Manchin Puzzle

Not really a puzzle, is it? Isn’t it a simple matter of power, personal power, political power?

Joe Manchin, Democrat Senator from West Virginia, holds power over the slim math of balance of power in the US Senate. If Democrats – President Biden – want to change public policy by action in the Senate, they need all the Democrat votes they can muster. Losing one vote – Manchin – means defeat of the legislative proposition. The ‘agenda’ of Joe Biden and Democrats in general is blocked.

Manchin revels in this power. He resides in a hugely poor state. A state that has felt powerless for generations. Having their day in the sun is important to them. And to Joe Manchin. It does not hurt that this attention, this power, comes with goodies from republicans in the form of party support, party campaign donations, contracts and public projects that benefit the citizens of West Virginia, and all the rest. This is what power looks like up close. And Joe Manchin gets it.

The rest of America suffers from this pettiness. Here are projects Joe Manchin is blocking:

·        Infrastructure improvements: dams, highways, bridges, stormwater control projects, improvements to the electrical grid and protection from foreign hacking.

·        Expansion of access to the internet for all citizens: this is the emerging infrastructure the old does not yet include; this will expand career opportunities, educational access, and much more.

·        Voting rights: we say we are a nation of voter rights and one person-one vote, democracy and all the rest; but we then make it difficult to exercise that right to vote? That makes sense in what we believe is the world’s greatest democracy? Really?

·        Investments in people: health, education, career preparation, and dignity. Indeed, this is the investment that will enable each person to seek their own level of achievement. It will also increase our competitiveness in the global market for goods and services.

There are other issues Joe stands in the way of. Filibuster rule is just one of those. Of course, killing the filibuster would neutralize much of Joe’s power of the moment.

There are plenty of people who make Joe Manchin out as a hero of principle and values. Hogwash. He is a petty manipulator for selfish aims. The tragedy is the programs he blocks are the very thing his fellow West Virginians need to better their lives.

Tragedy? No; travesty.

June 16, 2021