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U.S. Politics
Joe Manchin Set To Screw Over Democrats One Last Time
He just can’t help himself
Last week, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin delivered a bombshell that he won’t seek re-election in 2024. After several years of stifling his own party’s legislative agenda, he’s finally calling it quits.
If you’ve been following my writing here on Medium for any length of time, you might expect me to be overjoyed by the news. For the past few years, Manchin has been the most annoying Senator in Congress. If there are such things as RINOs — Republicans In Name Only — then Manchin is the epitome of a DINO, or Democrat In Name Only.
DINO Manchin has a nice ring to it, not only because he’s been a thorn in his party’s side, but because he’s raked in millions of dollars from the fossil fuel industry. He holds shares in a family coal business valued between $1 to $5 million. This guy burns dinosaurs for a living — It’s no surprise then that he always poses a headache to Democrats whenever they try to pass bills to fight climate change or incentivize developments in renewable energy. He’s as oily as it gets.
But it wasn’t just oil and coal. Paired with former Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, Manchin made sure that no truly progressive legislation could ever make it to the president’s desk without…