Biden Thread

[ReluctantSamurai]

...but there's at least as good a case that this is just what Manchin believes.

Yep, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I've certainly been vocal about mine. I don't take seriously what any politician says anymore, privately or publicly. I look at what they actually do. You can say Manchin truly believes in what he says, and that he's just that ignorant to trust that bi-partisanship is still viable, and that he's seriously concerned about the national debt. I think his reasons for voting the way he does have been laid quite bare, and if his recent testy reply to a Bloomberg reporter is any indication, he's getting quite uncomfortable with the press looking into his finances. I think his BS (read as corruption) has never been more on display than letting 1400 high-paying jobs leave his own state for Germany, without so much as a whimper, all so his daughter can profit. He's as corrupt as they come...

Sinema isn’t blocking popular progressive ideas because she’s getting corporate money; she’s getting corporate money because she’s blocking popular progressive ideas, and businesses want their key ally to succeed and prosper.

Does it really matter which came first? The result is the same...a dire threat to President Biden's agenda, an agenda that has widespread popular support even among Republican voters.

So which came first, the chicken or the egg?

https://www.salon.com/2021/10/01/for...ighting-hikes/

A former senior aide to "centrist" Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., worked until recently as one of the top lobbyists for JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank and a leading opponent of President Biden's proposed corporate tax increases — which Sinema also opposes.

Sinema, a former Green Party member who campaigned on lowering drug prices and previously called for big corporations and the rich to "pay their fair share," has also balked at Democrats' plan to lower prescription drug costs and increase taxes on the wealthy and large companies, amid a massive lobbying blitz by corporations and industry groups aiming to torpedo the bill.

JPMorgan Chase has spent more than $1.3 million on lobbying on "corporate tax issues" and other matters between the first and second quarter this year, according to its lobbying disclosures.

Another longtime former Sinema aide, Kate Gonzales, earlier this year joined the high-end lobbying firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, which brags that its "political connections deliver results" and that former Capitol Hill staffers are among its principals. Gonzales is a member of the firm's Energy, Environment, and Resources Strategies Group, where she "provides insight into Democratic priorities," according to the company. "She is highly skilled at developing compelling messaging for moderate Democrats and Republicans," her bio says.

Meanwhile, Sinema's current chief of staff, Meg Joseph, used to be a lobbyist at Clark & Weinstock, which has represented Pfizer and other top pharmaceutical companies and trade groups that oppose Biden's proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs.

IMHO, given that Sinema campaigned as a Green Party member, she's blocking progressive policy because she's receiving huge hand-outs from corporations, and not the other way around:

Pharmaceutical companies and medical firms have donated more than $750,000 to Sinema during her career, including more than $466,000 since she was elected in 2018. Sinema has also received more than $920,000 from companies and industry groups leading the lobbying blitz against Biden's proposal, according to an analysis from the progressive government watchdog group Accountable.US.

Some of the embedded links are very informative.

At least Sinema, unlike Joe Manchin, is out in the open about all of this:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kyrste...dont-care-do-u