My concrete suggestion on how to handle Manchin & Sinema, and pass jobs bill and voting rights: [View all]

[Fiendish Thingy]

Last edited Mon Apr 12, 2021, 10:53 PM - Edit history (2)

1) Biden and Schumer announce that Manchin and Sinema are in charge of bipartisan outreach, and responsible for generating 10 Republican senate votes on some version of both infrastructure and voting rights bills- these bipartisan supported drafts would become the opening negotiating point between the parties.

2) give them a deadline for obtaining these Republican votes- end of May for infrastructure, end of July for voting rights.

3) if the deadline passes and Republicans aren’t on board with some version of the bills, and aren’t negotiating in good faith, then Schumer moves to reconciliation for infrastructure, and executes the nuclear option to kill/modify the filibuster to pass HR1 as currently written. As Republicans have been given the opportunity for bipartisan cooperation and input, Manchin and Sinema will be expected to support both votes for reconciliation and the rule change to pass HR 1.

4) If Manchin and Sinema don’t vote to move these bills forward, and continue to obstruct, they will return to their home states for the August recess to find the streets filled with vaccinated constituents demanding action on Biden’s jobs bill and on voting rights. In addition, billboards and media ads will demand that Manchin and Sinema support these bills. Before adjourning, Schumer warns Manchin and Sinema of the consequences if they don’t vote to support these bills, as written, upon their return to DC after Labor Day, which will be:

5) if, after all this, Manchin and Sinema still refuse to support passing the infrastructure bill through reconciliation and changing to filibuster rules to allow HR1 to pass by simple majority, then Schumer strips them of all committee assignments, including Manchin’s chairman position, leaving them as members of the Steve King/MTG club. Their assignments would be reinstated once they vote to support the bills. (Edit to add: Ok, so that process is more complicated than I initially described it- it doesn’t mean Schumer is powerless, or should stand by and do nothing, if it comes down to it, Manchin and Sinema’s peers may have to weigh in as well) If, by The end of September, they still don’t support the bills, then Jamie Harrison informs them both that they will receive no more campign funds from the DNC moving forward.

The stakes are too high for the future of the Democratic Party and for American democracy to cater to these two any longer. If they value their careers, they will comply. Switching parties is not a viable option, unless they both plan to retire from the senate in 2024.

to those who oppose my concrete suggestion:
What is your concrete suggestion on how Dems should move forward on Biden’s jobs bill and voting rights? (Edit to add: still waiting to hear constructive, realistic ideas)

(Note: “work hard to flip more senate seats to blue in 2022 to make Manchin and Sinema irrelevant” or “make DC and Puerto Rico states so the new senators would make Manchin and Sinema irrelevant” are both unrealistic, unviable options, since, without out passage of HR1, which must pass by this fall to block gerrymandering that will cause Dems to lose the house before a single vote is cast in 2022, Dems lose their majorities for a decade or more, and the GOP install their candidate as president in 2024, regardless of the will of the people. So, what else you got?)