You know who is the most racisty racisty racist in America right now according to Democrats? That would be one Democrat Senator Joe Manchin, who just drove a stake through the heart of Democrat dreams to make the District of Columbia a State.
Making D.C. a state would be unconstitutional, even with an attempt to carve D.C. into pieces and make one piece a state. So unconstitutional even John Roberts might switch sides and join the conservatives on the high court. But nonetheless, Democrats wanted to go there, perhaps hoping more threats from Chuck Schumer and Sheldon Whitehouse to go all insurrectionist against SCOTUS would work.
But in order for it even to be in play legislatively, Democrats would need to bust the filibuster AND get all Democrat Senators plus the Vice President to vote for it. Joe Manchin has said he’s not busting the legislative filibuster, and today he said he’s also not voting to make D.C. a state, arguing that a constitutional amendment would be needed for that.
Sen. Joe Manchin III told reporters in his home state of West Virginia on Friday morning that he does not support the bill to make D.C. the nation’s 51st state, according to audio provided by the Democrat’s office and a report from WVNews.Manchin, a key swing vote in the closely divided Senate, said he believes a constitutional amendment, rather than legislation, would be required to admit D.C. as a state. His stance deals a major blow to statehood advocates who were hoping for his support after the bill passed the House last week.Manchin cited findings from the Justice Department under Presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter and comments from then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in reaching his decision.“They all came to the same conclusion: If Congress wants to make D.C. a state, it should propose a constitutional amendment. It should propose a constitutional amendment and let the people of America vote,” Manchin said in a radio interview with Hoppy Kercheval of West Virginia’s MetroNews, the full audio of which was provided to The Washington Post by Manchin’s staff.Manchin was among four in the Senate Democratic caucus who had yet to reveal their positions on statehood; all the other Democratic senators have said they support the idea, but Republicans have been vocally opposed. (One Democrat, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, co-sponsored a statehood bill in the last Congress but has not signed on as a co-sponsor this year.)The Washington, D.C. Admission Act passed the House 216 to 208 last week, along strict party lines, for the second time in history. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said that “we will try to work a path to get [statehood] done.”The bill faces high hurdles in that chamber, with or without Manchin. Because of the Senate filibuster, 60 senators would need to support statehood for the bill to advance — making passage all but impossible as long as the filibuster is in place….He said in the radio interview that he viewed the 23rd Amendment as a chief obstacle for D.C. statehood, echoing arguments from congressional Republicans who have called D.C. statehood unconstitutional. The 23rd Amendment, ratified in 1961, gave D.C. three electoral votes in presidential elections.
He’s RACIST!
Stasha Rhodes, campaign director of 51 for 51, noted Friday that every state admitted to the union, including West Virginia, was admitted by Congress. She argued it should not be different for D.C.“No member of the Senate should deny voting rights to 700,000 mostly Black and Brown Washingtonians based on a flimsy understanding of the Constitution and American history,” she said in a statement.
DailyKOS, Joe Manchin Isn’t Complicated, He’s a Racist.
To hell with Black people in Washington D.C., King Joe Manchin the First wants the rest of America -through a process that will never happen (Constitutional Amendment) — to determine if D.C. can have representation in the Senate. Everything we can possibly do to expand the voices of marginalized people in this country must first bend the knee to King Manchin’s will.Whether His Majesty is merely trying to sustain his own power or not, his actions serve the interests of systemic racism. Much like his refusal to end the Jim Crow filibuster, or even reform it in such a way as to allow for a vote on essential voting rights, King Joe will continue to hold a gavel given to him by Black voters in Georgia, and use his newfound glory and power to suppress Black voices and Black votes.Joe Manchin is acting to sustain white power from a position of incredible, ridiculous, undeserved and unearned privilege and authority in the Senate. He is giving the middle finger to every progressive effort we have. He is pissing on the labor and sacrifice of Georgia voters, of voters in Michigan and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and Arizona. He is shitting on Joe Biden’s chance to make real change in this country.
You know what might change his mind? Umm… calling him a “hillbilly”?
It’s about time Democrats stopped putting up with Manchin. Kick him out of the party, make him caucus with Republicans.
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