1 hour ago, Vee said:

The thing here is that he says, repeatedly, that he would never support BBB and he knew it all along. Many of us suspected it from the start bc his arguments against it have always been circular, repetitious and half-baked, and when he dropped one he'd always go back to another. Now today, in his radio interview, he has gone back to old stuff he was saying last spring or summer and referring to testing and committees, things that have already been done in several cases on key components.

It's possible that dropping climate and adding pork would get his vote on pieces of this bill, and that may be a goal worth pursuing. But I don't think he wants to do anything period, it's clear now that his bruised ego and right-wing sensibility is far more important to him than any other political enrichment he might actually get from the passage, and I hope the WH doesn't take too much from the Politico Whisperers insisting there is a way to get to 'yes' with Manchin. I think any yes would be extremely meager and they should consider looking at Murkowski.

All that being said: It is very possible Manchin's vote will be there for us on voting rights, so there is that.

Meh they should have been courting Murkowski. Just like McConnell spent time courting Manchin and Sinema.   Get the 50 votes that way and how about try Ben Sasse who CLAIMS to support voting rights. Could Murkowski be persuaded to help carve out an exception to the filibuster for voting rights? She'd be more reasonable than Manchin has been. And it's clear he HATES a lot of West Virginians.

I think Manchin is more likely to support a carveout on voting rights based on recent tea leaf readings from various journos (I can't find the tweets right now) than he is to ever support BBB. I agree on Murkowski.

1 hour ago, JaneAusten said:

Meh they should have been courting Murkowski. Just like McConnell spent time courting Manchin and Sinema.   Get the 50 votes that way and how about try Ben Sasse who CLAIMS to support voting rights. Could Murkowski be persuaded to help carve out an exception to the filibuster for voting rights? She'd be more reasonable than Manchin has been. And it's clear he HATES a lot of West Virginians.

Sasse and even  Murkowski have party loyalty - Manchin and Sinema don't. They are corporate whores, and yes, Manchin obviously hates most of his people:

 

I think Murkowski can potentially go rogue. Sasse is pathetic.

3 hours ago, Vee said:

It's possible that dropping climate and adding pork would get his vote on pieces of this bill, and that may be a goal worth pursuing.
<snip>
I think any yes would be extremely meager and they should consider looking at Murkowski.

Don't drop climate!  Recruit Murkowski instead.

Edited December 20, 20213 yr by janea4old

 

1 hour ago, dragonflies said:

 

Such contempt for his own constituents. WV is number one in the country in Opioid deaths.

 The nerve of this man. Of course there will always be bad actors, but that is not a good reason to punish all poor children. I guess it must be easier to live with yourself if you believe people are poor because of moral failings.

5 hours ago, Khan said:

Frankly, at this point, I don't care.  Even if the Senate gets the voting rights legislation passed -- and I still think that's a big "if" -- the GOP will just find another way to disenfranchise POC while the Democrats will insist we keep going high.

I think we are well past this issue. Now we are lurching towards being a completely failed democracy and no one with power knows how to fight it. It's not hard to imagine being under repressive Republican rule for a very long time to come no matter what the majority of people want. Meanwhile, you know who is out there and waiting for another chance in 2024.

 

And, after hardships with Major, a heart-wrenching but understandable decision has come:

 

As for the cat:

 

For any rep for WV to be against this the way they’ve wasted money on a Highway to nowhere is so stupid. He picked a damn ridiculous time to find fiscal responsibility.  I feel no empathy for that state if a disaster strikes. Let ‘em suffah.  I’m a snowflake but I’m an iron one when I get pissed.

4 hours ago, Juliajms said:

 The nerve of this man. Of course there will always be bad actors, but that is not a good reason to punish all poor children. I guess it must be easier to live with yourself if you believe people are poor because of moral failings.

I think we are well past this issue. Now we are lurching towards being a completely failed democracy and no one with power knows how to fight it. It's not hard to imagine being under repressive Republican rule for a very long time to come no matter what the majority of people want. Meanwhile, you know who is out there and waiting for another chance in 2024.

They’re too stupid to notice Trump is picking off their own old guard one by one until there’s no one left but his minions.  They are dumb enough to think one of themselves will emerge to beat him.  And they won’t and then stand around claiming “this isn’t the Republican Party!” Yes it is you dumb*ucks.  

58 minutes ago, Fevuh said:

For any rep for WV to be against this the way they’ve wasted money on a Highway to nowhere is so stupid. He picked a damn ridiculous time to find fiscal responsibility.  I feel no empathy for that state if a disaster strikes. Let ‘em suffah.  I’m a snowflake but I’m an iron one when I get pissed.

They’re too stupid to notice Trump is picking off their own old guard one by one until there’s no one left but his minions.  They are dumb enough to think one of themselves will emerge to beat him.  And they won’t and then stand around claiming “this isn’t the Republican Party!” Yes it is you dumb*ucks.  

The coal miners union normally a big Manchin supporter has asked him to reconsider his stance. Apparently BBB includes an extension to a fund that provides benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung  disease which expires this year. They also praised tax incentives that encourage manufacturers to build facilities in coalfields that would employ thousands of miners who lost their jobs. Imagine Manchin voting NO on this. 

After the tirades about CRT faded (times just after November elections, quelle surprise), I just knew the deficit hawks would rear their heads. Manchin is a conservative (no way is he moderate), of course, he'd start scolding about deficits-straight from the GOP playbook.