December 6, 2021

By David Jay Morris

On the left these days there is no lack of criticism for West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.

As one of only two Democratic senators blocking Biden’s Build Back Better reconciliation bill, and the poster child for opposition to filibuster reform, it’s easy to see why. 

Imagine how much further along the President’s program would be – and how much stronger and more unified the Democratic Party would be going into the 2022 midterms if he and Krysten Sinema had been fully onside from the beginning.

Unlike Arizona’s Madam of Mystery, however, Manchin has been pretty straightforward from the beginning about where he stood.  And while frustratingly hard to get pinned down on what he might actually commit to voting for, at least Joe has usually been willing to sit down and explain his positions.

He is, and always has been, a conservative Democrat – perhaps a dying breed in the view of some – but the kind of person a genuinely big tent party should welcome. 

Does he push things to the right far too often for the liking of some of us?

Sure.

But it’s hard to argue with his mantra that if we want more liberal policies, we should elect more liberals.

Considering the kind of WV senator we might have if Manchin wasn’t holding the seat, it might be worth cutting the man some slack.

This is not to say that he’s got everything right, however – even within his own framework for what he says he wants to do. 

Nowhere is this more evident than in his persistent reluctance to reform the filibuster.

As Buzzflash Editor Mark Karlin eloquently laid out here in a recent article, Manchin and Sinema seem to believe they are standing up for the rights of the minority and of smaller states by dragging their feet so badly on filibuster reform.  They are totally deluding themselves if they think that Mitch McConnell wouldn’t deep-six the rule in a New York minute if he was back in charge of the Senate and it suited his purposes – say for passing a nationwide ban on gay marriage or abortion.

But that’s not Manchin’s only mistake when it comes to the filibuster.

Another of the Senator’s constant refrains is that important legislation needs to be passed in a bipartisan way, with serious, good-faith negotiation between both sides.

For example, he is widely criticized on the left for being against paid family leave, but Manchin says that he isn’t against it at all.

Speaking on MSNBC, he said:

"I believe in family leave, I believe people should have that opportunity.  Can't we find a better position for this and do this in a bipartisan way and a process that works?"

"I do not object to it at all as far as the concept of paid family leave."

Amen to that.

And research shows that the idea does, indeed, enjoy strong support from both Republicans and Democrats.

So what’s the holdup?

Why does this popular program need to be shoe-horned into a massive reconciliation bill instead of being passed on its own in the standard fashion as Manchin would like to see?

Why that outdated outgrowth of slave days of course, the filibuster.

As Moscow Mitch has confirmed time and again, he and his minions are committed to nothing but obstruction. Heck, according to a report in Axios, they aren’t even going to offer a legislative agenda for 2022.  And why would they?  Their goal is just to prevent the Democrats from accomplishing anything (on behalf of the American people, it should be noted) and they are able to instantly shut down a bill by doing nothing more than just announcing a filibuster.

That’s it.

All over.

No vote.

No debate.

No discussion.

No negotiation.

No need to go on the record with an actual vote on the issue.

No need to explain to their voters why they aren’t getting something an overwhelming majority of them want.

Just phone it in.

Consider for a minute then, what things would be like without the filibuster.

Senators would have to put forth actual proposals.

They would have to defend their positions.

Obstructionism would more easily be seen for exactly what it is – an attempt to stop things being done that might actually help the country.

So what is Joe Manchin’s biggest mistake?

He clings to an idea whose time has gone.

In spite of all the evidence to the contrary, he persists in the belief that the filibuster somehow makes bipartisan compromise more likely. 

He fails to recognize that the once Grand Old Party has now become the Cult of Trump…and that letting them have the filibuster is the legislative equivalent of the Crumbley parents buying a semiautomatic pistol for their troubled teenage son.

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