I'm an AZ dem. Sinema's "thumbs down" is even more disappointing than you think.

[Coventina]

AZ's minimum wage is already $12 an hour.

This means that she could have voted for it, and it wouldn't have affected AZ at all for a number of years, yet. She could have voted yes without any political cost at all. Also, it was a formality vote. Everyone knew it wasn't going to pass. Again, no political cost.

Also, now she's claiming that the criticism of her vote is based on sexism.

I'm sorry but her "flounce" looked disrespectful and immature. I would have said the same if a man had done it.

[BigmanPigman]

1. I just saw it and it reminded me of my

students in First Grade. So disappointing on so many levels.

[Botany]

2. Just woke up ... can't fall back asleep ... Her act and it was an act showed she has no business ...

... being in the senate. It was a childish "look @ me" stunt. I hope she is voted out in 2022 or 2024.

[Coventina]

3. She's not up until 2024.

I hope we can get a great candidate to primary her.

However, I will still vote for her if she is Dem candidate.
I've spent too much of my life living under worse Republican senators.
She's frustrating, but so much better than loathsome pricks like Kyl.

[Raster]

13. I could not agree more...

...I am not real happy with Sinema*, but will vote for her if she is the Dem candidate.

I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to see a progressive, Native American or Latino WOMAN be Arizona's second Senator, alongside Mark Kelly.

[Lucinda]

4. Someone on Twitter said that was McConnell she tapped - to make sure he saw her vote no

[SergeStorms]

6. Looks like it to me as well.

Why she's so concerned about McTurtle seeing her "no" vote is perplexing. I think she and Manchin are trying to outdo each other in the "see what an asshole I can be" sweepstakes. They both make this full-time Democrat sick to my stomach.

[rainy]

19. Mitch dissed her too. He didn't even watch😆

[Tanuki]

5. Playboy "Bunny Dip" at the end unbecoming of her office

v

[rpannier]

7. Just ask her if Joe Manchin's a woman

Cuz he's getting the same (in some cases harsher) treatment (and deservedly so)

[speak easy]

8. 7 Dems voted against it.

[Celerity]

10. 8, if you count Angus King. I have no clue why those other 6 did.

AZ - Sinema

WV - Manchin

ME - King (I)

NH - Shaheen (she was co-lead, with Manchin, on stripping COVID cheques from 17 million people, 12 million of them adults, who now will have gotten 2 cheques under that fucker rump, and zero under Biden.

NH - Hassan

DE - Tom Carper

DE - Chris Coons

MT - Tester

[speak easy]

12. I was a vote about process.

The Senate Parliamentarian had ruled that a bald provision for the federal minimum wage could not be included within the budget reconciliation process under the Senate's current rules.

Those who would bulldoze due process in a quest for pure virtue, invite the whirlwind.

I believe in the power of good
I believe in the state of love
I will fight for the right to be right
I will kill for the good of the fight for the right to be right

David Bowie, Cygnet Committee.

[Celerity]

15. I know all that, not buying it for those 6, as it was already going down anyway due to Manchin

and Sinema

It also was a shit decision by the Parliamentarian, as there was substantial budgetary impact, far more than other things that had been allowed into Reconciliation. The Byrd rule is antiquated as shit and needs to be binned anyway as well. The circumstances no longer exist where it works as originally intended.

I detest the US Senate overall in its current manifestation, on a multiplicity of levels.

[speak easy]

18. Hard cases make bad law.

The filibuster is an anachronism - the Byrd Rule a limited exception.

But I believe the Parliamentarian was correct as a matter of black letter law.

Fuck the law and see what happens?

We know what happens.

[Celerity]

20. I trust Bill Dauster's opinion that it should have been included, he is literally the top expert on

federal budgetary law, he helped write some of the reconciliation process decades ago.


Top budget expert makes case for minimum wage in reconciliation

Procedural move would allow a raise to avoid a filibuster and pass with a simple majority in Senate

https://www.rollcall.com/2021/01/22/top-budget-expert-makes-case-for-minimum-wage-in-reconciliation/

A leading authority on federal budget law and Senate rules is making the case that raising the federal minimum wage can be done through budget reconciliation, which would allow the legislation to pass on a simple majority vote rather than requiring the support of 60 senators as is typical. Bill Dauster, who served as deputy chief of staff for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., wrote in a guest op-ed for CQ Roll Call published Friday that there's enough budgetary impact associated with a minimum wage boost to at least warrant consideration from the Senate parliamentarian, who typically adjudicates which provisions will qualify.

Dauster, who was also a longtime Democratic aide on the Senate Finance and Budget panels, goes on to say that if the parliamentarian disagrees that the minimum wage can be raised through reconciliation, the presiding officer of the Senate is “empowered to make this call." President Joe Biden wants to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour as part of his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue plan. Democrats are preparing to try to pass as much of the plan as possible through reconciliation if they can’t gain enough Republican support to pass it through regular order. A minimum wage boost appears unlikely to win the backing of enough Senate Republicans to clear the 60-vote threshold.The House passed legislation in 2019 to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 in stages over a seven-year period, including gradual elimination of the lower minimum wage for tipped workers, by a vote of 231-199 with just three Republicans crossing the aisle to support it. Critics point to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office and others that over time the measure could result in millions of job losses, while backers cite reductions in poverty and increased wages for millions of workers.

In the Senate, what can be included in reconciliation legislation is restricted by the so-called Byrd rule, named for former Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., who died in 2010. Among other provisions, the Byrd rule bars measures that have no impact on spending or revenue, or where the budgetary impact of the law would be “merely incidental” to the nonbudgetary impact. The Byrd rule is enforced by senators who raise points of order to strike provisions from a reconciliation bill. The presiding officer determines whether an objection is valid, typically after consulting with the parliamentarian. If the presiding officer sustains a point of order, the offending provision is struck from the legislation. In the past, presiding officers have almost always followed the advice of the parliamentarian. But the authority to make the call rests with the presiding officer, who in this case could be Vice President Kamala Harris or Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., the Senate president pro tempore.

Dauster argues that small-business tax cuts could be paired with the wage increase to make it more palatable to the GOP, as occurred the last time Congress acted to raise the minimum wage as part of a 2007 war spending bill. Tax cuts could certainly qualify under reconciliation, Dauster notes, since they have a clear budgetary impact. Dauster, who retired from the Senate staff in 2017, worked on major budget legislation dating back to 1987 while on the Hill and during a stint as Deputy National Economic Council Director in the Clinton administration. He authored an annotated 1993 compilation of federal budget process laws, including a detailed Byrd rule explanation.

snip

[speak easy]

23. As always, your research is first class.

As an advocate, Bill Dauster can make a compelling case, but (yes, there has to be a but ), as the Supreme Court respects the integrity of the separation of powers, the Senate Parliamentarian is the eminent authority.

EDIT: Nothing would make a more substantial contribution to the lives of ordinary Americans as legislating a real living wage. I'm all on board. But this was a vote about process, not substance; and due process is the distance between us and madam guillotine

[sortasvenska7]

9. I canvassed for Sinema in 2018 and I am more angry than disappointed

I have been following Senator Sinema since 2009 when she was a state Rep who would spar with the very conservative Jay Lawrence on KTAR. She was much further to the left back than. I can’t figure out her strategy: is this political expediency or something else? She came from a family with very little means and has discussed her childhood where they didn’t have electricity or water at different times because of where they were living or the family could not afford the utilities. I wish she would think about all the American kids out there whose families also struggle to pay their utilities all while working full time jobs at very low wages. And if she is concerned by the ‘sexism’ of people calling out her body language while she voted no, I would implore her to think about the fact that almost 60% of Americans making less than $15 an hour are women. What good is it to have a Democratic Senator here in Arizona if when push comes to shove, she doesn’t coalesce with her party?

[Celerity]

11. Can a Onetime Nader-Supporting 'Bomb Thrower' Win Arizona's Senate Seat? Democrats Hope So

In 2002, The Arizona Republic published a letter from Sinema criticizing capitalism. "Until the average American realizes that capitalism damages her livelihood while augmenting the livelihoods of the wealthy, the Almighty Dollar will continue to rule", she wrote

https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-road-to-the-senate-runs-straight-through-trump-country-1520266957

PHOENIX—Senate Democrats, against all odds just a few months ago, can see a path that could lead them back to power, with one hitch—the road to a Democratic Senate majority runs through Trump Country. To win, Democrats must defend 10 Senate seats they hold in states President Donald Trump won in 2016, plus take at least two seats now held by Republicans. In these states, the party faces a tricky balance act. It must appeal to independents and centrist Republicans, who typically decide elections in these states, without alienating energized Democrats whose anti-Trump energy has invigorated the party.

Arizona has one of the GOP seats Democrats want, the one being vacated by Sen. Jeff Flake, and here the tensions are on full display. At a recent gathering of Democratic activists in Phoenix, one party leader estimated that half of those in the room were angry with Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, the party’s expected nominee, in part because she has consistently voted for Trump priorities.

Patrick Seifter, the Democratic chairman for a central Phoenix legislative district, ticked off the grievances. Ms. Sinema once voted to block the admission of Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Last year, she voted for Kate’s Law, which would have increased penalties for deported immigrants with felony convictions who return to the U.S. She voted for a bill that included money for a wall on the Mexican border.

“Obviously I want a Democrat to win, but it is more than having the letter D after your name,” said Mr. Seifter. Though he’ll reluctantly support Ms. Sinema, he plans to cast a symbolic vote against her in the August primary. He said a quarter of the room might not back her in November.

snip

[kaotikross]

14. I had such high hopes for her.

Quirky style, non-mainstream sexuality, she didn't act this way when she was running for the office.

Disappointing.

[LisaM]

16. It was kind of peculiar.

It's one thing to vote that way, but that was a really strange work outfit. Is she always such an attention seeker? She reminds me of some of the recent Jeopardy contestants who make odd gestures when they are introduced then mug for the camera whenever possible (though this seems to have calmed down, thankfully).

[DesertRat]

27. Yes

I thought that considering her fashion choices, that outfit was rather tame. And she wasn't wearing her purple wig.

[grockri]

17. I have supported her campaign in the past!

But at this point, I don't think I will give her the time of day. When she was in the AZ legislature she was one of the most liberal there. What happened to her. She has turned into just another Arizona Senator. I don't think a Rethuglican can be much worse. She sold mand all her other backers out. A serious disappointment to me. Unfortunately mc sally probably would have been far worse. I would have expected it from her though.

[Dem4Life1102]

21. Her little display was vile and disgusting

She needs to be driven from office.

[Meowmee]

22. What an embarrassing

And disgraceful display...

[WhiskeyGrinder]

25. What the fuck is this shit right here.

[XanaDUer2]

26. Disgusting nt

[dalton99a]

28. Kick

[Irish_Dem]

29. It wasn't a political decision. It was personal for her.

Her obvious joy, the dance, the thumbs down, the large cake.
This is personal. To the point she wanted to celebrate.

Only so many ways to explain why it was a personal victory for her.