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Consider it dead, along with voting/medical rights, despite Pelosi's theatrical drama
Using a legislative maneuver called reconciliation, the budget resolution is protected from being filibustered in the Senate, allowing a simple majority to approve the legislation in each chamber.
With the evenly divided Senate, Manchin is a needed vote for Democrats. They can pass the budget bill with 50 votes, meaning all Democratic-voting senators need to vote "aye" because no Republicans are expected to support the massive legislation.
But, Manchin wrote Thursday, "I, for one, won’t support a $3.5 trillion bill, or anywhere near that level of additional spending, without greater clarity about why Congress chooses to ignore the serious effects inflation and debt have on existing government programs."
Wall Street bailouts (roughly 3.5 trillion every two and a half years)? No problem
Probably just as good, we're not supposed to have that much pork in our diets anyway.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 03 2021, @04:57PM (7 children)
Yes it certainly does.. The dems really know how to work the room. Manchin is acting president, he has more power, Biden is keeping the chair warm, just like Carter and Obama, making it available for the next republican, just another rerun..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 03 2021, @06:06PM (6 children)
You're right! I never thought about it that way! Manchin controls the executive!
... wait, no?
OK, well, he controls discretionary spending of the executive!
... not? Oh, well...
He controls the state department, at least!
... really not?
But he's the CinC of the armed forces!
... not that either, huh?
He has veto power over legislation!
... oh, not exactly?
But he gets to nominate judges!
... not even that?
Suuuuure he's the president. And I'm the high poobah of inner buttfuckistan. He can't even hold control over the House whatsoever, best case he can trade his vote to other senators.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 03 2021, @06:29PM (5 children)
His vote in the senate constrains whatever the executive and the house wants. He has more power than either of them, and he is flexing it while you all remain in denial.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 03 2021, @07:22PM (4 children)
Really? Well, golly gee then we'd also better prepare twenty-one gun salutes for President Harris, because she has a tie-breaker vote. And President Snowe, because she could turn around and vote for things that Joe Manchin isn't. And, for that matter, President Rand Paul.
Starting to find a lot of presidents, now that we're poking under large, flat rocks to see what crawls out. Oh, hey there, president McConnell!
Whenever you have tight votes, you have holdouts. That doesn't make the president of anything except their own vote. Just as President Sinema if you don't believe me. President Cantwell will back me up on this one, too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 03 2021, @08:50PM (3 children)
Nope, still needs Manchin, without him calling her won't help. In fact they won't call her because there is no tie without Manchin. He has the keys to kingdom.
Yes, the dems always maintain enough to keep good bills from passing. Worked like a charm during the 111th congress when they had a bigger majority than now. Very convenient they only need one to block everything now. The 50-50 split is cultivated by the Party to keep the blame shifting game alive and maintain their 95% reelection rates.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 03 2021, @08:52PM (2 children)
Ah. Right, I see.
I had no idea.
I must file this very important information in the file marked "conspiracy theories".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 03 2021, @09:22PM
Always best to go with the official ones, everybody else does, but even they won't teach you arithmetic.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday September 04 2021, @11:51AM
At this point, the only really important question left is: does your file cabinet have an air-tight lid to keep the stench from getting out?
I peered [soylentnews.org] at past fusty journals to see what kind of legislation Manchin has been blocking. My take on this is that the quality of the stuff that "President" Manchin is allegedly torpedoing is abominable - excessive spending, dumbass labor and election policy, "progressive legislation", etc. If the Democrats really need this alleged theater to keep from making really bad decisions and passing really bad law, then carry on. I'm not going to obsess over the alleged fakeness of the situation when there's worse than hypocrisy in those blocked bills.