Joe Manchin’s Foolish Demand for Bipartisanship

 By Mildred Robertson

Bipartisanship is a key component of a healthy democracy. It is a tool that allows thoughtful consideration of all sides of a political situation.  Impartial deliberation is a method by which a governing body can arrive at a solution that addresses the desires of the majority while considering the needs of the minority. It is the foundation of good government striving to meet the needs of all its constituents. However, this methodology requires good-faith negotiations on the part of all participants. Therein lies the problem with Sen. Joe Machin’s demand that any legislation to which he adds his support must be based on bipartisan consensus.

The Republican Congress, led by Senator Mitchell McConnell, has vowed over the past two democratic presidencies to oppose any legislation proposed by Democrats. He showed his skillfulness in keeping that vow during the Obama presidency, when he blocked all meaningful legislation except the Affordable Care Act known as “Obama Care”, which he successfully weakened before its passage.

Now, faced with legislation critical to the survival of self-governing rule in this country, Machin has made the irrational decision to reject the Democrats’ move to kill the filibuster, and allow majority rule to prevail. He insists that his crucial vote will be withheld unless Democrats are able to bring along ten Republicans to support any legislation, thereby bringing the 117^th Congress to stalemate. This decision is either disingenuous or delusional, depending upon whether Machin’s position is based on his desire to be pivotal in the political landscape, or that he truly believes that he can negotiate with a McConnell-led Republican Party which has already demonstrated its penchant for opposing rather than governing.

Manchin has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory…invalidating the hard-fought win that seemingly resulted in a Democratic majority when Georgia elected two democrats to the Senate in January 2021. When senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff won their run-offs in January, it appeared that America had turned a corner, leaving behind the destructive politics of Donald Trump and the Republican Party. But with Manchin’s decision to oppose legislation that would strengthen voting rights, he denied Democrats the edge it needs to move forward without Republican support in the Senate. Manchin has single-handedly blocked progressive legislation that is overwhelmingly supported by the voting public; though possibly not by the majority of his constituents in West Virginia.

This conundrum has placed Democrats in a peculiar position. The will of the people, I believe, is clear. In 2021 they voted for leadership with a purpose and a plan. But with the defection of Manchin, and possibly one or two other democrats, the nation continues to be held hostage by the narrow, bigoted, and fruitless rule of the likes of Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump. Seemingly the majority; Democrats still languish in the halls of Congress, trying to determine a way to enact meaningful legislation to actually make America great again.  

Meanwhile, Manchin foolishly continues to attempt negotiation with an adversary who definitively states that negotiation is not an option; and he continues to fight efforts to eliminate the outdated and racist fillibuster which allows the minority to prevail. 

 

Nancy Pelosi Speaks Profound Truth

 By: Mildred Robertson

I watched Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi this morning on MSNBC, and she said something that to me was profound:  “Do the best you can, not the best you know how.”  It put into perspective the challenges faced by our congress, our country, and our individual selves.

Speaking from my personal life, I would rank myself an underachiever. I have many times said that, had my mother been given the opportunities I had, she would likely have achieved much more than I. I measure my God-given talent against my paltry accomplishments and think of all the missed opportunities in my life to just do better. Based upon my own measurement and my judgmental nature, I fall far short.

Speaker Pelosi’s words, however, gave me the opportunity to reassess and measure my life in terms of obstacles and opportunities. Just because you know what needs to be done in a particular situation does not mean that you have the wherewithal to do it. It may seem like giving yourself a pass; however those circumstances which block our way to success are sometimes out of our control. That does not mean that we don’t see and desire a particular goal. It just means we can’t access the necessary path to get there.

Case in point; the 117^th United States Congress. We celebrated the election of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to give congressional democrats the margin we needed to wrest power from the hands of Mitch McConnell. The majority of Americans recognized what was best for this country, and acted. Voters chose a progressive national agenda that would address voting rights, social justice, women’s issues, racial and economic disparity and a host of other issues that had suffered under the weight of oppressive Republican policies that made corporations people, and people less than human. While it was a major victory…there are obstacles.

The narrow margin that placed power in the hands of progressives is curated by Senator Joe Machin whose motivation is not yet clear. He, and his cohort, Sen. Kyrsten Senima have the power to deliver or deny democrats the vote on any particular initiative; and they have chosen to deny. They stand in the way of eliminating the filibuster which stymies the democrats’ efforts to go it alone to pass meaningful legislation opposed by intractable Republicans. You see, Nancy Pelosi and democratic senators know what’s best. It is just that obstacles deny them the opportunity to do what’s best.

The question is whether the obstacle is unmoved and unmovable. Are these two senators striving to do what’s best, or what’s best for themselves?

As we watch congressional leaders navigate the polluted waters of our nation’s politics we have to give them the leeway to address the obstacles. I do not know what it will take to persuade our two errant Senators to place the good of the nation above their own personal preferences and beliefs. I understand that that is a difficult ask. But in order for our nation to heal and move toward equality and prosperity for the masses, the progressive agenda must move forward.

I hope our leadership is fashioning a strategy to mitigate the obstacles to our recovery. I do not doubt that they are working diligently to eliminate opposition to the progressive agenda; whether it be disingenuous republicans, or stubborn democrats.  I am sure Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer know what is best; and they are trying to do the best they can.