Voting rights are in the news again thanks to Andy Kroll's semi-tick-tock in Rolling Stone about the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, both of which failed to pass earlier this year because Republicans filibustered them.
The whole story is strange. Everyone agrees that there was never any chance of getting support from ten Republicans in order to pass the bills under normal order with 60 votes. Passage depended entirely on getting all 50 Democrats to change the filibuster rules, which would allow both measures to pass with 50 votes. That effort failed, and Kroll does his best to frame the defeat as mainly due to Sen. Joe Manchin gradually agreeing to modify the filibuster rules but then betraying the party in the end by changing his mind and voting against it.
But regardless of whether you like Joe Manchin or not, no fair-minded reading of the story supports this. What you have is a small handful of senators who spent months lobbying Manchin and repeatedly coming away with the "impression" that maybe he was coming along. But it looks to me like this was mostly wishful thinking. Manchin was never on board with modifying the filibuster.
And it never mattered anyway: For some reason nobody bothered lobbying Sen. Kyrsten Sinema about the filibuster even though her position was, if anything, more adamantine than Manchin's. She was never a Yes vote and never gave even the slightest hope that she might become one.
For what it's worth, I think Joe Biden and his White House staff knew this perfectly well, which is why they never put much effort into the two voting rights bills. It was obvious to them a year ago that neither of them could pass, and they never let themselves get fooled by ambiguous comments here and there from Manchin.
That's my take, anyway. Basically, Dems wrote a couple of bad bills and then lost themselves in rose-colored confidence that they could somehow get a couple of votes that they were never close to getting. It was bad politics on practically every level.
"It was bad politics on practically every level."
A lot of that going around! The constraints are what they are, but we've got a couple of months to get a second reconciliation bill passed, and the fact that that isn't the hair-on-fire concern right now speaks very poorly of future prospects.
I think they simply don't have the votes. Le tout Washington thinks a political tsunami is headed for Democrats this November, and a lot of individual members are trying to keep their heads down. That's the exact opposite of standing with your president in order to get his agenda enacted.
That's not how you get re-elected, tho.
Depends on the district.
Moreover, there's substantial poly sci evidence that legislating itself — actually enacting bills into law — hurts the incumbency party, as least in the short term. I want bills to reach Biden's desk because the country has a lot of problems that need fixing. But I have no illusions more legislative accomplishments would help Democrats in November. It might well hurt them.
Black activists pushing their crap.
Racist pushing his crap. Can he be deleted yet?
This is flat wrong and you know it. Manchin has repeatedly betrayed his fellow senators and the admin.
Well except this time, Manchin pretty much said this before the last election. Do you need a finger snap???
Fuck off shit head
Speaking of voting, free Slow Boring take on the apparent disaster that awaits Democrats over the next several cycles (Kevin, have you seen it?). Not for the weak of stomach:
https://www.slowboring.com/p/democrats-are-sleepwalking-into-a?s=w
Errr, except the whole article is made up by elitists. You need a nostril detachment and eye gouged out for bringing the nonsense on this site.
I am not sure why Kevin says they were "bad bills". Can he conceive of some useful bills that would actually pass? Or is this a matter of the bills not addressing the real problems that may arise in the next elections? If the latter, that has nothing to do with why they failed.
Anyway, sometimes passing a necessary bill in the House, even if it fails in the Senate, does at least call attention to the problem and may point out whom to blame as well as possibly increasing turnout. Blaming Manchin would be productive only if it shames him into changing his vote. This may have been worth a try though it didn't work. But as Kevin says, Sinema was opposed anyway, and she is the one who might (eventually) be replaced by a better Democrat. Manchin's replacement will be a Republican. I suppose Democrats must keep coddling Sinema in the meantime. There is still a possibility of passing another economics bill.
But like a lot of people Kevin does not seem to realize that getting really big things done was not totally impossible. The really transformative things that many people were talking about at the start of the administration were actually possible if Manchin and Sinema had gone along, so it was worth trying to bring them over. What were Democrats supposed to do, just say "okay, we've done all we could, so we'll just wait for Republicans to take over in the next election"?
Stop wasting time on junk that won't pass. It was a waste of time. Just like Steve King's paternal side is Jewish in descent, everybody lies, manipulates the sheep and tries to grab power anyway they can.
Jasper represents the sheep that should be driven from the Democratic party. I don't want your vote for this party.
"I am not sure why Kevin says they were "bad bills". Can he conceive of some useful bills that would actually pass?"
Thank you for pointing out this obvious gaping hole in Kevin's article. It begs the question of whether Kevin could conceive of some useful bills....full stop.
Yeah, a bill isn't bad because bad people whon't vote for it.
I think it was basically dumb log-rolling in the Democratic side, as well as donor pandering. Same reason they didn't try and fit Manchin's initial requirements on a BBB bill, and instead tried to get everything everyone in their coalition wanted with expiring budget gimmicks.
That's on Schumer and Pelosi for not stopping this waste of time.
Ouch, how dare you say that!!!! The elites on here won't stand for that!!!!
That's on Schumer and Pelosi for not stopping this waste of time.
Schumer especially comes in for way too little blame. He's a useless waste of space. LBJ got more done between bowel movements than this guy accomplishes over the course of an entire Congress.
LBJ had supermajorities, and in those antediluvian times, there were creatures known as Liberal Republicans who would actually vote for bills that did good things for the citizens.
Why do I get the impression this Jasper won't acknowledge your (very obvious) point, let alone amend his position 😉
Colossal supermajorities (although not FDR-level), in fact!
This, I think, is an artifact of media siloing. Just as Romney's team was astonished to learn that they had lost to Obama, just as tens of millions of Trumpers cannot believe that Biden won (why, every single one of their MAGAhat-wearing friends and all the people they watch on teevee voted for Trump, and they aren't aware of anybody voting for Biden), and yes, just as tens of millions of Democrats thought that a scandal-tarred Hillary Clinton who the opposition had a 20-year head start on demonizing was a great presidential candidate, I think it's hard for folks on the left (myself very much included) to realize just how low-value a 50-50 senate "majority" is, because we think that everybody (certainly, everybody on our "team") thinks just as we do.
Sure, sure, but nonetheless Schumer is incredibly inept. At this point I'd welcome a primary challenge from AOC.
Moreover, I was (I thought obviously, but apparently not!) making the comparison between Majority Leaders Johnson and Schumer. I'm aware as POTUS, LBJ has big margins that Biden can only dream of. But the things were tight when LBJ took over as Leader in '57.
LBJ had supermajorities
No. Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Baines Johnson most certainly did not have supermajorities. I think he had 49/96 if memory serves.
(You do realize Schumer isn't POTUS, but Majority Leader. Right?).
Let's note Manchin's original ask was 4+ trillion dollar plan for covid relief, infrastructure and "other" programs. Yet they came out with 6+ trillion, knowing it wouldn't pass. That is what triggered Manchin at the start.
Pelosi is all but done after 2022 no matter what happens. Schumer needs to go as well. Libtards need driven out of committee spots, primaried and driven out of the party. Republicans refuse to get rid of Russia lovers, identity Christians and other free market globalists. Democrats can say: we are with the people.
Fwiw, black activists are the definition of petty bourgeois flakes. Interesting they are a self serving class elitists. Something MLK warned about.
Can we delete the racist yet, please?
The Democrats wrote a couple of bad bills? Aside from protecting our right to vote, which Republicans don't want, what was wrong with them?
For some reason nobody bothered lobbying Sen. Kyrsten Sinema about the filibuster even though her position was, if anything, more adamantine than Manchin's. She was never a Yes vote and never gave even the slightest hope that she might become one
This story should have been more about her and not Manchin, because she ultimately is the one who sunk the whole thing. People assumed she would go along with whatever Manchin did and one can just wonder how her petulance and petty spite grew as negotiations proceeded without her. "I'll show them!" she must have told herself in her best Diva imitation. Yep, she sure did alright, right on her way to a primary opponent and certain defeat in two years.
I have a theory that Republicans were overly harsh to KBJ in the Supreme Court seat hearings because they thought that by attacking her so viciously they may influence Sinema to vote against KBJ and take some other Senate Democrats with her as she did on one of Biden's other nominations for Federal office, thus rendering any GOP support for her as moot.
Anyone a fan of the TV show Kitchen Nightmares? Remember Amy from Amy's Baking Company? Now imagine her as U.S Senator and that's what Krysten Sinema basically is. After all, they're both from Arizona
If Manchin and Sinema are truly fireproof and there’s no conceivable pressure that could sway them, then Kevin and the Democratic establishment were right to pander to them. Clearly, they we were all at the mercy of these two evil and capricious senators. But I believe both have serious vulnerabilities which a resolute and less obsessively collegial party leadership could have exploited to persuade these renegades to become team players.
That’s an issue worth discussing since it’s increasingly likely that, if we’re extremely lucky, the Democrats will be spending the next several decades in the political wilderness. Perhaps it would be best if Biden’s spent his remaining time in office putting their heads on a metaphorical pike and making sure that they ended their lives in poverty and disgrace. It wouldn’t help in the next electoral cycles but it might mean a lot more party cohesion and a lot less performative centrism in the future.
The problem is that the risk analysis on this one involves at least one unkown unknown.
It’s a high risk strategy. The obvious risk is that one never knows which way people will jump when you touch them. I’ve known people to sign up for sixty years in Angola when the percentage move was to make new friends.
From the moment the pressure began, neither asshole would have delivered the little support for the Democratic agenda that they did, so there’s the reality that the Democrats would now have zero accomplishments instead of almost none. But since the almost certain end result of the “carrots only” strategy is that the party will be driven from power, it a chance I would be willing to take.
Worst article ever by Kevin. Bad bills? And the usually voluble Kevin offers no explanation for his assessment.
I know. He couldn't find any charts to display and talk about. And without charts, Kevin is lost at sea.
No, I'll continue reading on this site. At least some of the comments are interesting.
I think what Kevin means is this: The bills covered a lot of detail that is secondary while ignoring the grossest problem: Legislatures that give themselves the right to overturn elections they don't like. This does not mean the bills were bad. Plus he can't assure us that the evil duo would agree to a measure that deals only with this part of the problem--my guess is they would not. This was never about policy (neither Manchin nor Sinema care a straw about policy--they hardly know what that is).
And, yes, to be fair, people have to acknowledge he has written about exactly this point. On more than one occasion, IIRC;-)
“Dems wrote a couple of bad bills and then lost themselves in rose-colored confidence that they could somehow get a couple of votes that they were never close to getting. It was bad politics on practically every level”
… yeah, dreaming of voting rights on par with what citizens in top rated democracies are enjoying is just rose-colored dreams in the nation that is “the leader of the democratic world”. Your nonfunctional outdated Construction effectively puts a stop to that.
A comment by your favorite Swedish troll
Oh, no, look! Sweden's women are stuck in the 19th century when it comes to legal protections against sexual violence and harassment! Why has Sweden fallen so far behind its Nordic and European neighbors, Sture? Can't you do something?
A comment by an American man concerned about plight of Cissi Wallin.
https://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=9025798&fileOId=9025799
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/15/opinion/cissi-wallin-fredrik-virtanen-metoo-sweden.html
You should maybe try to get a more complete picture of the situation my friend
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/best-countries-for-women
… and your “democracy” still sucks according to unbiased international experts
Just ignore this guy. He’s not as obnoxious as the racist troll. But he’s more interested in showing us all that Swedes can suck their own dicks than engaging in dialogue. Sweden is perfect in every way, but apparently still leaves its people insecure enough that they need to make sure the rest of us know how imperfect we are in comparison. (They’re basically our timeline’s version of the Sovereigns seen in Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2. Best to just agree with their desperate need to be recognized as the pinnacle of humanity and back slowly away.)
Lol!
He is amusing, it’s interesting to see what he digs up
… and he is working hard
The idea of trolling is to see what’s happens
By the way , since you are the United States of America are your elections definitely of “some” importance to us (if you get my quotation marks) .
I am a little dumbfounded over the acceptance of your nonfunctional Constitution by the sane majority.
It’s not something that is commonly discussed even if things are going straight to he## if we are talking about elections
Why?
I know it’s more or less impossible to modernize it … but not even discuss it ???
Also… I am rarely writing about Sweden but most people posting here are of the opinion that I regularly am boosting about us
That has to be some inferiority complex (check my comments and you will notice it’s true) I am only bringing up Sweden if it is the topic or if our friend above is bringing it up
Have a nice day
I do not consider you a troll. Your comments are usually correct.
If some commenters here consider you one, it is because sometimes the truth hurts.
Yeah, I don't get the hostility to sturestahle. What happened to our liberal deification of all things Nordic? At the same time, any discussion of amending our Constitution is a waste of time, isn't it?
I guess it’s time for a second revolution!
Trying to play by the rules set up by those British upper class slave owners who staged your first revolution doesn’t seem to work that well anymore.
(A revolution doesn’t need to be violent)
Luckily American liberals have Denmark, Norway and Finland to aspire to given the increasingly problematic nature of Swedish governance.
Best to just agree with their desperate need to be recognized as the pinnacle of humanity and back slowly away.
Nah. They're not the pinnacle of humanity. Pretty clearly Norway and Finland are better governed countries these days. Also, in my experience most Swedes generally aren't like our little troll. He's like a Social Democratic MAGAt.
Every time there are nascent signs of a major social-political movement, it is compromised, denigrated, and put down by the moderate party of Americans who don't give a shit about anything but today, their internet connection, the downtime of their favorite social media apps, and the cost of gasoline.
Yay! Nobody fed the troll, despite him throwing feces everywhere in an obviously desperate attempt to garner attention. Congratulations everybody! Keep it up!
Amen to that. Now we just need to use the same tactic with our Swedish troll.
The regulars on this fora are rarely (or more precisely never) commenting on my comments, they are focusing on me as a person or trying to find dirt on Sweden. That usually (always) ends up with the offended American finding a negative article they don’t understand but they are proud of having found at least something.
If you want to find dirt on Sweden you should ask me !!
I am the only one with sufficient knowledge on Sweden on this fora .. and believe me , I could give you some stories.
You need me here since I am the only one who are able to give you an outsiders opinion on some of the issues
If you like to call me a troll… well that’s ok
Difference between me scolding US and you guys trying to go after Sweden is the simple fact that my English is good enough to check your news but you cannot inform yourself on Swedish news due to your poor Swedish.
It’s impossible to find correct information on us in US media. As a rule are news on Europe in US (mainstream) media second rate (at best)
… and let’s just forget about your toxic right wing media
Have a nice day my friend
Who knows, but I speculate that Biden's decline in popularity plays an important role. IF Biden had retained high popularity, say high 50's maybe even hit 60 percent, THEN Manchin and Sinema would have been more likely to support the 'Biden' agenda. Note, aforementioned argument is strong for Sinema than Manchin.
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