**Major Breaking News: Schumer, per CNN TV, just confirmed Manchin is a YES on voting rights*

[NewsCenter28]

They should have more updates at the top of the hour and I'll add a link as it becomes available. For clarity, I meant he is a yes to vote for the motion for proceed coming up at 5:30 PM ET but President Obama already came out in favour of his compromise. So, he shouldn't be hard to get for the final votes eventually either (imo).

Link: https://www.msnbc.com/katy-tur/watch/schumer-confirms-manchin-will-vote-yes-to-proceed-with-debate-on-voting-rights-bill-115275845934

Manchin came through for us!!

This is the critical first step towards eventually doing something that will allow us to bypass the filibuster on voting rights.

[RKP5637]

1. Wow!!! Great news!!! n/t

[wryter2000]

2. That's wonderful

Where does Sinema stand?

[NewsCenter28]

3. She already was a co-sponsor of For the People

So, she is a yes. The critical dance now becomes getting them to agree to do something about the filibuster on voting rights, which doesn't have to be eliminating or weakening it btw.

[wryter2000]

8. Thank you

I probably should have known that.

[bringthePaine]

24. ha, extra credit for TOP reference!

[wryter2000]

50. My sig line?

I've had it for years, and you are the very first person to notice. I'd forgotten it was there.

I'm a huge fan. I last saw them November 1, 2019. It's unusual to go so long without seeing a live show.

I was at the 40th anniversary concert at the Filmore in SF and the 50th at the Fox in Oakland.

[lagomorph777]

9. And what about Feinstein?

Maybe just tell her to yell "Aye" at the right time?

[getagrip_already]

12. even "owe" works... ;) n/t

[agingdem]

10. I'm beginning to think the only reason Sinema

beat McSally is because she was a less ignorant..yes, I know she's a Democrat and bashing a Democrat is a no-no but my G-d does that woman not understand she's doing herself no favor when she writes incoherent opinion pieces defending the filibuster, a Mitch McConnell overt nod to voter suppression???...she's not the maverick she thinks she is..she's a tool

[lagomorph777]

11. I hope you're right.

[LonePirate]

4. This Yes means nothing unless he and Sinema both agree to break the filibuster.

Even if Manchin seems to be open to breaking the filibuster for this, Sinema definitely is not. Murkowski is a wild card, though.

[ColinC]

7. They both support the bill now, apparently

Any idea how many Republicans are on board?

[LonePirate]

13. Yes on the bill is not the same as breaking the filibuster.

Murkowski may be a Yes vote but a 51-49 vote does not advance the bill for discussion and a final vote. It needs 60 votes for that and there are not 10 Repubs on board.

[ColinC]

41. I thought manchin said he has 10 Republicans on board?

Or is that for infrastructure? Hard to keep track.

[Eyeball_Kid]

46. Seven at the most. Manchin has to vote on

changing the filibuster rules.

[ColinC]

65. I thinknhe might after all efforts fail.

At least on a limited basis for this purpose.

[Ferrets are Cool]

72. He is delusional.

[totodeinhere]

75. Zero Republicans were on board. n/t

[ColinC]

77. Maybe it was for the other one

The John Lewis voting rights act. Although I don't expect that claim to be any more true for that, either.

[getagrip_already]

14. is that a rhetorical question?

Because I think we all know the answer. Even collins and murkowski have dissed the bill.

[TxGuitar]

15. I have no idea but none comes to mind

[joetheman]

28. We get the bill passed, resistance goes down, a few Rethugs get the message and chage?

It could happen Break Mitch, the bitch, power for once.

[JohnSJ]

36. Exactly, and I don't think the odds are with us on that

[SCantiGOP]

42. Dems think it is important

To have all 50 votes even if does not eventually pass to set the narrative for the midterm.

[LonePirate]

56. The midterm is largely irrelevant unless this bill passes.

[SCantiGOP]

63. That is absurd

The midterm determines who controls Congress next session.
We still have courts and the ability to use turnout to our advantage, like with GA and AZ in 2020.

[LonePirate]

66. Without this bill, the chances of Dems retaining the House are much, much smaller.

If Repubs regain the House, Biden's remaining agenda is DOA. If Repubs regain the Senate, Biden's judicial nominees are DOA. The gerrymandering provision certainly helps prevent losing the House. The early and mail voting along with the registration changes help prevent losing the House and the Senate.

[NJCher]

5. WOW

never thought this would happen!!

[Mike Nelson]

6. He's certainly...

... predictable! ('cause I predicted it.) He's also playing his part well... he makes Democrats look "safe" to Independents and wayward Republicans. Joe Manchin voted to impeach La Donald and still has to win WV. People here should give him more credit.

[joetheman]

29. If he gets us thru this and the infrastructure comes thru, we will help him win W.VA and maybe

even get another Dem to run in W.VA. Nothing succeeds like success.

[Orrex]

33. Well, that's a... charitable assessment

[Sneederbunk]

16. A vote to proceed is not a vote for the bill.

[JohnSJ]

38. yup, it is a vote to debate

[TiberiusB]

79. Exactly

This was a relatively safe vote for Manchin. He had to know the GOP was going to block debate, so he was free to vote "yea".

[uponit7771]

81. +1, would like to see his filibuster vote first

[Lovie777]

17. Make it so! . . . . .

[msongs]

18. looking for a list of his 10 republicans who will also vote yes. has he released it yet? nt

[brooklynite]

19. We can still hate him over the filibuster, right?

[PatSeg]

27. Oh absolutely

We can applaud him when he does the right thing, but that does not absolve a lot of his lousy positions. Meanwhile, we can hope that he will come around on the filibuster too.

[LanternWaste]

64. looking for permission or direction?

[Warpy]

20. One of Manchin's problems seems to be

wanting to deal with the world as it should be, rather than dealing with it the way it is. Otherwise, he'd be working on a compromise to take the filibuster away temporarily while it was modified, defanging that snake McConnell. Even Sinema might be on board with that.

I thought he'd come around on voting rights. I just hope it's enough.

[Haggard Celine]

57. I thought he would come around on voting rights, too.

I read the other day that he was some sort of official over voting in WV, before he became a Senator. Hope he's willing to do whatever it takes to protect voting rights in all the states.

[Warpy]

60. Manchin is flawed, but far from hopeless.

Progressive Punch gave him a 53% positive rating on progressive issues, while the "liberal" GOP Murkowski barely got 20%. He's definitely a Democrat and definitely reachable. I just wish they'd be smart enough to offer a filibuster suspension with bipartisaln commission to restore it to its original intent. I think he'd go for that, and it would defang McConnell.

Jury is still out on Sinema. I don't know what her problem is.

[budkin]

21. Good, but it shouldn't come down to kissing his ass to literally have him support VOTING RIGHTS

Give me a break.

[zebrapa]

22. meaningless

This is meaningless unless he is willing to vote to suspend the fillabuster and allow a vote.

[FBaggins]

67. Not meaningless

If you want to use voting rights as an election issue, you have to be able to either:

1 - pass something effective OR
2 - at least show that you had the votes to pass it if it weren't for Republican obstruction.

If you can't get to 50 votes in the Senate, then you can't make the second point.

If we accept (as we almost certainly must) that there was never a chance of passing anything close to S1/HR1... then option two was the goal all along. Getting to that point is far from meaningless. It's close to the best result that we were ever going to get once it was clear that we weren't going to pick up six Senate seats.

They still have to come to an in-party agreement on something (not just opening debate)... but it's not meaningless.

[liberalla]

23. Good news yes... but now we have to see where this goes!

It's inconceivable to me that anyone would seek to limit voting - for the purpose of preventing fraud. Not without baskets and baskets and more baskets of bad, phony votes which would PROVE the supposed claim of fraud.

How come no one is demanding to see the fraudulent votes?

[nuxvomica]

26. Where does Susan Collins stand?

I am concerned about that.

[peppertree]

32. Hmm. Let's see...

[nuxvomica]

34. Thanks!

I figured.

[peppertree]

51. You're welcome

She's nothing if not predictable.

[Eyeball_Kid]

48. When she pees her pants, we should all take notice. n/t

[peppertree]

53. But then, I bet she does quite often

Old lush that she is.

[BradAllison]

54. She's going full racist as we speak

Same with Jerkowski

Fuck the GOP

[Vinca]

30. Nothing to get excited about. Unlikely it gets any further than this.

It's really stupid when you think about it. They're debating whether to debate, not the bill.

[NullTuples]

49. Agreed - They're debating whether to debate, not the bill debate itself

[Johnny2X2X]

31. Don't they already have 10 Republicans on board?

I thought this compromise was with 10 Dems and 10 Reps already?

[NewsCenter28]

35. Hey Johnny!

You're thinking of the $586 billion infrastructure package there, which supposedly will be unveiled tomorrow.

[notpolltested]

37. Gee golly what wonderful news. I mean completely meaningless nt

[drray23]

39. Those of you who are saying it's meaningless

have a poor understanding of politics. One step at a time. We first had to make sure we have 50 which was not a given.

Now of course the next step is to carve out an exception for the filibuster or get rid of it entirely. Maybe a little trust in Schumer and Biden is in order. Let them work it out and get there before declaring that we are doomed.

[Hortensis]

43. Yes. The Repubilcans were maneuvered and given time to show the nation

what they've really become. McConnell of course didn't want to but was trapped.

On to the next step of the strategy in an existential battle. This isn't a TV drama. It won't end when the "series" does, much less wrap up each of these episodes tidily before its final commercial.

[wryter2000]

52. Agreed

It would have been quite a victory for the Rs if we couldn't get total agreement among ourselves.

[Budi]

40. Speaker Pelosi to Maj Leader Schumer

Schumer: It's a Yes.

Pelosi: Told ya

[bucolic_frolic]

44. They're working through the issues surrounding voting

and they're still talking. Always if Manchin would defect. So far, not so.

[onetexan]

45. Is Sinema a yes too?

[mahina]

47. That is brilliant news thank you

President Biden though right?

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

55. I'd love to see sudden ambush by ending the filibuster.

I have big dreams of seeing Moscow Mitch's head explode

[Sparkly]

58. Republicans aren't even letting the bill get to the floor for DEBATE!!!

[aocommunalpunch]

68. Are they filibustering it?

If only there were something Dems could do.

[WarGamer]

59. and on the filibuster, he's a _ yes _ no

[Mr.Bill]

61. The pessimist in me

sees Mitch McConnell with a shit-eating grin on his face saying "We just made the Democrats say they want voter ID in all 50 states." Seriously, if that's in the bill it's a step backwards for California.

[W T F]

62. It all means nothing, unless they get him to vote yes on ending the filibuster.

[appleannie1]

69. Hopefully he is beginning to realize there is no compromise with ReCons.

They will vote NO on everything even if what they are voting on is something their own constituents want.

[SoonerPride]

70. There won't be a vote. So it doesn't matter

[TeamProg]

71. Looks promising.

Fuck RepubliScums

[Snackshack]

73. Of course.

He is, he can look like a Dem while upholding the GOP values. He knows this is not going to go anywhere with the filibuster still as it is and his position has not moved at all on that.

Other than to get the GOP on the record for voting “No” on the election bill which seems kind of pointless since there is no ambiguity where the GOP stands on this bill I’m not sure why Schumer even bothered to bring it to the floor.

[Martin68]

74. Really? I hope this is true.

[speaknow]

76. Munchy knew damn well no repuke was

going to vote in favor. That's why he went
along with his party.

[PatrickforB]

78. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, finally, finally.

[quakerboy]

80. Lies

As long as he is protecting the filibuster, he is a no on voting rights in every way that matters.


Ya think hes gonna flip on the fillibuster?

[Bucky]

82. Wow, it's like watching your favorite alkie uncle put down the bottle for one day

I welcome the step. But I'm a little more interested in hearing about I'm going to regular meetings and giving up this "bipartisanship" fantasy