Ten days ago, Joe Manchin stood up for the filibuster. He wrote an op-ed in the local paper that drew national attention. He was a profile in courage, which is a senator who is willing to stand up to his party's bosses. I even called him that.
But that was then. This is now.
Instead of supporting the filibuster, Manchin now is saying let's make a deal. While they called Byrd the lion of the Senate, Manchin is the Wayne Brady (or if you prefer, Monty Hall) of the Senate.
Manchin did a Zoom call with donors and officials with No Labels, the group that seeks to work out deals between Democrats and Republicans.
The Intercept, a lefty site that opposes compromise, reported, "Manchin urged big-money donors with No Labels to talk to Sen. Roy Blunt about flipping his vote on the commission in order to save the filibuster."
60 votes to end a filibuster?
He's willing to drop that to 55.
In his own words, Manchin said, "I looked back . . . when it went from 67 votes to 60 votes, and also what was happening, what made them think that it needed to change. So I’m open to looking at it, I’m just not open to getting rid of the filibuster, that’s all."
Manchin also said, "Right now, 60 is where I planted my flag, but as long as they know that I’m going to protect this filibuster, we’re looking at good solutions.
"I think, basically, it should be [that] 41 people have to force the issue versus the 60 that we need in the affirmative. So find 41 in the negative. . . . I think one little change that could be made right now is basically anyone who wants to filibuster ought to be required to go to the floor and basically state your objection and why you’re filibustering and also state what you think needs to change that’d fix it, so you would support it. To me, that’s pretty constructive."
Why stop at 55?
Six days ago, Salena Zito wrote, "Joe Manchin's West Virginia values: 'No' means 'no.'"
When she said Manchin was a man of his words, that's true; except when Manchin makes a promise, he leaves out a few words.
For example, when he said he would vote to repeal Obamacare, he left out the part where he would vote to repeal only if his vote did not matter. This is why Manchin failed to cross party lines and vote to repeal when McCain reneged on his word and voted against a repeal in 2017.
Democrats are desperate. They barely hold the House and only control the Senate with the support of the vice president. Their majority is an illusion. Technically there are 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats in the Senate, with independents Angus King and Bernie Sanders voting with the Democrats.
The desperation stems from the realization that Republicans likely will regain the House or the Senate (or both) in next year's midterm election.
Democrats are frustrated because Obama frittered away their best opportunity in 2009 and 2010 when they controlled the House and the White House, and had a filibuster-proof Senate.
But Democrats took no action on climate change, immigration, or reparations. Democrats even ignored gay marriage.
They realize now that the only way they can get what they want is to bulldoze the filibuster. Now Manchin is willing to drive that bulldozer.
That's the article: Manchin ready to auction off the filibuster
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