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Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald
Well that's an extremely disingenuous statement, for a couple of reasons.
1) Republicans will tell you that a simple majority in the senate is not enough to pass or block legislation. They have been adamant for almost three decades that 60 votes was the threshold to pas or block legislation. Well, unless that legislation is to their power dynamic advantage, then the simple majority rule is okay. The two different rules for the two different parties continues to make American politics some of the most corrupt on the planet.
2) Republicans and Democrats do not have the same freedom to go against the wishes of the party leaders. If Manchin were a Republican and wanting to exercise his vote "in the best interests of his constituents" he would be primaried, run out of politics, and have his life ruined by the power brokers within the political establishment. Being a Democrat means there is no real purity test and you have the ability to go against the grain and #### your own party, because Democrats don't do purity tests. The rules are very different between the two parties and representative government is very different as a result.
This is all political theater and nothing to do with governance. If this were about governance there would be some actual give and take on Manchin's part. He's locked in for some reason and it isn't representing the best interests of his constituents. There is a lot more in these omnibus bills that will help his constituents than will hurt them. The reason he is holding firm is because of his own personal gain in power and potential money. I wish there were actual journalists around these days, someone that would dig into the motivations of what Manchin was doing, and follow the money. I guarantee you that he is getting rich off stopping this bill, and it is probably coming from someone in the fossil fuel industry.
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Well of course the Republicans will take advantage of a law the Democrats won't change. The Democrats should make it 60 votes all the time, but that hurts them more. It's like saying you want to abolish the shootout but if the league doesn't abolish it, you're going to still try and win shootouts.
And this get back to GGG's question about why not make smaller bills? Because they would need 60%.
And about Manchin, WV is one of the most Republican states in the country. Biden lost it be 70-30. It's a miracle that there's a Democrat Senator there at all. So what do you do? You primary Manchin and the seat goes red in a heartbeat.