Manchin vows that he won't vote to kill filibuster 'under any condition'

[mysteryowl]

Source: The Hill

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Monday that he won't vote to kill the filibuster "under any condition" .

Manchin, speaking to reporters in the Capitol, reiterated that he does not support going "nuclear" to gut the 60-vote legislative filibuster and indicated that there was no timeline where, if Republicans blocked legislation, he would change his mind.

“I do not support doing away with the filibuster under any condition. It's not who I am," Manchin said.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/535776-manchin-vows-that-he-wont-vote-to-kill-filibuster-under-any-condition

[Normanart]

1. The turd in the punchbowl

[dchill]

7. THAT'S who he am.

[Vdizzle]

12. I would put money on McTurtle having Kompromat on him.

He’s just being a wussy little punk trying to protect his seat. Fuck him.

[sfstaxprep]

2. Get Ready For Gridlock, And For Democrats To Lose Senate & House In 2022

Joe Biden will probably get little of his agenda passed. They'll give him the token win, here and there, but the big legislation will go nowhere.

[oldsoftie]

28. Not so sure about the Senate; the GOP has more open seats running.

And more total to defend

[FBaggins]

50. It's worth pointing out that he was right in 2013

He was the only Democrat to vote against killing the filibuster then... and there were posts here just like yours predicting that we would have nothing but gridlock without it and would lose seats if we didn't.

So we did it.

We lost nine Senate seats in the next election.

[marble falls]

63. I get so tired of this stuff. I was suprised during the election by all the "Trump will steal ...

... the election" stuff, and now we're hearing this stuff only six days after the inauguration.

[RockRaven]

3. Manchin made the promise so Schumer and the entire caucus don't have to....

And the deal gets done.

I don't like it, but it gets things moving. Meh.

[PoliticAverse]

9. If you think things are "moving" wait until the first filibuster. n/t

[RockRaven]

10. It gets the prior/holdover committee chairs out, they become D's. That's not insignificant.

They set agendas and have subpoena power and all that.

But it is not much. Hence the "meh."

[mysteryowl]

4. The saving grace is Bernie, chair of the Budget committee

He can move things for a vote of 51. It will help with some of the legislation.

[myohmy2]

33. +1...

...that's my Bernie...

[luv2fly]

5. He wants his job...

...more than he wants to embrace and promote Dem legislation.

[mysteryowl]

6. One thing is sure, we need him to remain a democrat.

[SergeStorms]

16. That's puzzling...

we want to keep a Democrat that won't vote as a Democrat when it's needed. We don't have a majority in the Senate if we have renegade Senators who'll vote against the rest of the Democrats. He's against the impeachment of 'He who shall not be named' as well. In case you hadn't noticed, Manchin pisses me off. Save all the excuses, I've heard them all before and they won't change my opinion of Joe Manchin.

[Squinch]

26. Committee leadership.

[oldsoftie]

29. I guess he could change parties. Then Harris no longer leads the Senate & no D chairs.

Is he the "perfect" democrat? no. So what. I've seen the GOP snatch defeat from the jaws of victory before by insisting on the "solid conservative" instead of the one who could actually win elections. They had Harry Reid beat years ago until they insisted on running some whackjob Tea Party woman who polled worse than the "RINO". Who lost.

[Turin_C3PO]

34. He voted with us half the time.

Plus, his presence as a Dem gives us the committees and the gavel. It would be way worse for us if he switched parties. A progressive Dem can’t win in West Virginia, at least not at this time.

[SergeStorms]

38. Like I said...

I've heard all of the excuses to kiss his ass and keep him around. I think we can do better, and should.

[Turin_C3PO]

39. I don't believe we can do better at this time.

Not in that state. Look to the past twenty years to see what happens when Dems try to run out or primary a conservative Democrat in red states. The progressive wins the primary and loses in the general.

[Tom Rinaldo]

40. If there is any other Democrat who can win a U.S. Senate seat from WV...

then s/he should defeat/replace the actual Republican Senator from West Virginia before we risk losing Manchin's seat to a full blown right winger. If any other Democrat shows it is possible to win a Senate seat from WV I would then be much more open to supporting a more progressive challenger to Manchin

[FBaggins]

61. Don't think such a candidate exists

Trying to remember the last Democrat (not named Manchin) who came within double digits of winning statewide (or even in a congressional district).

[moose65]

46. We can't do better in West Virginia

There was a Senate race in W Va in 2020 (and no one has ever heard of it).

The Republican, Capito, won in a 70 - 27 landslide. That would happen to any Dem except Manchin.

[in2herbs]

41. Agree, and I would add Sinema to that list, as well. nt

[FBaggins]

52. Who is the current Senate Majority Leader?

Sure sounds like he votes as a Democrat when it's needed.

Perhaps you could consider waiting until we can win another seat before you toss him from the train (or make him get off)? There's no replacing him with a Democrat in WV.

[Nexus2]

8. What is Manuchin's deal?

Why is he so protective of the filibuster?

[groundloop]

11. Remember that he's from West Va.....

As much as I wish he'd play by team rules we're still better off having him as a Democrat than if that seat were in GOPer hands. At least we'll be able to get important budget and judicial votes through with 51 votes, and Leader Schumer seems to feel many other important votes can be passed with 51 votes where the filibuster won't apply. This will be FAR more desirable than not controlling 50 seats.

[SergeStorms]

17. You can't count on anything with Manchin.

If he wakes up on the wrong side of his bed he'll oppose any Democratic bill he wants. He's been called the most powerful man in the Senate, and that just isn't right. He'll listen and deal with republicans just as much as Democrats.

[JI7]

18. He votes with Democrats most of the times

so we can count on him most of the times.

[SergeStorms]

37. Just not...

at key times.

[ecdab]

20. He voted to put Democrats in charge of the Senate, which is more than we would get...

from about anybody else that could get elected in West Virginia right now.

[SergeStorms]

36. And for that...

we're going to erect Joe Manchin statues? That's setting the bar pretty damned low. I think we can do better

[JI7]

42. Who said anything about statues ? And voting for control of the Senate is THE KEY Vote . Without him

McConnell is majority leader.

[Polybius]

58. Trust me, there will be some in WV one day

For some reason, he's extremely popular with both Party's there.

[ecdab]

65. If folks can find somebody more progressive than Manchin that can win in West Virginia, I say Great.

But until then, folks disregarding political reality in favor of ideological purity tests will simply lead the Democrats back to the minority.

Embracing reality is far different than raising statues. And setting a bar at level in a Democratic Primary that only will allow a Republican to end up as the winner of a General Election isn't a good thing, it's doesn't help the county or the world or any cause that a progressive would care about.

I'm sure your hearts in the right place, but this battle for the soul of this nation is going take more than just good intentions.

[notinkansas]

59. I'm wondering if mcconnell caved on the filibuster

because he was able to lean on Manchin to not support it.

[RandiFan1290]

24. He likes all of the attention. nt

[Calista241]

49. Apparently Sinema also signed on to the filibuster.

We just used the filibuster to stop basically all of Trump's plans for 4 years. He basically didn't get anything passed except for his tax reform, which was only done using the reconciliation rule.

[oldsoftie]

30. That always works well for the republicans nt

[NurseJackie]

55. That's not a smart idea. It will weaken him and give the seat to the GOP...

... and that will give the GOP a two-vote advantage (making it 51 to 49).

He is who he is. WV is what WV is.

Be thankful for what we've got.

[Jose Garcia]

62. WV Democrats nominated a progressive candidate for the US Senate last year. It was a disaster.

She got a pathetic 27% of the vote.

[msongs]

14. now we know why mcconnell gave up to schumer on the organizing of te senate nt

[Turin_C3PO]

35. It's still a win for us.

It allows Senate business to go forward and McConnell got no guarantee in writing.

[FBaggins]

53. I guess we'll see

They reportedly settled on essentially the same power-sharing agreement as was used in the Senate in 2001.

The scenario is almost exactly reversed... yet that agreement was widely held to be a victory for Democrats after several weeks of negotiations.

[Turin_C3PO]

54. It's not an ideal situation.

But it’s better than McConnell holding up the entire process. And you never know, maybe if the Republicans obstruct everything Manchin and others might change their mind about removing or modifying the filibuster rule.

[FBaggins]

56. Exactly

Nor was it ideal the last two times that it happened. But the first one took five months to iron out... and the second took several weeks... and now the Senate is up and running much quicker than that. Biden's agenda can proceed without that delay.

It doesn't mean that we'll win every battle... but at least they'll take place.

[TrollBuster9090]

15. I'm pretty sure the Democratic Party has a contract someplace stating that they have to have EXACTLY

...exactly ONE SKUNK AT THE SENATE PICNIC. And (presumably) his name has to be JOE. Notice how Joe Manchin took on this role at exactly the time Joe Lieberman gave it up.

Given that Manchin is positioning himself like this, it means there's only one way for things to proceed.

1. They have ONE Senate session where they keep the filibuster (at Manchin's request), and the Republicans block absolutely everything. (This is a good thing in the minds of establishment Democratic 'centrists,' because (in their mind) it will belay the fears of 'moderate Republicans' (there ain't no such thing) that Democrats will bring in 'far left' policies.)

2. At the beginning of the NEXT Senate session, they put together a budget that includes several billion in EARMARKS for projects in West Virginia, and tell Manchin that if he doesn't vote to get rid of the filibuster, WV won't get ANY of it, and Manchin won't be assigned to any committees. That gives him political cover, and hopefully they'll get rid of the filibuster (aka 'Republican party permanent VETO.')

[ecdab]

19. We're not going to have a progressive Senator from West Virginia any time soon.

I remember when Democrats clamored for Mark Pryor, Democratic Senator from Arkansas, and Mary Landrieu, Democratic Senator from Louisiana, to be removed because they were not sufficiently progressive. They both lost their seats in 2014. Pryor lost to Tom Cotton and Landrieu lost to Bill Cassidy. We didn't even bother to run a Democrat against Tom Cotton in 2020, that's how out of touch with Arkansas the Democrats have become inside of just 6 years because they let the perfect become the enemy of the good.

Great trade. Instead of having a vote that was about 65% reliable, we have votes that are 0% reliable. Instead of votes for a Democratic majority in the Senate we have votes for a Republican majority in the Senate.

These red states are not going to elect progressive Democrats during this chapter in history. West Virginia is not going to elect a progressive Democrat during this chapter in history.

Joe Manchin may not represent me or you well at all, but that's not his job. Given the state of play in West Virginia politics, we Democrats should feel extraordinarily lucky to have Joe Manchin voting to give the Democrats the Senate majority, as opposed to having another lunatic Republican Senator from West Virginia giving McConnell the Senate leadership.

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. It doesn't work out well in the end.

[left-of-center2012]

21. He represents a very red state

I think Trump got about 77% of the vote in West Virginia

[Jon King]

22. The Presidency can never fall into Repub hands again.

Congress is always going to be a cesspool. It will switch back and forth over and over again. But the Presidency is the absolute key to it all. As Trump showed, a rouge President can do so much damage.

Demographics are on our side in every swing state. But we must make sure PA, MI, WI, AZ, GA stay blue. NC suburban metro areas should cause that to flip next. Keep pounding away at TX, that population is also changing in our favor.

Of course we want Congress too...but the Presidency can never be trusted to a Repub ever again.

[orangecrush]

23. He can say what they want to hear now

And do exactly the opposite if it is important enough.

I would not be doing handsprings over this if I were on the other side.

[Mr. Sparkle]

25. Wow! He put out that statement after the Schumer interview with Rachel

what a **** !

[CentralMass]

27. Thanks for nuthin' Joe.

[thesquanderer]

31. Saying he definitely won't do away with it is not the same as...

...saying he definitey won't support changes to it. They can still threaten to make it apply to fewer things, or change how many votes are needed to overcome it...

[bucolic_frolic]

32. By the timing of this sequence of events, Mitch got played?

I wonder if it's a slap at Mitch as much as anything.

[FBaggins]

60. Like most difficult political negotiations...

... both sides declare victory

And perhaps neither deserves it - or both.

[DeminPennswoods]

43. Pretty sure when legislation that would help

WVa is blocked, Manchin will change his mind.

[lagomorph777]

44. +1

[samsingh]

45. We absolutely need to win more Senate seats in the midterm

[still_one]

48. +++ That is the key. In addition, we also need to focus on winning state legislatures and

governorships

[Happy Hoosier]

47. So... does not give a shit if the GOP kills all meaningful legislation.

I cannot understand this. We are facing historic challenges and Manchin is going to allow the minority party in the Senate to stop it all.

For SHAME Senator.

[rickyhall]

51. What does one do with a speedbump? Drive over it.

Is Manchin an undercover repug? Just askin'...

[BlueIdaho]

57. Then vote to lower the votes needed

To break a filibuster to 40. It’s time Senators were put on record instead of hiding behind a filibuster.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

64. The most conservative Democrats in the Senate could do major damage

to the Democratic agenda, and subsequently cause Democrats to lose the House and Senate in 2022.

Why would they even think about doing this? The Republican party is the anti-American party of Domestic Terrorism, that supports the spread of Covid, and prevents measures necessary to end the pandemic from being undertaken.

What good ideas do these more conservative Democrats think that Republicans have? Republicans are killers of Americans, and they suck at everything.