Joe Manchin has clearly decided he’s the actual President of the United States. He can’t get behind Biden’s two trillion dollar infrastructure package (American Jobs Plan) because raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% is just a bridge too far ( pun intended). He can’t get behind a $15 an hour minimum wage because it’s not responsible and reasonable. And he can’t get behind even filibuster reform, apparently, because it’s a ” critical tool to uphold our democratic form of government” whatever the hell that means.
Never mind that two thirds of Americans support raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Never mind that two thirds of American voters support the American Jobs Plan. And never mind that a slight majority of American voters support filibuster reform in order to pass much needed legislation. And never mind that Manchin’s unrooted obstinacy threatens to impede much needed legislation but also his own party’s prospects in the 2022 mid-terms.
No, President Manchin knows best. He wants everyone in the Senate to get along and talk with each other, confident that he, alone, can bring Republicans on board some of Biden’s policy proposals, even as Perry Bacon Jr of FiveThirtyEight writes:
Bernie Sanders recently stated he has no problem going to West Virginia to pressure Manchin to get with the program. At this point I’d be happy to pay for his flight ticket and lodgings.
Steve Carlson’s commentary about West Virginia’s “President Manchon” inspired me to spread the word. I couldn’t improve on Steve Carlson’s writing in my own words so I took the easy way and sent the link to the Huntington Herald-Dispatch, the largest newspaper in West Virginia. Hope they include it on their opinion page.
Well done, Edward, and very flattering to boot. I hope they publish it!
Or, maybe Manchin is a moderate attempting to govern in good faith while his party’s leadership drifts untethered from reality.
Aren’t there polls in West Virginia? Otherwise, we should make one happen. I think Manchin is projecting opinions on his constituents that may not be true.