I Don’t Care if They Raise the Debt Ceiling, Just Fight Manchin
In a split Congress, all you can do is fight so start with the important one
Recently, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) managed to vote against a bill that got Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) to fistbump in solidarity.
Now there’s a fair chance he won’t let Dems raise the debt ceiling for fear it’ll look too partisan. Even though Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) made it clear he was getting rid of Social Security and Sen. John Thune’s (R-SD) dumb enough to echo that BEFORE the Georgia runoffs.
“There’s a set of solutions there that we really need to take on if we’re going to get serious about making these programs sustainable and getting this debt bomb at a manageable level before it’s too late,” Thune told Bloomberg editors and reporters in Washington.
And all I can think is why aren’t Dems telling off Manchin. Why aren’t Dems screaming about how this is the EXACT REASON WE NEED GEORGIA? Well, they may very likely say going after Manchin will lead to “Dems in disarray” rhetoric that will threaten them.
Still more, the closeness of the GA race implies there might be an important centrist vote they might not want to lose there.
I’m tempted to say that they will retain the Senate regardless and, at worst, lose a bigger majority to declaw the House Republicans and make them harmless.
BUT there’s no way to get around Manchin’s vote.
So who cares?
I mean, we went through months of wondering whether Sen. Rick Scott’s plan to take Congress was real or not with the Washington Post telling us it wasn’t at all
But now John Thune, the number two guy amongst Senate Republicans, confirms they’re gonna do it WHILE ELECTIONS IN GEORGIA ARE HAPPENING!!!!!!!
These guys aren’t making threats anymore. They saw what Rick Scott did but aren’t even backing down.
So this is now inevitable.
And there’s no way they’re doing anything else in the Senate except maybe confirmations and doing hearings to counteract House GOP hearings since a 51-seat Senate means no more bipartisan control of committees. So they can fight back just as hard as the House Rs fight.
AND they won’t be hampered by the inevitable infighting the House GOP will have due to Trump’s waning influence so the Senate could stand to fight a lot stronger.
But if fights are all we’re getting, why not give us the fight we were all waiting for?
If you get that treasured 51st seat, there’s gotta be a reckoning.
The 51st seat CAN’T FIX THE DEBT CEILING ISSUE because we’d have to raise the debt ceiling BEFORE the new Congress meets.
BUT it puts this all in context.
We gave you something and all you will be able to give now are battles, just give us the one battle we’ve been asking for. The Blue Dogs in the House were at 54 once, now they’re barely at 18. The head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee lost in New York. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) did just fine. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) won by like 10 points. And the Progressive Caucus gained a seat.
Centrism ain’t it.
And putting Manchin in his place is the best way to show we’re done trying that.
