By LaBode Obanor
Who is Joe Manchin?
He is the 74-year-old senior senator from West Virginia. A conservative coal-loving, special-interest cuddling politician who has occupied his senatorial seat since 2010. Although he identified as Democrat and caucus with the progressives, his views and position are everything but progressive.
His record of party obstructionism dates back a decade as a freshman senator. His perfidy did not gain much prominence until the other Joe became President in January 2021. With the Senate evenly divided between the Democrats and the Republicans, Joe Manchin ceased on the opportunity to unveil his authentic self.
In a strenuously tight senate margin, an ardently sworn Republicans filibustering, and where a race to 51 means the world, every vote counts in the democrat aisle before any legislation can advance.
Manchin took occasion to assert his deleterious conservative views on his colleagues and sabotaged President Biden’s plan.
Before anyone asks why the Democrats can’t bypass Joe Manchin and seek one vote from the Republican aisle, let me spear you the anguish. Don’t bother. Those guys are diehard bitter-enders. Negativists. With entrenched investment in destroying progressiveness and the American value.
So we’ll focus on the Democrats who still believe in governing and democracy and whose shoulders still carry the preservation and progress of the Republic.
Since Biden became President, this West Virginia senator has blocked every progressive bill proposed by the President and the Democrats. Bills geared towards repairing the unfairness and injustice in the system.
Instead of being a partner in the rebuilding of America, Manchin systematically denies the Democrats the 50th vote it needs while imposing his views on the other 49. He refuses to vote on any legislation until it satisfies Joe Manchin. More like take it my way or hit the expressway. Disregarding the collective yearns of the other 49. One by one, he demolished every just and moral legislation that the country desperately needed.
For example:
In just less than 100 days of Biden’s presidency, after bucking some coronavirus relief for struggling Americans proposed by the President, he sank the presidential nominee for Office and Management and Budget (OMB) director. Because according to him, she was too mean to Republicans. Not because she is unqualified or can’t do the job, but because Joe Manchin thinks Neera Tandem was too harsh on Republicans.
When Democrats tried to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour so that more Americans could have a living wage and live above poverty, Joe Manchin said, NO. Not minding that his State of West Virginia is the top 6th poorest in the country, with many unable to pay their bills or put food on the table. The man has allowed his ambition to cloud any human compassion.
With the recent spike in gun violence and out-of-control mass shootings, Democrats attempted to mandate background checks before anyone can buy an assault weapon; Joe Manchin said, NO. “I come from a gun culture. I’m a law-abiding gun owner,” he stated.
And yes, those were his words.
After Biden became President, Statehouse Republicans started passing voting restricting laws targeting minority voters. A federal intervention to preempt those despicable racist laws became very necessary. Joe Manchin again blocked the democrat’s proposal. Stating, Democrats should go woo Republicans to support the bill. Yes, he is talking about the same obscurantists’ Republicans who passed the voters restricting laws in the first place.
Someone might ask, his Manchin nuts? No, he is not. The man is on a mission to destroy the democrat objective.
When it comes to the most potent and crucial legislation to protect America’s democracy, the right to vote, the West Virginia senator said, NO.
And now, after months of bad faith negotiation with his party on Biden’s critical “Build Back Better” plan. A bill meant to bring some fairness to the system, lift millions out of poverty, create a universal Pre-K program for parents, assist families with child care expenses, issue child tax credit for struggling households, beefed-up subsidies on the Affordable Care Act exchanges so that many can afford health insurance, and give help to those who fall below the poverty line;
Joe Manchin blindsided his President, his congressional colleagues, and the country went on television and said NO. He stated, “This is a No on this piece of legislation. I have tried everything I know to do.” Manchin said on Fox News Sunday.
This killjoy of a politician has more disdain for his party’s platform than the opposition—many wonder why he is even a Democrat.
Over and over again, Joe Manchin is the only senator that continues to impede his party’s goal and subsequently hinders the country’s progress. The man has a different agenda unaligned with his party, and it is high time the Democrats come to grasp.
It has gone beyond policy disputes or disagreement over numbers. His is a deliberate act of a willful saboteur bent on destroying a popular democratic agenda meant to reshape America into a more fairer society.
After his sociopathic bombshell No on TV, the White House released a statement in frustration: “Senator Manchin’s comments this morning on FOX are at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances,” adding “If his comments on FOX and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate.”
The White House, the President, and the Democrats have been duped into thinking they have 50 votes plus the Vice President. How are they wrong. In reality, they have 49 and the Republicans 51. This is still a Republican-controlled Senate. The Dems erroneously added Joe Manchin to their caucus and naively thought he was a team player committed to the vision. But he is not; he is not one of them. He is a mole, a double-agent pretending to be a Democrat, whereas he is a cultish Republican. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.
The Democrats must now go back to the drawing board, acknowledge that they are still in the minority, vigorously campaign, and win elections. If America must be rescued, the time to weed out the likes of Joe Manchin is now.
