The New Year Offers America New Hope

By Mildred Robertson

Today we sit on the precipice of a new year. America has struggled through 2021 and looks with great anticipation toward a new year that holds the potential for outstanding accomplishments or dismal failure. It is a cliché, but nonetheless accurate to say “it is the best of times, it is the worst of times.”

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” –Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

The dichotomy of America’s existence is stark.  In November of 2020, we exited perhaps the darkest time in our nation’s modern history. We survived the unhinged reign of a narcissistic sociopath who fed our worst inclinations toward selfishness and hatred. We endured the onslaught of a pandemic that stole hundreds of thousands of our friends and loved ones. We experienced a reckoning with police brutality and its roots in slavery. We saw the demise of a once-mighty Republican party that now indulges and promotes hate-filled radicals bent on destroying our democracy.

While the November 2020 elections marked the beginning of an end to this dark phase in our history, the challenges did not cease. On January 6, 2021, we experienced an uprising that challenged the very foundation of our democracy and threatened to topple our nation; an uprising led by a defeated former president and members of congress.

We are witnessing an unprecedented attack on voting rights, with Republican legislatures across the country rushing to pass legislation that will limit access to the ballot box, and limit women’s rights to control their own bodies. Countless individuals across the nation continue to refuse to take a life-saving COVID vaccination that could help bring an end to an epic worldwide pandemic.  People are dying because hospitals are foregoing or postponing life-saving treatment for non-pandemic illnesses because COVID patients have overrun the system. As Dickens said, “it was the worst of times.”

But there have been victories as well. Democrats were able to piece together support for a massive infrastructure bill that is touted to be transformative for America’s crumbling highways, bridges, rails, and other public works.  The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will expand access to high-speed internet, address climate change and advance environmental justice. It will create good-paying union jobs and will ensure that every American has access to clean drinking water.

President Joe Biden has been successful in appointing a record number of judges to federal courts across the country to counter the onslaught of conservative judges appointed during the Trump administration. While COVID has been a formidable opponent, the administration continues to promote vaccination and testing and to work with pharmaceutical companies as they develop a treatment for the prevention and/or mitigation of the COVID virus and its various manifestations.

A bipartisan committee is making slow but steady headway into the investigation of the January 6, 2021 attack on the nation’s Capitol, and the Justice Department has charged more than 700 people from more than 45 states with participating in the U.S. Capitol riot. CNN reported on December 11, 2021, that only 50 have been sentenced, with most, however, receiving lesser sentences.

So as we examine 2021, it is almost as though Charles Dickens was speaking directly about us when he wrote those storied words. But 2022 is a new chapter. There are opportunities…it is our spring of hope.

We must pass voting rights legislation to ensure that those who serve in our state and federal legislatures are a true reflection of the people’s will. Every vote counts; and every vote must be counted. This must be a top priority for President Biden and his administration.  He must pull out all the stops to ensure that he keeps his promise to the black women and men who turned out in record numbers to send him to the White House. There is nothing on his agenda that is more important than voting rights. If we don’t safeguard the vote his agenda will be the last in the foreseeable future to address the needs of American citizens, particularly minority citizens.

As we head into the primaries in preparation for the 2022 mid-terms, we must motivate the base to turn out and make their voices heard.  We must persuade them to vote despite the herculean attempt by the far-right to block them from the polls. Meanwhile, we must monitor the actions of states across the nation who are bent on predetermining the outcome of elections and minimizing the voice of the people.

While we may tire of the seemingly endless battle against COVID, the rabid radicalization of the far right, racial injustice, voter suppression, misogyny, and copious other injustices over which we fought during the past 5 years, 2022 holds hope for progress…redemption…rebirth.

It may not yet be the best of times, but the best of times is within our reach. We must, however, reach out and wrench it from those who would have us fail.

Happy New Year!

Manchin Reneges on Support for Build Back Better Legislation

 By Mildred Robertson

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has finally said out loud, what we all knew to be the case for months. He does not, and will not support Joe Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) legislation. He announced today that, despite his earlier pledge to work with Biden and the Progressive Caucus to fashion a bill with which they all could live, he cannot see a way to support the legislation. 

It is clear that he never intended to support the bill which would have ensured Americans high-quality child care at an affordable cost, preschool programs for 3-4-year-olds; affordable housing, lower-cost healthcare coverage, and would close the Medicare coverage gap while reducing premiums. The bill also would have supported long-term family care needs and cut taxes for workers and their families. Had it become permanent under BBB, the Child Tax Credit increase would have become permanent, providing a tax cut of up to $1,500 for low-wage workers.

After more than five months of negotiations among Democrats, where Machin was his party’s chief obstacle to the passage of the $2 trillion social and environment bill, (down from the original $3.5 trillion at Manchin’s request), he stated today that he cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. “I just can’t. I’ve tried everything humanly possible. I can’t get there.” This bill that he "can't support", would have provided billions to help families with children, addressed climate change by curbing carbon emissions, and would lower prescription drug prices.

So what part, exactly, of this bill could Manchin possibly find objectionable? Helping families with children?  Addressing climate change? Lowered prescription drug costs? Tax cuts for low-wage workers? Affordable housing?  Health-care coverage?  What part, exactly?

Manchin’s position is puzzling on several levels. His response to this legislation is particularly peculiar in that the state of West Virginia is among the poorest in the nation. This legislation would have been extremely impactful for that state, as it was designed to help families cope with health and child care costs.  Recent polls indicate that Biden’s BBB spending proposal is immensely popular in deep-red West Virginia, but also just this past week Manchin had personally provided Biden a $1.85 trillion written proposal similar to the bill for which the Democrats had gained consensus in October.

Finally, Manchin has left President Biden out on a limb, as he must face off with the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which compromised on the depth and scope of the BBB, but also supported the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on the President’s word that Manchin would support the social and environment bill when it came up. The infrastructure bill needed the support of progressive Democrats in order to pass. His pledge led the progressives to reluctantly support the infrastructure legislation without passing the BBB simultaneously.  

So Manchin’s disingenuous politicking leaves one to wonder, what kinds of levers are being pulled in the background, and who is pulling them. Manchin has direct ties to the fossil-fuel industry, and his daughter is the former CEO of drug-maker Mylan. According to a Mother Jones article published in October of this year, Manchin has received more in political donations from the oil and gas industry than any other senator; more than double the second-largest recipient. He is also the leading beneficiary of donations from the coal mining sector and has accepted more money from gas pipeline operators than any other senator. He ranks sixth among senators receiving national donations from electricity utilities.

If that is not enough to give you pause, it is alleged that his daughter Heather Bresch worked with Pfizer to keep the prices of the company’s EpiPen artificially high. Within five years of her leadership, the price of a two-pack of EpiPens was driven from $100 to above $600. Meanwhile, Manchin’s wife, Gayle, who is co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission and head of the National Association of State Boards of Education, lobbied states to require schools to stock epinephrine. As we examine underlying motivation, you might also note that, while Manchin blocks Democratic progress; he is busy raising funds among wealthy Republican donors, seemingly rewarding him for thwarting Democratic goals. All of these facts lead one to wonder to whom the senator is loyal...to whom he is beholden. 

It is unfortunate that the well-being of millions of Americans lies in the hands of a man who is not true to his word, and who would sacrifice ethics to promote family and pad their pockets.  I don’t know how Democrats overcome this obstacle in the short run. But in the long run, we can flood the polls in 2022 to dilute Manchin’s voice; a voice that clearly does not speak for the people.

While Manchin is not up for election in 2022, there are many seats that will need to be filled. We must fill them with statesmen and women who care more about the people than they do the position and the power. We need to elect citizen-politicians who believe in service to their electorate, not performance politics. We need to quiet the voice of folk like Joe Manchin who would stand in the way of progress so that this nation can move forward and the people can be heard.  

Kamala Harris Media Coverage: Just or Unjust?

 By Mildred Robertson

There is a narrative about Kamala Harris that is vaguely reminiscent of the kinds of articles we used to see about Hillary Clinton. I cannot come to her defense, since I don't know the woman. But I do know the tactics of the establishment to take down powerful women. You see, Harris was my first choice for president. I was pleased when Biden picked her as vice president, and have looked forward to the opportunity to see her run for the top spot again.

So, I want to know if this is just the male-dominated establishment trying to maintain the status quo, or is there some basis for the attacks Harris has had to endure. Articles indicate that she doesn't do the work, but holds her staff responsible for her unpreparedness--Prove it.

They say she is a bully. Why? How? Is she demanding effective, efficient performance, or is she just being mean? Many times, those attributes that people applaud in men, are seen as mean-spirited, intimidating, or tyrannical in women. 

She has not been prominent on the national stage since she became vice president. No vice president ever is. It is, for the most part, a ceremonial job. So it is difficult for the public to measure her strengths and weaknesses accurately because they are seldom on public display. Her job, generally, is to stand behind the president and smile. She doesn’t have policies to implement, because she must implement Biden’s policies. She cannot publicly vocalize how she would have handled a situation differently from the president. Again, that is not her job and there would be a whole other narrative in the media about her trying to undercut the president.

If Harris is not prepared to lead at this level, then there should be facts to support that allegation. If you don't have the facts, I don't want to hear it.