And this is why we need Manchin!!

For the last year-plus I have heard angry progressives bad mouthing the Democratic Party and especially Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema because they refuse to go nuclear and put an end to the filibuster so that the Progressive-wing of the party can instantly get everything they have ever wanted. 

I have been pushing back on that, trying to explain that this does not work that way. The explanation goes something like this. Manchin and Sinema can be frustrating at times, but you need Senators like this who can win seats in red states. 

Manchin and Sinema, while frustrating at times, have helped confirm every judge put forth by the Biden administration, and that would not have happened if the Democrats did not hold those Senate seats in deep red states. These Senators have also helped Biden and the Democrats pass the infrastructure bill, the recovery act, the gun-reform legislation and so on. 

But it is on days like today that we need Senators Manchin and Sinema the most. 

Mitch McConnell was threating, like he tends to do, to pull Republican support for the $53 billion microprocessor manufacturing bill if the Democrats passed this new reconciliation package so Manchin pulled his support for the Democratic deal. Again, progressives flipped out, but after the Republicans voted on the Microprocessor (Semiconductor) Manufacturing bill, Manchin said he had reached a deal with Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer. A brilliant maneuver if I do say so myself.

The new reconciliation bill, which they are calling the Inflation Reduction Act, includes the following, and pay attention progressives: 

1. An investment of $369 billion dollars in renewable energy and climate change initiatives.

2. It will allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, which should help reduce the overall cost of the Medicare program, while at the same time reducing what seniors will pay out of pocket for their prescriptions. 

3. It will extend subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, which will continue to make premiums under the ACA more affordable to more families, myself included. 

4. Increasing the minimum corporate tax to 15%, which will help raise revenue for the government and reduce the deficit, while keeping taxpayers who make $400,000 or less from seeing any Federal tax hikes. 

5. Reduce carbon emission by 40 % by 2030.

This is why you need people like Manchin and Sinema, and the best part of it was the Manchin used some of McConnell's hardball tactics against him. 

By the way, Republicans were so mad that they got duped by the Democrats, that they took it out on U.S. veterans. The PACT Act, which had been passed in the Senate earlier with 84 votes for, had to return to the Senate for the final vote and Republicans voted it down, leaving our veterans without the health care they need to survive. 

Progressives in the Democratic Party need to understand that you want to build a large tent, which includes Democrats who can be elected in places like West Virginia, Georgia, Arizona and soon places like Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama and so on and those Democrats are not going to be hardline progressives but having them in the Senate and House will help you achieve your goals.

If you truly want to move every hardline piece of legislation you want, you need to get more Democrats elected nationwide, not criticize the ones you already have helping you out 90 percent of time. 

If progressives don't want to leave everything up to Manchin and Sinema again and again, then they need to go out and vote and get more Democrats elected to the House and Senate. 

VOTE!