“No idea what he's doing”
It’s been a long and very busy week for me, hence why I haven’t been posting a lot of diaries. But I just wanted to pass this along:
'No idea what he's doing': Manchin perplexes with Covid aid power play
In the end, it took a direct call from President Biden, a meeting with Schumer and significant concessions to get Manchin on board. @marianne_levine
https://t.co/EnBdWNTgkU— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) March 6, 2021
Here are some real kickers from the Politico piece:
Manchin’s dug-in Friday also exposed a rare rift between him and his moderate Arizona ally. Unlike Manchin, Sinema wanted to extend the unemployment benefits past August and raised the issue on a private caucus call this week, according to a source on the call. She also could be heard on the floor, alongside Tester, trying to convince Manchin to go along with Carper’s proposal.
Manchin had hinted earlier in the week that he would exert his pull over the relief debate. In an interview, he suggested that by June or July the economy should be opening up as vaccines become more widespread and the coronavirus recedes. And he worried about paying people more than $1,000 extra a month to stay home.
And so much for his “bipartisanship” credentials:
Though Manchin’s brand is bipartisanship, his eleventh-hour dalliance with the GOP may ding his credibility across the aisle.
“To give in at this point would raise all sorts of questions. What’d they give you? Why’d you cave? There’s no way, at this point, this looks good,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) shortly before Manchin and his party reached a deal.
Manchin was so desperate and strategically stupid about finding some sort of GOP backed amendment that he could vote for to save his ass that he wanted to go along with stupid idea:
Senators have filed two competing unemployment proposals: One, from Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), would provide $300 per week through mid-July, a significantly shorter timeline than what’s supported by most Democrats.
The second, from Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), would provide a $300 weekly payment through September.
That’s a change from the House bill, which provided $400 per week through August. But Democrats unveiled the agreement earlier Friday, characterizing it as a deal worked out by their moderate and progressive factions.
Just going to leave this here:
As @Sen_JoeManchin should understand, this isn't about amending the bill to get bipartisan support.
It's about making the bill worse for the sake of making it worse – hurting real, struggling people – at which point Republicans will vote against it anyway. https://t.co/N7864hGSjd
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen) March 5, 2021
Manchin’s colleagues had to explain to him why Portman’s proposal sucks:
Not to mention that Portman’s change “is not a good thing in the context of the congressional schedule,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), referring to making extra benefits expire in July.
“That would not be good for people,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) of the prospect of Manchin siding with Republicans. “He has a right to it. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of us wouldn’t be frustrated about it.”
And after all of Manchin’s dumb fuckery:
Also, the deal announced this morning would have extended jobless benefits through the end of September . This deal moves the expiration date up to Sept. 6.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 6, 2021
September 6th is Labor Day.
50-49, Portman amendment to extend jobless benefits at $300 a week through mid-July is adopted by Senate. But Democrats plan to amend that language with the deal they reached with Manchin tonight
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 6, 2021
FYI:
Dems playing hardball and are rejecting McConnell move to adjourn and bring the Senate back tomorrow. After nearly 12-hour standstill, Dems hope to tire GOP out and force them to cut vote-a-rama short, rather than return fresh tomorrow. Manchin and Sinema vote against adjourning
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 6, 2021
That image and headline says it all. Manchin really does look like that kid who was forced to sit in the corner wearing a dunce cap. Even his colleague, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R. WV), called it like it is:
“I have no idea what he’s doing, to be quite frank,” she said. “Maybe you can tell me.”
FYI, no I will not be blaming either Biden or Schumer for Manchin pulling this shit. His idiotic move might have been a blessing in disguise to tire out the GOP on vote-a-rama but he still looked like a huge dumb ass for pulling this move last minute. You can’t blame Schumer or Biden for this because no one can really control Manchin’s stubborn stupidity.
While I’m not usually the biggest Twitter user, here are some good Tweets:
obvious why Manchin wants the filibuster – otherwise he'd be ignored.
— Jennifer "Pro-privacy" Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) March 6, 2021
The DC statehood bill should start off giving DC four senators so Manchin can trim it back to two.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) March 6, 2021
Dear WV Joe,
Stop being a fucking asshole and vote to pass the amendment. You have state GOP cover so at this point you're just being a petulant, arrogant, spoiled brat.
Good Talk,
Sincerely,
A nation suffer an acute employment crisis— Shannon in Ohio 4 (@ShannonFreshour) March 5, 2021
Also, not letting you off the hook either, Senator Sinema:
https://twitter.com/RBReich/status/1368038310078152706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The other Democratic senator from Arizona, Mark Kelly, voted to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr, so tell me again why Sinema needs to vote against it to win in Arizona. https://t.co/IwTzuPN2BE
— Josh Miller-Lewis (@jmillerlewis) March 5, 2021
And this one’s my favorite:
West Virginia might not be winnable for another dem senator but there are a lot of states that are ready to be flipped.
Time to get a REAL majority and make Joe Manchin obsolete.
— Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) March 5, 2021
Couldn’t agree more. Let’s expand our majority and help some great incumbents stay in the Senate. Click below to donate to these three Senate candidates I really like running for Senate seats in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina:
