Swamp Creature Joe Manchin Appeases The Enemies of Democracy

Above: Media attention is what this prima donna diva Senator craves the most.

Update to Joe Manchin Is The New Poster Boy For Appeasement Of The Enemies Of Democracy and The Senate Filibuster And The Death of American Democracy By Appeasement.

Texas legislative Democrats fled the state of Texas to block GQP Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression bills (Texas is already the most difficult state in which tho vote) to come to Washington. D.C. to beg Democratic senators, “For the love of God, you have got to pass the For The People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act before the August recess. We are begging you! You have got to save American democracy from these enemies of democracy.”

The prima donna diva senator who has appointed himself the decider-in-chief for all legislation (no one, not even West Virginians elected him to this self-appointed position), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), met with the Texas state legislators. While everyone was polite and said it was a constructive conversation (they have to say this because they desperately want something), the truth is that Sen. Manchin remains unmoved in his opposition to what the Texas Democratic legislators – and a large majority of Americans in a series of polls – are begging him to do: end the Jim Crow relic Senate filibuster for fundamental voting rights legislation and pass these bills already!

CNN reports, Manchin meets with Texas Dems and says he wants pared-down voting rights bill:

Sen. Joe Manchin, a key vote in the effort to pass federal voting rights legislation, on Thursday said he and a group of Texas House Democrats, who have fled their state in an effort to block restrictive voting bills, have come to a “total agreement” on what they want, which is “basically to protect voting rights.”

But Sen. Manchin will not do what is required to actually make this happen, so nice sentiment, but screw you Joe!

After meeting with members of the Texas delegation, Manchin said the next step is to put together a pared-down bill that focuses solely on protecting the right to vote and the procedure of voting.

“We work with the Voting Rights Act that we had, started in 1965, and what we’ve evolved into, and basically make a piece of legislation, one piece of legislation that protects the rights of voting, the procedure of voting, democracy, the guardrails on democracy, that’s all. And there shouldn’t be a Republican or Democrat should oppose it,” Manchin said.

Manchin is talking about paring down the John Lewis Voting Rights advancement Act, in particular, Section 5 preclearance by the DOJ, because “states rights” (Jim Crow code language), ignoring the history of why federal intervention was required to end Jim Crow disenfranchisement of Black voters (and other minorities) in violation of the 15th Amendment, and recent history of the wave of GQP Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression laws enacted since Chief Justice John Roberts’ opinion in Shelby County v. Holder (2013). So Manchin fancies himself more knowledgable about voting rights than civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, who dedicated his life to voting rights, and who wrote the bill that now bears his name? His hubris is stunning and nauseating.

And the man is completely delusional if he believes that he can find even ten Republican “patriotic senators” to break a Senate filibuster, let alone his fantasy of unanimous Senate consent, as occurred the last time the Voting Rights Act was renewed by Congress in 2006.

This was also Manchin’s way of saying that reforming the Senate filibuster rule is off the table. ‘Forget The Filibuster’: Manchin Rejects Voting Rights ‘Carve-Out’ After Meeting With Texas Democrats.

Asked why he thinks Republicans would support a pared down bill, Manchin said: “You know why? Because they’ve had a bill that’s 800 pages long, they’ve had everything thrown at them. Let’s get back to the basic rights of voting, protecting voting rights.”

Now Manchin is referring to the For The People Act, far more expansive that the narrower John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. What Manchin is opposed to here is the pilot program for public financing of congressional elections – modeled after Arizona’s Citizens Clean Elections system approved by Arizona voters in 1998. Manchin is also opposed to new disclosure requirements and restrictions on “dark money” expenditures in campaigns, the weapon of choice for corporations and wealthy oligarchs.

As I have explained before, Manchin is parroting talking points released in April by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Republican-alligned trade association that recently backed his reelection campaign, as well as former Senator Joe Lieberman’s corporate No Labels organization. Reuters reported U.S. Chamber rewards Senators Manchin, Sinema for opposing Biden initiatives. These self-interested prima donna senators have sold their souls for 30 pieces of silver from billionaire oligarchs.

Texas state Rep. Joe Moody — one of the Democrats at the meeting in Washington — said the Texas delegation was pleased by its conversation with Manchin. [He has to say this.]

“Senator Manchin was very generous with his time, and Texas Democrats were heartened by our talks with him. We have no doubt that he completely shares our goal of protecting voting rights for all Americans, and we all realize that this is a struggle that won’t be over in just a few days—it’s a journey, one we look forward to taking together,” Moody said in a statement to CNN.

Senator Joe Manchin left out one important detail that would have been of great interest to the Texas delegation. It might have changed their view of his commitment to voting rights.

The Texas Tribune reports that on the eve of the anniversary of the death of civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, Sen. Joe Manchin, key Democratic holdout on federal voting protections, coming to Texas for fundraiser hosted by several GOP donors.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin — a key Democratic holdout over efforts to pass federal voting rights legislation — is expected to head to Texas on Friday for a fundraiser with a host committee that includes several wealthy Republican donors.

Fundraising from the very corporate donors and oligarchs who fund the enemies of democracy, the insurrectionist Sedition Caucus and the GQP Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppressors (see below).

The fundraiser comes just a day after Manchin met with Texas House Democrats on Capitol Hill who are desperate for his support of the congressional efforts which could preempt the statewide GOP’s push to pass bills that would restrict voting access for Texans.

Manchin is also one of two Democratic senators [there are others], along with Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who have proven to be obstacles to moving voting rights legislation through the U.S. Senate. At the center of the impasse is their opposition to eliminating or changing the filibuster, which requires 60 senators to put a bill on the floor.

“We invite you to join us for a special evening supporting our friend, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin,” according to the invitation’s cover letter, which went on to call Manchin “a longtime friend since his days as Governor of West Virginia.”

The host committee includes titans of the Texas oil and gas industry — many of whom donate almost exclusively to Republicans. But there is a prominent Democrat included among the hosts: former Houston Mayor Bill White. White was the 2010 Democratic nominee for governor, and declined to comment on this story. All of the other hosts could not immediately be reached for comment.

Senator Manchin is chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy And Natural Resources. So not only is he obstructing voting rights bills for his corporate/oligarch paymasters, he is also obstructing any Senate action to address the climate crisis in the two infrastructure bills for his Carbon Monopoly/oligarch paymasters.

Sen Joe Manchin is definitely not the kind of politician that the late great Molly Ivins once colorfully described. He is a classic Washington “swamp creature.”

The Hill reports, Manchin draws red line in infrastructure talks:

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) warned on Tuesday that he wants both a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a separate Democratic-only bill to be fully paid for.

“I think everything should be paid for. We’ve put enough free money out,” Manchin told reporters.

Manchin’s demand, if he sticks to it, could create real problems in Democratic negotiations.

[A] group of 22 senators, including Manchin, agreed to a framework for a bipartisan infrastructure deal that would spend $1.2 trillion over eight years. But there are concerns among Republicans that the bill isn’t fully paid for, threatening GOP support for it.

Republican negotiators in the group have warned that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) could lowball the amount of revenue the proposal will raise.

Manchin has acknowledged that the Democratic-only bill is “inevitable” but hasn’t committed to a specific top-line figure.

“I want to make sure we pay for it. I do not want to add more debt on.

The “pay fors” are simply a convenient cover excuse for Joe Manchin to kill the progressive climate crisis provisions in the Democratic budget reconciliation bill. Don’t be fooled by his debt excuse. Manchin is doing the bidding of the Carbon Monopoly/oligarchs. This is the only reason these Republican donors would be hosting him for a fundraising event this weekend.

The Texas Tribune continues:

Among the hosts are oil billionaires like Jeff Hildebrand, who cofounded the energy company Hilcorp, and Richard Kinder, a cofounder of Kinder Morgan, an energy infrastructure company. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry appointed Hildebrand to the University of Texas Board of Regents for a six-year term beginning in 2013.

The fundraiser will take place late Friday afternoon in the River Oaks area of Houston, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Texas. An invitation obtained by The Texas Tribune encouraged donors to contribute $5,800 to Manchin’s reelection campaign and $5,000 to his leadership PAC. Organizers anticipate more than 150 people to attend, according to a source familiar with the event.

Many of the hosts are prolific donors to past GOP nominees, including former President Donald Trump, and to organizations like the Republican Party of Texas, the Republican National Committee, state parties, GOP candidates across the country and Republicans in U.S. Senate and House leadership. Hosts have also contributed to Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan.

When it comes to federal donations over the last 40 years, the Republican hosts gave an aggregate of $1.3 million to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s presidential super PAC. Additionally, they donated high six-figure totals to the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and former President Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.

Even so, some of these donors have made occasional contributions to Democrats who are either moderate or serve on committees with oversight of the energy sector. Energy is a key driver of the Houston economy.

“We basically are just getting some people together to show our support,” said Darren Blanton, a Republican donor who planned to attend the event.

He pushed back on the notion that this is a wholly Republican event.

“It’s just people that respect and support him,” he said.

Bullshit! They expect a return on their investment.

And Joe Manchin is delivering for them with his obstruction of the Biden agenda and his appeasement of the enemies of democracy.