General Discussion
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FelineOverlord
(3,740 posts)Docreed2003
(17,610 posts)FoxNewsSucks
(10,747 posts)LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,821 posts)My bet is on number three. Some enterprising investigative journalist will get the answer to this question someday: "Who's paying off Joe Manchin?"
KS Toronado
(19,234 posts)LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,821 posts)Joe Manchin is opposing big parts of Bidens agenda as the Koch network pressures him
The political advocacy group backed by billionaire Charles Koch (Americans for Prosperity) has been pressuring Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to oppose key parts of the Democratic agenda, including filibuster reform and voting rights legislation.
That lobbying effort appears to be paying off. Manchin, in a recent op-ed, wrote that he opposed eliminating the filibuster and that he would not vote for the For the People Act, which, advocates say, would limit the influence of big donors on elections.
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Americans for Prosperity launched a website titled West Virginia Values, which calls on people to email Manchin to be The Voice West Virginia Needs In D.C. Reject Washingtons Partisan Agenda.
It then lists all of the items Manchin has promised to oppose, including the idea of eliminating the filibuster, the For the People Act and packing the Supreme Court. It then shows everything the group believes Manchin should oppose, including Bidens infrastructure plan and the union-friendly PRO Act.
Americans for Prosperity leaders took part in one of their video series with their West Virginia state director in May where they praised Manchin for voicing his opposition to abolishing the filibuster. Both Americans for Prosperity and Manchin have said they believe eliminating the filibuster would exacerbate partisanship.
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They only need to keep him under control until the 2022 elections, when the GQP will steal enough Senate seats that he won't be of anymore use to them and they'll kick him to the side of the road. Right now they're playing by Putin's playbook -- have people (Republicans and "grass root W. Virginians" ) praise his wisdom and strength to stand up for "what's right" in the face of enormous pressure. It worked with T***** for four years, so why not Manchin?
ShazzieB
(18,358 posts)Those things are not mutually exclusive after all.
Captain Zero
(7,382 posts)Dark Money Corrupt.
LenaBaby61
(6,991 posts)secondwind
(16,903 posts)Scrivener7
(52,260 posts)Solly Mack
(92,226 posts)KentuckyWoman
(6,846 posts)Fyi
FelineOverlord
(3,740 posts)CrispyQ
(37,907 posts)We need a massive postcard campaign to Manchin. Deluge his DC office with postcards from around the nation, to save our democracy.
peppertree
(22,792 posts)"THIS is what I should've done from the beginning!" Trump must be squealing.
Crunchy Frog
(26,886 posts)jalan48
(14,257 posts)It's a soft coup this time around.
KS Toronado
(19,234 posts)If passed, just by getting rid of gerrymandering should insure more seats in the House & Senate for us.
jalan48
(14,257 posts)democracy.
jaxexpat
(7,589 posts)The existing gerrymandered federal, state and local voting precincts can't be "un-gerrymandered" without a clumsy, time-consuming, courtroom/judges process. We already see how GQP appointed judges are already aligned against these progressive goals. Things thought impossible to be taken seriously are actually given a hearing. Neither Powell nor Giuliani are in jail awaiting trial. It's also a process which will be fought by current GQP at every turn and on every level in statehouses across the country.
KS Toronado
(19,234 posts)I've often felt like what this country needs when appointing Federal Judges is that they have to pass a test
by the American Bar Assn. to prove they are unbiased against D's & R's. In other words any decisions they
make will not be based on whether this case is good or bad for D's or R's. If we're not careful our judicial
system is headed towards the first question a judge wants answered is "Are you a D or R?" Middle of the
road Judges are what our Founding Fathers envisioned.
jaxexpat
(7,589 posts)The issue is how could anybody accept that there are more than one set of facts? Yet even our best efforts toward judgeships have rewarded us with federal courts wherein there is a 180 degree difference of facts. It's why we have an odd number of USSC judges. So that one set of facts weighs can more than another.
They're called opinions but they're so much more because the law which comes clear from them very tangibly effects very real events in the lives of people. Facts are inexorable, they are the bedrock of existence, of reality, whether we like it or not. They're "pesky" that way.
In the world of facts, someone's "opinion" is meaningless. Further, if their "opinion" contradicts the facts it's plainly proof that they're delusional, insane. If this is all the case then the concept of "middle of the road" judges describes those learned legal types who are the most anchored to reality. They're drawn from that set of people who are the "least" insane.
Could Antonin Scalia have passed a psychological screening? Clarence Thomas? Samuel Alito? Kavanaugh or Barrett? Or are they not simply highly functional, yet dangerously flawed, characters, masquerading as worthies?
BadgerMom
(2,928 posts)Appeals to Manchin and to Republicans accomplish nothing and waste time. What legal challenges are there? Who has standing? Who can file suit? IANAL.
Dan
(3,972 posts)Lonestarblue
(11,457 posts)So much for bipartisanship! Manchins new version of a voting bill needs to ensure that both Democrats and Republicans serve on election boards, just as both are required to be on the USPS Board of Governors. That bill also needs to do something about these voter nullification laws,,not just the access laws.
I hope Justice Roberts is satisfied with his handiwork of gutting the part of the Voting Rights Act that has made these laws possible. If these laws are not overturned, we will never have another fair election in a Republican-led state.
sinkingfeeling
(52,827 posts)spanone
(137,407 posts)Don't know how, but left unchallenged democracy dies
Stuart G
(38,726 posts)Yes, there are lots of stupid idiots here in this country, but there are lots of good people too. ...
Those of us who are ..."good people"...(we are included) ...will never give up this fight to save our democracy..
It is not an easy fight, and this fight goes on and on, but we will never give up,... and there will be others to fight
this fight in the future. And we will win.!!!
Faygo Kid
(21,483 posts)There used to be honorable Republicans, but there are none now.
-misanthroptimist
(1,114 posts)Extremely sorry.
Stuart G
(38,726 posts)Republicans...(I said some) to fight this) Yes, there are some who will fight this..and that will be a temporary
destruction of the Republican Party..When new leaders take charge, they will expel these idiots who propose this,
and we will start all over again......
Yes, the "...Names will be changed to protect the innocent people.., but the show will be almost the same.."
...................New actors and writers, same show as we have always seen.......................
GoodRaisin
(9,506 posts)Bury democracy.
They don't even try to hide it from the general public anymore.
Faygo Kid
(21,483 posts)There used to be honorable Republicans, but there are none now.
Stuart G
(38,726 posts)people we expect, and others will be unexpected. We will all watch the show, and hope for the very best!!
Blue Owl
(54,259 posts)ananda
(30,313 posts)!!!
FelineOverlord
(3,740 posts)FelineOverlord
(3,740 posts)FelineOverlord
(3,740 posts)Cha
(304,047 posts)Rebl2
(14,441 posts)And keep them tied up for years in court if possible
oldsoftie
(13,472 posts)Rhiannon12866
(219,573 posts)UCmeNdc
(9,649 posts)They are taking black and brown people out of positions of power. It is all planned out.
thesquanderer
(12,272 posts)...to answer for their actions if they don't behave properly, said the person defending these moves. How does voting out the bad actors work when the people you're trying to vote out are in charge of the voting??