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Well, that was a huge waste of time in assuming that Joe Manchin, a perennial corporate fossil-fuel stooge, was anyone other than a selfish little man with a little mind, a little soul, and a big ugly head who relishes attention while profiting on death and misery. The poor slobs in West Virginia, one of the most backward states in the union, deserve him if that’s their idea of a good Democrat.

Is it even worth holding the Senate and taking the blame for failure if the Democratic Party allows itself to be battered and raped by its serial abusers? Democrats look weak because they are weak. Let Traitor Joe go be a fcking Republican in name, like he’s begging for, and take the hit. Maybe that will shock complacent voters enough to spur them into action in 2022 and 2024 when democracy itself is truly on the line. We ain’t seen nothin' yet.

Because playing the same old game just ain’t working anymore. Progressives and the suffering minorities always give Democrats the numbers to win, and the Republican-lite Dems on the radical right (nothing “moderate” about it), who are deep in the pocket of their money-masters, always take away the win. That’s not a bug; it’s a feature.

🎵 Oh, when will they ever learn? 🎵

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United Mine Workers just asked Manchin to reconsider. Seems they want the "black lung benefit" to not expire. They also want the new jobs tax incentives for old coalfield locations that are covered in the Build Back Better. They recently made him an honorary union member. That's just too delicious.

There's an article in The Hill.

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Go figure. People want government to work for them.

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But you need to have a majority vote. How can this be done??

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Well I think the message is clear for a lot of individuals---slow your roll.

People hate it when you over-promise. Language matters. There's nothing wrong with saying: "we want to pass this legislation", "this is the legislation that is needed", or "our goal is to have enough people in the Congress to assure this legislation will pass". The message should be followed by the President saying "if you elect the people needed to get it done, I will sign it".

No more false hope, no more fake it till you make it happen, and never act like it is a done-deal.

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Exactly. People (except Trumpees) just want the truth of what is possible, not pie-in-the-sky promises.

Beyond Manchin leading Biden, congressional leadership, and the progressive caucus down his primrose path while whittling down the bill to please his true masters on Wall Street, the maddening undemocratic Senate rules, as always, are the biggest stumbling blocks.

The filibuster and the Senate parliamentarian arbitrarily deciding what constitutes spending in a one-shot reconciliation bill, forced Democrats to bite off more than they could chew, even though just about everything in the bill is vitally important after years of neglect.

The sad reality in the end, however, is that ya gotta please the egocentric, grandstanding holdouts to keep a 50-50 Senate majority. Hopefully, they can carve out the most essential parts and pass SOMETHING!

And now, they must throw a voting-rights bill(s) into the witch's brew -- the MOST important promise to the American people.

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