuing to play the "Woo me and maybe" game 'Coal King' Joe had played for a year and a half. Why would Manchin do all that? The threat of losing his chairmanship was openly talked about by other Democratic Senators, something almost unheard of but a very real possibility. That seemed to have focused Joe M.'s attention. Turns out lighting a fire under his chair actually got him moving. Now, an argument could be made that if Manchin actually votes for something close to the present bill on the floor of the Senate this week he has performed a viable service to the Democratic Party such that expelling him completely is not out and out warranted. And until the next Congress is sworn in in January, 2023, his party registration cannot be spared in the current Senate regardless. I would argue, however, that in 2023 his Chairmanship should absolutely be revoked in what is likely to be a larger Democratic Senate Caucus. Manchin is, right before our eyes, manifestly burning his bridges with the Republicans in the Senate: he has reportedly explicitly done much of this switcheroo as a payback to McConnell, sunk their 'block it all' operation, and can't join their caucus going forward. If you manage to make even Sen. Thune mad at you, you're cooked in that caucus. He is, in my view, much too vain to serve several years as an impotent Independent. Manchin will have nowhere to go, and it will then be time to give turnabout to the Payback Prince, where he can fall in line if he wants even a microphone to croak into.
Sinema is less complex: she doesn't care for a person in the world but herself. I see no special sympathy for the Repugnicants in her course of actions. Her sole constituency is the American financial industry, as she appears to care for absolutely nothing and no one else. I have read it opined that she is looking to position herself for a lucrative position in said industry after a sole Senate term, since she is not going to get a (D) nomination in Arizona again by the kind of treachery to her backers she is presently displaying. I don't think she will be prepared to sink the entirety of this present bill for the carried interest change, especially since that loophole is not even closed or much altered by the proposed legislation. To me, she is likely to geek in the end for very nearly what is in the present bill. Looking forward, however, if the Democrats are likely to increase their margin in the Senate in November 2022, as I suppose, they still won't have a huge margin. They will likely need her caucus declaration card in January 2023 and beyond, and her vote on other matters may be more gettable at less cost than Manchin's. Accordingly, one political ostracism, Manchin, may well serve to focus the mind of Sinema subsequently on hewing a closer course. She will be unlikely to block legislation on her own.
Politics attracts some of the most odious in any society, and we are looking at two exceptionally warped examples. I think it intolerable to simply ignore their conduct any longer than is circumstantially essential. Yes, the size of the Democratic caucus in the Senate may go down again later. It will be the job of the next seated Congress for the Democrats to push a tsunami of reform legislation that gives them the popularity to remain in government for the long term, not to play surrender politics yet further as they have for 30 years. That includes as a first order of business ending the filibuster, which also erodes the ability one or even two treacherous individuals to thwart an entire party, let alone an entire country as just right now. If the Democrats then actually pass what is needed, they can dispense with these two swollen pimples down the road. If they don't pass such legislation, they'll lose anyway, will deserve to, and won't need either one in such a desperate context should that come to pass.
You need to see the real reason this Manchin person has done this. In this bullshit bill is an equal amount of money to go where else? The fucking oil companies! The fucking Coal Industry! The real reason. Of course he wants more money. Why are we still spending tax payer money subsidizing the fucking oil industry? They pay 1 dollar for property lease! These are criminals and parasites.
("Deus ex machina is a Latin term meaning "god from a device", and is used to indicate a person or event which provides a sudden, unexpected solution to a story.")
So Manchin has been stalling Biden's agenda for some time now. This is clearly an attempt to allow him to 'save face' (salvage his reputation) while Sinema takes the heat and continues to stall Biden's/Democrat's agenda. They are tag teaming , in an effort to stall Biden's agenda until they run out the clock- midterms. Same thing Republicans used Boehner to do to Obama's agenda... Claim to be negotiating 'in good faith', only to pull the football when it's time to make the kick- https://www.pinterest.com/pin/574490496197306899/. (https://makeagif.com/gif/xplosion-match-8-person-mixed-tag-team-match-4g2jAr)
it's impressive to me that obama, biden and even >trump< wanted to eliminate the carried-interest loophole. this should be a signal that it should be removed from the tax code, like, yesterday. of course, this situation once again makes the case for removing big money from politics, but we all know that such corruption is like a contagious disease, and will plague all americans until something big happens that will truly shake up the system. i wonder what that "something big" will be and when it will happen?
oh, and technically speaking, ticks are not insects. they are arachnids. i'm allowed to be a pedant because i'm a PhD-carrying zoologist.
"The bill would also change what tax experts have characterized as a loophole primarily benefiting the private-equity industry. Under current law, investors can qualify for a lower tax rate on the accrued value of their stock holdings if they hold those assets for at least three years. The provision would extend that period of time to five years, making it harder for investors to claim a tax rate lower than the ordinary rate paid by most taxpayers on wage income. Private-equity firms benefit from the lower rates because currently much of their compensation is treated as a capital gain, not as income."
"The proposal would also tighten the rules to prevent investors from gaming this holding period."
Except to most of us ALL little crawly things worldwide are 'insects', I don't think we have another word that qualifies ! We do know that within that term there are a lot of things that scientists might declare as not so, but what we really mean are 'crawlies' ie things that make us shudder !
actually, we coould be more inclusive and refer to them as arthropods. this is a group of animals that lack a spine but have a hard crunchy exoskeleton. beasties like insects, crustaceans, arachnids and -- surprisingly -- GQP politicians! (betcha didn't know THAT, eh?)
For the last four decades we have heard the mantra of small government and low taxes. This is not what Adam Smith intended, rather the opposite. The founder of capitalism wanted progressive taxation, and strong government, to protect the market from being distorted by wealthy predators.
I was struck yesterday by how Senator Toomey defended the existing (Trumpian) tax cuts for corporations, while at the same time denying that he would deny health benefits to Veterans. Did I hear him say money would have to come from Medicare and Social Security?
What is his problem? Is he no longer a capitalist?
The corporations did just fine before Trump. Now they have more money than they know what to do with.
I like the Ed Koch line: "I like paying more taxes at the end of the year. It means I made more money."
With all due respect, I don’t care to focus on either Manchin’s or Sinema’s agendas. I am singularly focused on presenting as robust a package of relatable accomplishments as possible to voters as a downpayment to justify holding the House and picking up at least 2 Senate seats. My understanding (and hopefully I’m correct) is that the current 48 Senators, including the Centrists, are prepared to modify, if not abolish, the Senate filibuster and bring much, if not all, of the 150+ bills that have passed in the House to the Senate floor for debate and an up or down majority vote.
Though slightly off topic, a second critical objective is to prevent Republicans in select states from attaining trifecta control—control of both legislative state Houses and the governorship. I understand “The States Project” is particularly focused on states holding races for governors and Secretaries of State, plus on state Houses that are primed to flip.
As far as I am concerned, that shouldn't honestly be TOO difficult as long as Americans, aka Democrats, play hardball! They HAVE the money, so start running ads TODAY about how _rumplicans have NO plans to help Americans, just goofy culture wars issues like "how sexy a female potato toy is." Oh! And sue EVERYONE who attacks the CIVILIAN Hunter Biden.
Daniel, Though your perspective seems reasoned, I, nonetheless, would advise Dems, imagining they’re trailing by 10 points, aggressively and methodically to amplify their broadly relatable achievements and also to call out Republicans who virtually have no ideas other than ones arising from greed and self-serving impulses and a strategy of running on divisiveness.
Frankly, what frustrates me, despite Dems pressing for legislation that actually would make people’s lives easier and would be counter-inflationary, is that non-college educated workers still seem to think that the political right has their best interests at heart.
Laurie, Though I have only partial answers, I have sensed that the MAGA message seems particularly to resonate among those who have been the victims of modernity’s unevenly distributed opportunity and prosperity. I refer specifically to those among us who have been subjected both to technological changes that historically have rewarded higher educated workers over the less skilled and to shifts in manufacturing from high- to low-wage countries, which, admittedly, has driven down certain wages.
I suppose the piece that most confounds me is why Dems, generally speaking, don’t appear to connect particularly well with this audience.
Anger is in the mix too ; tRump was the guy who could do anything he wanted and thumb his nose at the 'unfair' laws. No more regulations or political correctness. It seemed easier. There were all those targets to vent on. Libtards, women, people of color; even the handicapped and prisoners of war (losers!)! Jews and Muslims, Unbelievers of Christianity, LGBTQ etc. Easy targets everywhere.
Barbara Jo Krieger ; Many working class people are TV watchers or Facebook followers. They did not get the memo to 'question authority'.? As far as Democrat politicians connecting with this audience goes ; Follow the money. One of the criticisms of Hillary Clinton was that she was running to the high end crowd with high dollar fundraisers. She avoided the rust belt, rural areas and inner cities. She must have taken donations from certain Corporate interests that would conflict with a real 'populist' or worker friendly appeal. I think the 'exodus' of Corps manufacturers from America to low paying countries was a trend that started first when these businesses went South and abandoned the North because it was more expensive to manufacture there. Even cheaper to go to to 'third world' countries without pesky activists who wanted people to have healthy working conditions and safety. Oh! and a living wage.
Laurie, Thanks for your replies. I imagine, whether closing factories either to head South or to the “Third World” in pursuit of lower labor/ material costs, the consequences for those left behind never actually have disappeared.
Manchin almost never uses ‘we’ when he refers to Democrats. Sometimes, it’s “they.” When Trump was president, he used ‘we‘ to refer to the people who voted for him, and ‘they’ for everyone else.”
As most people know, there are certain clues, some subtle, others not so subtle, that betray the fact that one is in the presence of certain undesirable companions: vampires, zombies, Nazi spies.
With Manchin, the telltale giveaway is if he refers to the party to which he nominally belongs as the “Democrat Party.” This is a game Republicans have been playing for about thirty years: in referring to it as the “Democrat Party” (never mind that it’s been chartered as the DemocratIC Party since before Andrew Jackson’s day), Republicans’ insinuation is clear -- that the (upper-case) Democratic Party is (lower-case) undemocratic.
It’s not just a game, of course: Republicans have known for a generation or more that the side that controls the language of a debate controls the debate, hence their seizing terms like “partial-birth abortion” and “socialism” to misrepresent the nonsensical, the non-existent and the unprovable aimed at that cohort of voters they cynically calculate are too stupid to know the truth and too lazy to bother to find out what it is.
As for
“But I do know, from fifty year’s [sic] experience in and around Washington, that most of the people who serve in our nation’s capital have very, very large — shall we say? — ego’s.”
That’s EGOS: apostrophes are not used to make plural forms of words and names in English.
Just shows us how the senate and house are bought and paid for! Oh lord help us! Corporations are people! People without any responsibility or consequences for their actions! Surely there is a way to break the corporate shield!
That nasty “corporations are people”decision turned our country on its ear. Thomas Jefferson, who authored the Declaration of Independence, saw big banks and corporations as a threat to democracy. He feared a corporate aristocracy. And lookie here what we have: just that.
The corporation is the single largest and most powerful entity in the world. This legal form of get out of jail free card has to be limited and tamed before we can have a real democracy!
Right, but what I’m saying is this: if they are people, then let them act like people and face the same limitations people do. If they’re people then they’re not organizations and don’t deserve to be treated as organizations. They can’t be both. I’m not a lawyer but I’m trying to reason like one.
Paula, you are right. They do not act like people, do not want the responsibility of being a human citizen of this country- don’t want to pay taxes, and they certainly don’t want to die (maybe that would be a good idea). They want the best of both worlds. It’s too bad the Supreme Court judges couldn’t think like attorneys. The should have known better.
It is my opinion that if Sen. Manchin doesn't like being labelled as the one who killed the 'Build Back Better' then he not be the gigantic stick in the mud that killed the agenda to help millions of people, especially those in his state that he claims to be there to support. As for Sinema... she's treating being in the senate as a popularity thing, and all the attention just adds into it all. Along with all the millions of dollars she's accepting from Big Pharma or her blocking the whole raising the minimum wage increase.
Yes, yes and yes. You are correct. But it’s also true that if things were working as they were designed, in Congress (and elsewhere), Manchinema would never have been “spawned;” because there would have been enough Republicans to pass a bi-partisan bill without these two hypocrites. It’s time for the press to stop blaming the Dems for legislative failures when the GOP votes as one and stops any meaningful progress on a host of vitally important issues. And it’s time for the Dems to show some courage and remove Manchin from his committee chairmanship and cut the strings beholding them to the oligarchs right here at home. The Dems need to get back to basics and what made them an attractive alternative to the GOP. At the moment they have no wind in their sails and act deflated. Playing nice isn’t working in the context of an active coup trying to take our democracy down. The coup is perilously close to success.
Yes. And their messaging must be much better to explain what they’re doing and why in terms that reflect the impact on everyday lives. Just like those victims of the floods in KY can see the point of the Federal government and why good governance is needed; as opposed to the dismantling by the GOP.
Oh geez, the iron grip the elites have on this country is way worse than it appears. Manchinema are a grotesque example of the minority's tyranny over the majority, or the federal judge in Florida who could decide that an entire nation shouldn't wear masks on public transportation during a pandemic. ( the CDC disagreed but nothing's changed) NYT has an article today on Hailey, Idaho and how no one can afford any housing there but the rich, I mean, not the director of the YMCA or a principle of a school, and they can't get teachers they need and nurses and other professionals can't afford to live there, it's been taken over by the uber rich, so has Aspen, Colorado. My multi-millionaire friend with a time-share there complained about health care and said the millionaires were "getting crushed by the billionaires." When educated professionals are priced out of living areas in the US, we are f_____! It's already reported they are finding housing in trailer parks, can't even to that in Hailey, Idaho. Meanwhile, workers in CA ARE living in trailer parks and can only get water with arsenic, no one to advocate for them. We ARE living with the reign of terror of the ruling class and these stories of rich people getting "crushed" by richer people is a view of how bad this will still get for a majority of Americans, this is the canary in the coal mine. Impoverished people are suffering terribly and have for a long time, that world is coming for us all. Manchinema represents our captors. This is no democracy. Don't get lost in the weeds watching these two people, look at the rapid deterioration of the country. The rich live in gated communities, enclaves, they contribute almost nothing to our society. They're destroying it.
They are able to afford security details too. Like those in power who must protect themselves from the powerless have done throughout history. We have too many private prisons too. Will there be an enlightened period where those in power will see that civility and fairness ; reduction of gross inequity might be a solution? And don't forget the climate that is heating up as well as the anger of those at the bottom. What will happen to US and the rest of the planet? No Good!
Totally Laurie.....I understand that it is not uncommon in Mexico for gangs to go after the wealthy and kidnap them for ransom. How come our dangerous militia's prey on the average American? Will they ever turn on the plutocrats? Yeah, where is the anger and frustration that is building from the gross inequality going to go?
If the population most harmed by what is going on with Citizens United and the Electoral College and so many other rules and rip offs could get the information they need ; there would be a true Revolution. More people would vote and insist that their government works for them ; not for their enemies ; the Obscenely greedy wealthy AKA the Greedheads! Find out which companies support the big lie and it's 'author' and Boycott them when possible. Call them out! I am zeroing in on one of my Representatives who opposes the the "carried interest" loophole" !!! He is a 'big shot' on the House ways and means committee, which USED to be powerful! But it's paid for.by scumbags.
Completely agree Laurie. I do think as people increasingly become dissatisfied with how they're being treated by their representatives we will see a lot more social unrest. Where is the breaking point?
I think it depends on how they are 'channeled' or messaged/informed. In the 60's there was widespread agreement as to what the problem was ; Consumerism and the corporations ; media included. the fact that every young man was threatened (and many taken) by the draft kind of propelled it. Anti war songs on the radio (something likely blocked today) were very powerful. Artists like Bob Dylan really got a strong message out. Life or death gets people's attention. Attacking a small country because you want their form of government destroyed to enable Capitalism just did not seem fair! Ike warned us about the "Military Industrial Complex". a real threat!
For songs ; Check out Country Joe and the Fish, and Sly and the Family Stone. Or just Google "60's protest songs'. It will blow your mind! (unless you are already old enough, yet still able to remember them.)
Repulsive, both of them . As are the lobbyists for the hedge-hogs and wall street . That the buying of, and control over these two trollops and the rest of the saleable legislators is just out there, obvious, LEGAL, accepted and plain for all to see, turns my stomach. It's just indicative of the warped and morally vapid system we/they have allowed to flourish. Disgusting, the whole package. 💩
Major changes to the Affordable Care Act. The nation’s biggest-ever climate bill. The largest tax hike on corporations in decades. And dozens of lesser-known provisions that will affect millions of Americans. If enacted, it would represent one of the most consequential pieces of economic policy in recent U.S. history.
We need this bill to justify team support. I don't know who said that legislation is like sausage, but at this point any links, patty or churrasco, salami, kielbasa will do. No baloney.
I read through this article and could not help but notice this ;" Democrats have sought to reclaim the mantle of fiscal responsibility from Republicans." I am no economist and not as well versed as I would like to be. But the idea that Republicans of today (read extremist tRumpers) HOLD the MANTLE of Fiscal (or any) responsibility that Democrats must Reclaim from them is pure Bullhockey! 2 trillion to the wealthiest in our country as soon as tRump got into office? He couldn't wait to do the obvious bidding that he was installed to do! Hard to take this article seriously, because the selling out was obvious and another giveaway even to my unsophisticated and untrained eye! This observation was not limited to that one ridiculous 'bullet', either! the Republicans would determine the limits/regulations of coal mining and oil drilling in Alsaka and offshore in sensitive areas? (gulf of Mexico). This is a worse giveaway than the 'Affordable Care act was to Big Pharma and the Health Insurance Cabal!
It's a question of appearance and reality. Most people who have not had Robert's course on wealth and inequality still ascribe to trickedown and do not understand that when poor or middle class people acquire money they have to spend it. That includes many financial reporters, even at WAPO.
I heard Black Lung Cases for many years. "The agreement would permanently extend funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, which covers benefits for roughly 25,000 coal miners suffering from black lung disease, including those in Manchin’s coal-rich state of West Virginia. The version of the bill that passed the House only provided a four-year extension of a tax on coal sales that pays for the trust fund."
When I worked for DOL, they rejected my calls to recoup Black Lung trust fund money by, among other things, suing tobacco companies for contribution to "legal" pneumoconiosis, by suing some of the physicians who had conflicts of interest without disclosing it to the agency, recouping when third parties (like manufacturers of products like glue) contributed to Black Lung, and other things. Many of the companies have been bankrupted and can't help support the fund. Manchin's son apparently is a coal operator, and most coal operators were insured and the fund didn't have to pay, but now the insurers are in default. Many recipients are advanced in age and have a reduced life expectancy. Deep mining has been in decline for many years and eventually taxpayer exposure will be minimal.
I call them S&M because they enjoy inflicting pain on voters and relish the pain on themselves and other democrats
Excellent! I daresay it's been mentioned before, but I usually get an image of Lucy, Charlie Brown and a football when Manchin (and Collins, etc.) allege support for doing anything good.
Like the mental picture LOL
I was thinkin' "Frick & Frack" after the old street hustle. Looks like we will now start having one that will support certain legislation the other won't - and vice-versa - instead of having them >both< opposing some legislation. It'll kill the legislation either way. That's new, given that Sinema's keeping her trap shut on what she plans to do.
UPDATE: I just heard Manchin say he's not getting into the politics of '24, saying: "Whoever is president is >my< president." What disingenuous crap! I shudder to think who he'll consider >his< president, when he certainly seems to have no perceivable respect for >this< president!
It works on two levels as well: Manchin is essentially an obsolete fossil fuel CEO, hence "frack!"
Thanks for bringin ' that to my attention. That's the most satisfying kind - the pun you hadn't intended and hadn't even noticed!
DZK ; Nor respect for his party and constituents!
Sinema needs to cover her arse. If Dems actually increase in power without her pretending to vote blue, House Rep Gallego is going to announce his candidacy for her seat on Nov 9th
Nate Silver 538 shows Dems may INCREASE power in the Mid-Terms due to DZK's ego-maniac "tweety" (aka theRump) making the conversation about him. Tweety's last minute involvement in GA is why aimless idiot Ossoff was able to win, when he wasn't lifting a finger to help Stacey Abrams carry him to victory
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/29/2113393/-Voters-shrug-off-Biden-prefer-Democrats-in-Senate-races?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
I hope Nate Silver 538 showing Dems may INCREASE power in Mid- Terms is accurate. Also tRump just filed lawsuits against CNN and any and all media for defamation because they keep saying He lost the election! It is his 'subjective judgement'that he won! ; In other words ; he is filing frivolous lawsuits which will cost him money He will owe his targets.. What a loser!
If Garland was/is worth a damn, there should be an indictment of Trump before the midterms; a real 'October surprise' to absolutely no one. Even Trump loyalists are sagging in their love for him. Nothing better for the Democrats could occur than to shove one foot of that malevolent buffoon into the newspaper shredder and have his loyalists deflate as he is slowly dragged into the shears of the legal system.
Richard Kline ; Very well said!
Deux Manchinema has wrecked the last year and a half of Congressional process, as the two in combination have, to this point, thwarted virtually the entirety of the 2020 electoral program on which the Democrats ran. Only a 50-50 Senate has put them in a position to piss so flagrantly in the face of the party and the country however, and I have bad news for them and more so for the Repugnicant Party generally: there will be no Red Tide in the 2022 midterms. That has always been a fable that the Red Hat crowd has told themselves, that they deserved, no, were _entitled_ to a massive swing in representation in the midterms because, well just because. They've done nothing to earn it. The polls show exactly the situation of November, 2020 now, with an evenly divided public (though the polls do not capture a sizable block of Red Hat voters who dislike both parties, revere Trump, and don't answer polls). Repugnicant gains in three months for the House are likely to be in the single digits, in my view, and there is an outside possibility that the Demos will hold the House. More certainly in the Senate, the Democrats will very likely see actual gains of several seats, the point germane to what is to be done regarding these two individuals.
Manchin and Sinema are united in one central characteristic in my view, speaking to Robert's larger point: they are all about themselves. I continue to maintain that Manchin is not a Democrat. He is a lifelong Republican who registered Democrat for purely local convolutions in West Virginia politics. He openly despises the entirety of the Democratic voter base. He votes 'dirty and rich' more than Republican per se. He is clearly indescribably vain, and an extreme practitioner of payback politics. It has been reported that, after rejecting the bill flatly two weeks ago, he crawled back to Shumer and begged to restart negotiations, with Shumer not even being willing to do that but effectively had Manchin write a bill he would vote for rather than continuing to play the "Woo me and maybe" game 'Coal King' Joe had played for a year and a half. Why would Manchin do all that? The threat of losing his chairmanship was openly talked about by other Democratic Senators, something almost unheard of but a very real possibility. That seemed to have focused Joe M.'s attention. Turns out lighting a fire under his chair actually got him moving. Now, an argument could be made that if Manchin actually votes for something close to the present bill on the floor of the Senate this week he has performed a viable service to the Democratic Party such that expelling him completely is not out and out warranted. And until the next Congress is sworn in in January, 2023, his party registration cannot be spared in the current Senate regardless. I would argue, however, that in 2023 his Chairmanship should absolutely be revoked in what is likely to be a larger Democratic Senate Caucus. Manchin is, right before our eyes, manifestly burning his bridges with the Republicans in the Senate: he has reportedly explicitly done much of this switcheroo as a payback to McConnell, sunk their 'block it all' operation, and can't join their caucus going forward. If you manage to make even Sen. Thune mad at you, you're cooked in that caucus. He is, in my view, much too vain to serve several years as an impotent Independent. Manchin will have nowhere to go, and it will then be time to give turnabout to the Payback Prince, where he can fall in line if he wants even a microphone to croak into.
Sinema is less complex: she doesn't care for a person in the world but herself. I see no special sympathy for the Repugnicants in her course of actions. Her sole constituency is the American financial industry, as she appears to care for absolutely nothing and no one else. I have read it opined that she is looking to position herself for a lucrative position in said industry after a sole Senate term, since she is not going to get a (D) nomination in Arizona again by the kind of treachery to her backers she is presently displaying. I don't think she will be prepared to sink the entirety of this present bill for the carried interest change, especially since that loophole is not even closed or much altered by the proposed legislation. To me, she is likely to geek in the end for very nearly what is in the present bill. Looking forward, however, if the Democrats are likely to increase their margin in the Senate in November 2022, as I suppose, they still won't have a huge margin. They will likely need her caucus declaration card in January 2023 and beyond, and her vote on other matters may be more gettable at less cost than Manchin's. Accordingly, one political ostracism, Manchin, may well serve to focus the mind of Sinema subsequently on hewing a closer course. She will be unlikely to block legislation on her own.
Politics attracts some of the most odious in any society, and we are looking at two exceptionally warped examples. I think it intolerable to simply ignore their conduct any longer than is circumstantially essential. Yes, the size of the Democratic caucus in the Senate may go down again later. It will be the job of the next seated Congress for the Democrats to push a tsunami of reform legislation that gives them the popularity to remain in government for the long term, not to play surrender politics yet further as they have for 30 years. That includes as a first order of business ending the filibuster, which also erodes the ability one or even two treacherous individuals to thwart an entire party, let alone an entire country as just right now. If the Democrats then actually pass what is needed, they can dispense with these two swollen pimples down the road. If they don't pass such legislation, they'll lose anyway, will deserve to, and won't need either one in such a desperate context should that come to pass.
You need to see the real reason this Manchin person has done this. In this bullshit bill is an equal amount of money to go where else? The fucking oil companies! The fucking Coal Industry! The real reason. Of course he wants more money. Why are we still spending tax payer money subsidizing the fucking oil industry? They pay 1 dollar for property lease! These are criminals and parasites.
("Deus ex machina is a Latin term meaning "god from a device", and is used to indicate a person or event which provides a sudden, unexpected solution to a story.")
Ooof; 'Deux Machinema'!!
So Manchin has been stalling Biden's agenda for some time now. This is clearly an attempt to allow him to 'save face' (salvage his reputation) while Sinema takes the heat and continues to stall Biden's/Democrat's agenda. They are tag teaming , in an effort to stall Biden's agenda until they run out the clock- midterms. Same thing Republicans used Boehner to do to Obama's agenda... Claim to be negotiating 'in good faith', only to pull the football when it's time to make the kick- https://www.pinterest.com/pin/574490496197306899/. (https://makeagif.com/gif/xplosion-match-8-person-mixed-tag-team-match-4g2jAr)
The ol' Frick & Frack hustle!
GREAT analogy!
LOL. Seems that way doesn't it.
Please don't throw me in dat briar patch.
it's impressive to me that obama, biden and even >trump< wanted to eliminate the carried-interest loophole. this should be a signal that it should be removed from the tax code, like, yesterday. of course, this situation once again makes the case for removing big money from politics, but we all know that such corruption is like a contagious disease, and will plague all americans until something big happens that will truly shake up the system. i wonder what that "something big" will be and when it will happen?
oh, and technically speaking, ticks are not insects. they are arachnids. i'm allowed to be a pedant because i'm a PhD-carrying zoologist.
"The bill would also change what tax experts have characterized as a loophole primarily benefiting the private-equity industry. Under current law, investors can qualify for a lower tax rate on the accrued value of their stock holdings if they hold those assets for at least three years. The provision would extend that period of time to five years, making it harder for investors to claim a tax rate lower than the ordinary rate paid by most taxpayers on wage income. Private-equity firms benefit from the lower rates because currently much of their compensation is treated as a capital gain, not as income."
"The proposal would also tighten the rules to prevent investors from gaming this holding period."
Thanks that bothered me too - they are arachnids!
Except to most of us ALL little crawly things worldwide are 'insects', I don't think we have another word that qualifies ! We do know that within that term there are a lot of things that scientists might declare as not so, but what we really mean are 'crawlies' ie things that make us shudder !
"creepy crawlies" works.
How 'bout we stop mincing words and just call them creeps ‽
actually, we coould be more inclusive and refer to them as arthropods. this is a group of animals that lack a spine but have a hard crunchy exoskeleton. beasties like insects, crustaceans, arachnids and -- surprisingly -- GQP politicians! (betcha didn't know THAT, eh?)
This is a brazen insult to arthropods everywhere. GOP politicians are not arthropods.
So Congress is suffering from arthropoditis, then, it seems.
I do now!
They're barnacles on the a-- of time and will be scraped off!
To many of us they're just bugs.
For the last four decades we have heard the mantra of small government and low taxes. This is not what Adam Smith intended, rather the opposite. The founder of capitalism wanted progressive taxation, and strong government, to protect the market from being distorted by wealthy predators.
I was struck yesterday by how Senator Toomey defended the existing (Trumpian) tax cuts for corporations, while at the same time denying that he would deny health benefits to Veterans. Did I hear him say money would have to come from Medicare and Social Security?
What is his problem? Is he no longer a capitalist?
The corporations did just fine before Trump. Now they have more money than they know what to do with.
I like the Ed Koch line: "I like paying more taxes at the end of the year. It means I made more money."
With all due respect, I don’t care to focus on either Manchin’s or Sinema’s agendas. I am singularly focused on presenting as robust a package of relatable accomplishments as possible to voters as a downpayment to justify holding the House and picking up at least 2 Senate seats. My understanding (and hopefully I’m correct) is that the current 48 Senators, including the Centrists, are prepared to modify, if not abolish, the Senate filibuster and bring much, if not all, of the 150+ bills that have passed in the House to the Senate floor for debate and an up or down majority vote.
Though slightly off topic, a second critical objective is to prevent Republicans in select states from attaining trifecta control—control of both legislative state Houses and the governorship. I understand “The States Project” is particularly focused on states holding races for governors and Secretaries of State, plus on state Houses that are primed to flip.
As far as I am concerned, that shouldn't honestly be TOO difficult as long as Americans, aka Democrats, play hardball! They HAVE the money, so start running ads TODAY about how _rumplicans have NO plans to help Americans, just goofy culture wars issues like "how sexy a female potato toy is." Oh! And sue EVERYONE who attacks the CIVILIAN Hunter Biden.
Daniel, Though your perspective seems reasoned, I, nonetheless, would advise Dems, imagining they’re trailing by 10 points, aggressively and methodically to amplify their broadly relatable achievements and also to call out Republicans who virtually have no ideas other than ones arising from greed and self-serving impulses and a strategy of running on divisiveness.
Frankly, what frustrates me, despite Dems pressing for legislation that actually would make people’s lives easier and would be counter-inflationary, is that non-college educated workers still seem to think that the political right has their best interests at heart.
Barbara Jo Krieger ; Sadly they saw it on the TV! Critical thinking may be taught in College ; but not in many public schools.
Laurie, Though I have only partial answers, I have sensed that the MAGA message seems particularly to resonate among those who have been the victims of modernity’s unevenly distributed opportunity and prosperity. I refer specifically to those among us who have been subjected both to technological changes that historically have rewarded higher educated workers over the less skilled and to shifts in manufacturing from high- to low-wage countries, which, admittedly, has driven down certain wages.
I suppose the piece that most confounds me is why Dems, generally speaking, don’t appear to connect particularly well with this audience.
Anger is in the mix too ; tRump was the guy who could do anything he wanted and thumb his nose at the 'unfair' laws. No more regulations or political correctness. It seemed easier. There were all those targets to vent on. Libtards, women, people of color; even the handicapped and prisoners of war (losers!)! Jews and Muslims, Unbelievers of Christianity, LGBTQ etc. Easy targets everywhere.
Barbara Jo Krieger ; Many working class people are TV watchers or Facebook followers. They did not get the memo to 'question authority'.? As far as Democrat politicians connecting with this audience goes ; Follow the money. One of the criticisms of Hillary Clinton was that she was running to the high end crowd with high dollar fundraisers. She avoided the rust belt, rural areas and inner cities. She must have taken donations from certain Corporate interests that would conflict with a real 'populist' or worker friendly appeal. I think the 'exodus' of Corps manufacturers from America to low paying countries was a trend that started first when these businesses went South and abandoned the North because it was more expensive to manufacture there. Even cheaper to go to to 'third world' countries without pesky activists who wanted people to have healthy working conditions and safety. Oh! and a living wage.
Laurie, Thanks for your replies. I imagine, whether closing factories either to head South or to the “Third World” in pursuit of lower labor/ material costs, the consequences for those left behind never actually have disappeared.
All Dems must get out and vote in November, and every subsequent election, to make Manchin and Sinema irrelevant !
Big oil just made more than 17 billion off the backs of the working class. That should pay for a lot of poli-tic-tians.
Most likely the wrong ones.
Of course!
I love the Machinema - it sounds like machine enema - which I like about as well as Manchin or Sinema. Great post.
Machine enema! Love it.
That is what the Senate needs and our 'laws' that allow putrefaction to run our country!
I'M TRYING TO EAT HERE!
Just remember that many in the world eat insects.
Manchin almost never uses ‘we’ when he refers to Democrats. Sometimes, it’s “they.” When Trump was president, he used ‘we‘ to refer to the people who voted for him, and ‘they’ for everyone else.”
As most people know, there are certain clues, some subtle, others not so subtle, that betray the fact that one is in the presence of certain undesirable companions: vampires, zombies, Nazi spies.
With Manchin, the telltale giveaway is if he refers to the party to which he nominally belongs as the “Democrat Party.” This is a game Republicans have been playing for about thirty years: in referring to it as the “Democrat Party” (never mind that it’s been chartered as the DemocratIC Party since before Andrew Jackson’s day), Republicans’ insinuation is clear -- that the (upper-case) Democratic Party is (lower-case) undemocratic.
It’s not just a game, of course: Republicans have known for a generation or more that the side that controls the language of a debate controls the debate, hence their seizing terms like “partial-birth abortion” and “socialism” to misrepresent the nonsensical, the non-existent and the unprovable aimed at that cohort of voters they cynically calculate are too stupid to know the truth and too lazy to bother to find out what it is.
As for
“But I do know, from fifty year’s [sic] experience in and around Washington, that most of the people who serve in our nation’s capital have very, very large — shall we say? — ego’s.”
That’s EGOS: apostrophes are not used to make plural forms of words and names in English.
Yes indeed; on the subject of typos though, you missed the colon after: "As for".
We-the party in favor of democracy -need to full-throatedly begin calling the other side the fascists. Say it like it is.
Also on the subject of typos, that should be "fifty years' experience".
Just shows us how the senate and house are bought and paid for! Oh lord help us! Corporations are people! People without any responsibility or consequences for their actions! Surely there is a way to break the corporate shield!
That nasty “corporations are people”decision turned our country on its ear. Thomas Jefferson, who authored the Declaration of Independence, saw big banks and corporations as a threat to democracy. He feared a corporate aristocracy. And lookie here what we have: just that.
Amen!
Interesting points, Stephen. Let’s play with them a little. Corporations are people, and people:
Pay taxes
Die
Have only one vote apiece …
You see where I’m going with this?
The corporation is the single largest and most powerful entity in the world. This legal form of get out of jail free card has to be limited and tamed before we can have a real democracy!
Agree. I’m just playing with language, attempting to highlight the hypocrisy and illogic.
You have the correct picture. Corporations are anything but people.
Right, but what I’m saying is this: if they are people, then let them act like people and face the same limitations people do. If they’re people then they’re not organizations and don’t deserve to be treated as organizations. They can’t be both. I’m not a lawyer but I’m trying to reason like one.
Paula, you are right. They do not act like people, do not want the responsibility of being a human citizen of this country- don’t want to pay taxes, and they certainly don’t want to die (maybe that would be a good idea). They want the best of both worlds. It’s too bad the Supreme Court judges couldn’t think like attorneys. The should have known better.
Lawsuit?
Does have a 15 percent corporate minimum tax!
It is my opinion that if Sen. Manchin doesn't like being labelled as the one who killed the 'Build Back Better' then he not be the gigantic stick in the mud that killed the agenda to help millions of people, especially those in his state that he claims to be there to support. As for Sinema... she's treating being in the senate as a popularity thing, and all the attention just adds into it all. Along with all the millions of dollars she's accepting from Big Pharma or her blocking the whole raising the minimum wage increase.
Valeria K. ; And her blocking the ending of the 'Carried interest loophole', the only way to get the grotesquely wealthy pay ANY tax!
Congress -- legalized prostitution
Compulsory!
Yes, yes and yes. You are correct. But it’s also true that if things were working as they were designed, in Congress (and elsewhere), Manchinema would never have been “spawned;” because there would have been enough Republicans to pass a bi-partisan bill without these two hypocrites. It’s time for the press to stop blaming the Dems for legislative failures when the GOP votes as one and stops any meaningful progress on a host of vitally important issues. And it’s time for the Dems to show some courage and remove Manchin from his committee chairmanship and cut the strings beholding them to the oligarchs right here at home. The Dems need to get back to basics and what made them an attractive alternative to the GOP. At the moment they have no wind in their sails and act deflated. Playing nice isn’t working in the context of an active coup trying to take our democracy down. The coup is perilously close to success.
Our team, the dems, need to manage these two greediest. Yank their committee chairmanships! Treat them the way they treat us
Yes. And their messaging must be much better to explain what they’re doing and why in terms that reflect the impact on everyday lives. Just like those victims of the floods in KY can see the point of the Federal government and why good governance is needed; as opposed to the dismantling by the GOP.
Oh geez, the iron grip the elites have on this country is way worse than it appears. Manchinema are a grotesque example of the minority's tyranny over the majority, or the federal judge in Florida who could decide that an entire nation shouldn't wear masks on public transportation during a pandemic. ( the CDC disagreed but nothing's changed) NYT has an article today on Hailey, Idaho and how no one can afford any housing there but the rich, I mean, not the director of the YMCA or a principle of a school, and they can't get teachers they need and nurses and other professionals can't afford to live there, it's been taken over by the uber rich, so has Aspen, Colorado. My multi-millionaire friend with a time-share there complained about health care and said the millionaires were "getting crushed by the billionaires." When educated professionals are priced out of living areas in the US, we are f_____! It's already reported they are finding housing in trailer parks, can't even to that in Hailey, Idaho. Meanwhile, workers in CA ARE living in trailer parks and can only get water with arsenic, no one to advocate for them. We ARE living with the reign of terror of the ruling class and these stories of rich people getting "crushed" by richer people is a view of how bad this will still get for a majority of Americans, this is the canary in the coal mine. Impoverished people are suffering terribly and have for a long time, that world is coming for us all. Manchinema represents our captors. This is no democracy. Don't get lost in the weeds watching these two people, look at the rapid deterioration of the country. The rich live in gated communities, enclaves, they contribute almost nothing to our society. They're destroying it.
They are able to afford security details too. Like those in power who must protect themselves from the powerless have done throughout history. We have too many private prisons too. Will there be an enlightened period where those in power will see that civility and fairness ; reduction of gross inequity might be a solution? And don't forget the climate that is heating up as well as the anger of those at the bottom. What will happen to US and the rest of the planet? No Good!
Totally Laurie.....I understand that it is not uncommon in Mexico for gangs to go after the wealthy and kidnap them for ransom. How come our dangerous militia's prey on the average American? Will they ever turn on the plutocrats? Yeah, where is the anger and frustration that is building from the gross inequality going to go?
If the population most harmed by what is going on with Citizens United and the Electoral College and so many other rules and rip offs could get the information they need ; there would be a true Revolution. More people would vote and insist that their government works for them ; not for their enemies ; the Obscenely greedy wealthy AKA the Greedheads! Find out which companies support the big lie and it's 'author' and Boycott them when possible. Call them out! I am zeroing in on one of my Representatives who opposes the the "carried interest" loophole" !!! He is a 'big shot' on the House ways and means committee, which USED to be powerful! But it's paid for.by scumbags.
Completely agree Laurie. I do think as people increasingly become dissatisfied with how they're being treated by their representatives we will see a lot more social unrest. Where is the breaking point?
I think it depends on how they are 'channeled' or messaged/informed. In the 60's there was widespread agreement as to what the problem was ; Consumerism and the corporations ; media included. the fact that every young man was threatened (and many taken) by the draft kind of propelled it. Anti war songs on the radio (something likely blocked today) were very powerful. Artists like Bob Dylan really got a strong message out. Life or death gets people's attention. Attacking a small country because you want their form of government destroyed to enable Capitalism just did not seem fair! Ike warned us about the "Military Industrial Complex". a real threat!
For songs ; Check out Country Joe and the Fish, and Sly and the Family Stone. Or just Google "60's protest songs'. It will blow your mind! (unless you are already old enough, yet still able to remember them.)
Repulsive, both of them . As are the lobbyists for the hedge-hogs and wall street . That the buying of, and control over these two trollops and the rest of the saleable legislators is just out there, obvious, LEGAL, accepted and plain for all to see, turns my stomach. It's just indicative of the warped and morally vapid system we/they have allowed to flourish. Disgusting, the whole package. 💩
I love hedgehogs, please do not denigrate them.
Michael Clark ; Maybe hedgefund hogs?
That works better. However, as hogs are also good beings, how about greedy hedgers?
As long as the description and meaning of Hedge Fund is clear. One could call it 'greed fund'
CITIZENS UNITED made all this possible.
Major changes to the Affordable Care Act. The nation’s biggest-ever climate bill. The largest tax hike on corporations in decades. And dozens of lesser-known provisions that will affect millions of Americans. If enacted, it would represent one of the most consequential pieces of economic policy in recent U.S. history.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/07/28/manchin-schumer-climate-deal/
There is no "I" in "team"?
We need this bill to justify team support. I don't know who said that legislation is like sausage, but at this point any links, patty or churrasco, salami, kielbasa will do. No baloney.
Go team! (Boomerang, boomerang sis boom bah!)
I read through this article and could not help but notice this ;" Democrats have sought to reclaim the mantle of fiscal responsibility from Republicans." I am no economist and not as well versed as I would like to be. But the idea that Republicans of today (read extremist tRumpers) HOLD the MANTLE of Fiscal (or any) responsibility that Democrats must Reclaim from them is pure Bullhockey! 2 trillion to the wealthiest in our country as soon as tRump got into office? He couldn't wait to do the obvious bidding that he was installed to do! Hard to take this article seriously, because the selling out was obvious and another giveaway even to my unsophisticated and untrained eye! This observation was not limited to that one ridiculous 'bullet', either! the Republicans would determine the limits/regulations of coal mining and oil drilling in Alsaka and offshore in sensitive areas? (gulf of Mexico). This is a worse giveaway than the 'Affordable Care act was to Big Pharma and the Health Insurance Cabal!
It's a question of appearance and reality. Most people who have not had Robert's course on wealth and inequality still ascribe to trickedown and do not understand that when poor or middle class people acquire money they have to spend it. That includes many financial reporters, even at WAPO.
I heard Black Lung Cases for many years. "The agreement would permanently extend funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, which covers benefits for roughly 25,000 coal miners suffering from black lung disease, including those in Manchin’s coal-rich state of West Virginia. The version of the bill that passed the House only provided a four-year extension of a tax on coal sales that pays for the trust fund."
When I worked for DOL, they rejected my calls to recoup Black Lung trust fund money by, among other things, suing tobacco companies for contribution to "legal" pneumoconiosis, by suing some of the physicians who had conflicts of interest without disclosing it to the agency, recouping when third parties (like manufacturers of products like glue) contributed to Black Lung, and other things. Many of the companies have been bankrupted and can't help support the fund. Manchin's son apparently is a coal operator, and most coal operators were insured and the fund didn't have to pay, but now the insurers are in default. Many recipients are advanced in age and have a reduced life expectancy. Deep mining has been in decline for many years and eventually taxpayer exposure will be minimal.
Hopefully, coal mining and its hazards will end up on the scrapheap of history.