GOP trying to bribe Manchin into switching

[BurtWorm]

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/11/08/joe_manchin_gop

West Virginia's senator-elect is offered committee assignments and money for coal projects to help swing the Senate

By Alex Pareene


Senator-elect Joe "Lieberzell" Manchin

If the GOP can get three Democratic senators to switch parties, the upper chamber will be locked in a 50-50 stalemate (as opposed to its current 53-47 stalemate). Senator-elect Joe Manchin is from conservative West Virginia. While his seat has been Democratic for generations, Republicans do love them some Earth-poisoning coal. So the GOP is trying to convince Manchin to switch parties, in exchange for lots of great stuff, like more free government money for coal.

Fox reports:

Aside from his pick of committee assignments (likely the Energy and Natural Resources Committee), Manchin might get support for one of his pet projects - a plant to convert coal to diesel fuel that has stalled under Democratic leadership in Washington.

It's one of Manchin's pet projects and could mean big money for the state's coal producers.

"Republicans believe in an ‘all of the above' approach to energy," one top Senate aide told Power Play. "And coal-to-diesel could certainly be part of that."

Manchin's switch could mean Republican support for not just $1 billion in seed money for the project but also a deal, much sought in coal country, to require the armed forces to use converted coal for fuel.

Manchin will probably just use these overtures as leverage in his attempts to get the Democrats to continue sending his depressed state millions of dollars for coal. A Manchin adviser said he was elected as a Democrat, but also makes vague threats about the party being "receptive."

But this seems to be a pretty clear example of quid pro quo -- I demand Darrell Issa investigate immediately.

[texastoast]

1. Isn't he a DINO

All worried about discussing ending tax cuts for the wealthy before the election?

[KamaAina]

15. He is indeed. He's also the guy who blew a hole in the cap and trade bill with his rifle.

But at least he isn't an outright repuke. His opponent actually said, for the record, in West Virginia, "I made my money the old-fashioned way. I inherited it." :wtf:

edit: Manchin is worthless enough that at least one of my two favorite WV Dems voted for the Mountain Party (Green) candidate.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. Wait a minute

without delving into the asinine nature of the article in general.

50-50 Tie=Republican Majority???

:wtf:

Even if the GOP was miraculously able to win over Manchin and, presumably, Lieberman and Nelson to leave them with 50 seats, wouldn't the fact that Obama is POTUS and VP Biden can cast a tie-breaker make it so that Democrats would STILL be the majority party? Am I missing something?

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. It will make things that much harder

[Proud Liberal Dem]

7. Harder, of course

but it won't give the Republicans a majority in the Senate, however, will it?

Our ability to overrun Republican filibusters died the day Scott Brown got elected to the Senate. 59-41, 53-47, 50-50, it's pretty much all the same now that 60 votes are required to move every single piece of legislation and/or business forward in the US Senate. :eyes:

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. The first day they meet they need to make this

a NON CONTINUING body, and change the filibuster or get rid of it.

The filibuster is NOT in the Constitution, it is tradition.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. I (sort of) agree

I don't want the filibuster completely gone- for the day that WE are (again) in the minority in the US Senate- but it definitely needs to be changed so it can't be abused like it has been during the past four years. Senator-elect Dan Coats (R-IN) surprisingly made some pretty sharp criticisms about how the Republicans have been using it-during the past session in particular and advocated "up-or-down" votes on everything that comes up for debate on both sides, so maybe any Senate Democrat looking to try to reform the filibuster rules should try to work with him-making it a real "bipartisan" effort (if Coats is sincere, of course).

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. We have had two changes in the filibuster

it used to be 70...

It went down first in 1912 iirc, and in 1975 to the current number, the current reform also took off things like actually having to FILIBUSTER, as in PHYSICALLY do it. I am looking forwards to a lower number AND a physical filibuster.

I don't think they will do that.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

19. Somebody had a proposal

that set a progressively higher number of votes to sustain a filibuster (and a lower number of votes to achieve cloture) after a certain length of time. That made a lot of sense to me and should prevent indefinite filibusters and require the party filibustering to have to maintain and/or increase their support in killing legislation if they want to keep the filibuster going.

[BurtWorm]

6. In 2001, during a similar period, the parties had a power sharing deal

with the Dems set to be in control (i.e., chairing committees and setting the agenda) half the time and Repubs the other half. Then, all of a sudden, Jeffords of VT switched to Independent and caucused with the Dems, ending the numeric stalemate. (Of course the Dems blew that advantage in the 2002 midterms.)

[SoCalDem]

8. why do they bother.. they got everything they wanted with a minority (40) status

Dems could not steamroll their agenda with a TWENTY seat advantage, why would repubs even bother to try for a "real" one?

they hogtie dems, and can still blame them when it all turns to shit.. with a majority, THEY would take the blame

[BurtWorm]

10. Amen, sister!

:applause:

[gratuitous]

3. Yes, the Republicans believe in "all of the above" approach to energy

"All of the above" being defined as non-sustainable, non-renewable, big polluting, and high profit for a few fatcats while doing the maximum damage to workers and their communities.

But yes, doesn't this seem like the kind of political horse trading that was so breathtakingly corrupt when the Obama administration put out feelers toward Joe Sestak? But when Republicans do it, it's just good back room maneuvering, so it's okay.

[mfcorey1]

5. The GOP is still throwing things at the wall so see what will stick. The Huffington Post helps them

with a lot of that junk. The headlines and stories they print are a lot of bait articles.

[madrchsod]

16. huffington is getting as bad as drudge and politico....

the weekend huffington is really bad. i swear to god the interns are writing the headlines.

[stray cat]

11. Great - we need to get rid of moderates and purify the party!

:banghead:

[BurtWorm]

13. The moderates may take it on themselves to purify it.

More likely, they'll keep using the threat to do that as leverage to get the dumb shit they want. Great situation for the party to be in, isn't it?

[Radical Activist]

14. Sometimes a backbencher Republican can do less damage.

This is a good example. We don't need more of these characters.

[Arkana]

17. Um...wouldn't that make it 52-48 if Manchin switched...?

He won't though. For all Manchin's bluster during the campaign, the man has enormous respect for one of the most venerated Senate Democrats there ever was: Bob Byrd. He won't switch parties. At worst he'd become an independent, because he'd get nuked in a primary against a teabagger candidate.

[Jakes Progress]

20. It will be easy to see if he is a republican. They can always be bought.