Joe Manchin Takes The Democratic Party Hostage And Demands Ransom, Or He Will Kill The Hostage

The media lets Joe Manchin get away with his “Aw shucks, I’m just a simple country bumpkin” shtick all the time. This prima donna diva is calculating and conniving, don’t kid yourself. He didn’t get to be a wealthy coal baron otherwise.

Manchin likes to tell the lazy media villagers that “if we all negotiate in good faith we can come to a deal.” But Manchin is not negotiating in good faith.

This prima donna diva really does see himself as the “decider-in-chief” by virtue of an evenly divided Senate. (Reminder: no one voted for him to be decider-in-chief, not even his constituents in West Virginia). The public interest be damned, all that really matters is what this prima donna diva Joe Manchin wants. It’s “My way or the highway.”

And if he doesn’t get his way, apparently he is threatening blow it all up. This is no way is good faith. This is taking the Democratic Party hostage and demanding ransom, and if he doesn’t get what he wants he will kill the hostage.

This is more than being just the poster boy for appeasement of the enemies of democracy, the Sedition Party, the domestic terrorists who want to destroy American democracy and replace it with a GQP tyranny of the minority which will “govern for 100 years,” as insurrection leader Steve Bannon recently declared.

No, Joe Manchin is an independent operator, a domestic terrorist in his own right.

Mother Jones reports, SCOOP: Manchin Tells Associates He’s Considering Leaving the Democratic Party and Has an Exit Plan:

In recent days, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) has told associates that he is considering leaving the Democratic Party if President Joe Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill do not agree to his demand to cut the size of the social infrastructure bill from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion, according to people who have heard Manchin discuss this. Manchin has said that if this were to happen, he would declare himself an “American Independent.” And he has devised a detailed exit strategy for his departure.

Manchin has been in the center of a wild rush of negotiations with his fellow Democrats and the White House over a possible compromise regarding Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better package, and Manchin’s opposition to key provisions—including Medicare and Medicaid expansion, an expanded child tax credit, and measures to address climate change—has been an obstacle that the Democrats have yet to overcome. As these talks have proceeded, Manchin has discussed bolting from the Democratic Party—perhaps to place pressure on Biden and Democrats in these negotiations.

He told associates that he has a two-step plan for exiting the party. First, he would send a letter to Sen. Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, removing himself from the Democratic leadership of the Senate. (He is vice chairman of the Senate Democrats’ policy and communications committee.) Manchin hopes that would send a signal. He would then wait and see if that move had any impact on the negotiations. After about a week, he said, he would change his voter registration from Democrat to independent.

It is unclear whether in this scenario Manchin would end up caucusing with the Democrats, which would allow them to continue to control the Senate, or side with the Republicans and place the Senate in GOP hands. [Appeasement of the enemies of democracy, the Sedition Party, and let’s be clear: a traitor to American democracy by putting the “Grim Reaper of Democracy” back in control of the Senate.] In either event, he would hold great sway over this half of Congress.

Without Manchin’s vote, the Democrats cannot pass the package in the 50-50 Senate. And a vote on this measure is key to House passage of the $1 trillion bipartisan road-bridges-and-broadband infrastructure bill the Senate approved in August. (Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, has also been a problem for the party.) Manchin has met with Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and a variety of his fellow Senate Democrats this week in an effort to strike a deal. Through it all, he has insisted that $1.75 trillion is his top and final offer, and he has constantly said no to proposed programs that almost every other congressional Democrat supports. He has told his fellow Democrats that if they don’t accept his position, they risk getting nothing.

Manchin told associates that he was prepared to initiate his exit plan earlier this week and had mentioned the possibility to Biden. But he was encouraged by the conversations with Sanders and top Democrats that occurred at the start of the week and did not yet see a reason to take this step. Still, he has informed associates that because he is so out of sync with the Democratic Party he believes it is likely he will leave the party by November 2022.

The current Republican governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice (four years younger and a billionaire), would easily defeat Manchin in a GQP primary, and in the general election if Manchin ran for reelection as a Democrat. Manchin simply cannot accept the reality that he is serving in his last term in office.

Joe Manchin will be 76 in 2024 when his term expires. If he is unhappy, maybe he should just retire and spend more time with the grandkids. The West Virginia Code, §3-10-4. Vacancies in representation in United States Congress, provides in pertinent part:

(b) If there is a vacancy in the representation from this state in the Senate of the United States Congress, the vacancy shall be filled by the Governor of the state by appointment. The Governor shall make the appointment from a list of three legally qualified persons submitted by the party executive committee of the same political party with which the person holding the office immediately preceding the vacancy was affiliated at the time the vacancy occurred. The list of qualified persons to fill the vacancy shall be submitted to the Governor within 15 days after the vacancy occurs, and the Governor shall duly make his or her appointment to fill the vacancy from the list of legally qualified persons within five days after the list is received. If the list is not submitted to the Governor within the 15-day period, the Governor shall appoint, within five days thereafter, a legally qualified person of the same political party with which the person holding the office immediately preceding the vacancy was affiliated at the time the vacancy occurred.

Maybe there is a chance we could get a Democrat who believes in doing what is best for his state and the country, instead of doing what is best for Joe Manchin. See Paul Krugman, Joe Manchin Versus West Virginia.

Manchin has repeatedly said that he has a significant philosophical difference with most of his fellow Democrats. He has told reporters that he believes major programs in the Build Back Better bill would move the United States toward an “entitlement mentality” and that he cannot accept that. [The man made his fortune from federal coal subsides, i.e., corporate welfare, the biggest “entitlement” program of all.]  In a recent meeting with Biden, Manchin told the president that he sees government as a partner with the public not the ultimate provider, according to people who heard the senator’s account of the conversation. He explained to the president that in his view Biden didn’t win the presidency last year by championing progressive proposals, and he pressed the president to recall his campaign promise to bring people together. He also reminded Biden that he has vowed not to support any package unless it contains the Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of federal funds to pay for abortions, except in cases of incest or when the life of the mother is at risk.

Note: Senate Democrats on Monday for the first time in decades left out an amendment from their annual government funding bills that blocks people from using Medicaid or other federal health programs to cover abortion services. Senate Democrats ditch Hyde amendment for first time in decades. So yet another sexist old white guy wants to dictate to women their reproductive health choices.

In his talks with Sanders and Democratic legislators, Manchin has said that they should be willing to accept his $1.75 trillion offer [ransom demand] and continue to fight for the social and climate change programs he doesn’t support and make these campaign issues in 2022 and 2024, as they try to elect more Democrats. Half of a bill is better than none, he has advised.

He is partly correct – electing more Democrats to the Senate and ensuring that prima donna divas Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema do not return to the Senate is a long-term strategy. Defeating the Sedition Party and ridding ourselves of these traitors in our midst is the only way American democracy can hope to survive.

Manchin told associates that he is hopeful a compromise that creates an overall framework for the bill can be reached by the end of this week—but at no more than the $1.75 trillion he supports. He has said that he believes if a deal is not attained on the social infrastructure package, he expects to be blamed and receive a ton of criticism. [Well deserved.]

Manchin’s press secretary did not respond to a request for comment.