“Where have all the good times gone?” -- Van Halen, first song on the Diver Down album released in 1982.
It’s not one of the 70’s and 80’s and 90’s metal band’s most popular or well-known songs, but someone at the White House must’ve looked up the tune and started humming it as the honeymoon for president senile Joe Biden appears to be over -- for good. Diver Down was the second-to-last studio compilation for the legendary group featuring David Lee Roth on lead vocals (he came back in the 2000’s for a time), so it’s very possible they were crooning (the song was actually penned by The Kinks) about their own experiences. In American politics, the “good times” for Democrats ended some time ago, but this past weekend’s revelation from West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin that he will not vote for Biden’s and the wacko left’s Build Back (More) Better monstrosity must have shocked the systems of the elite class nonetheless. Speculation has raged for months on whether the liberal party would be able to milk their 50-50 senate “majority” -- which includes air brained vice president Kamala Harris’s tie breaking vote -- for all it was worth and push through, literally, every pipedream and bloated welfare fandango they could possibly manage. Apparently not now, though it’s highly doubtful Democrats will give up trying. Just like the sharks that they are, once leftists smell blood in the water, everyone’s in danger. And there’s plenty more constitution-ignoring evil left on the table that will now receive more than its share of attention in the media and leadership offices of Senate Majority Leader “Chucky” Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Alexander Bolton reported at The Hill the other day:
“Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) stunned fellow Democrats on Sunday by announcing he would not vote for President Biden’s ambitious climate and social spending bill, which his allies saw as the crowning legislative achievement of the president's first term.
“Biden’s plans to address global warming and wealth inequality will now have to be substantially reworked if they are to become law, with many of his policy proposals potentially shelved in order to get Manchin’s vote.
“Manchin’s warning Sunday that the Build Back Better bill would fuel inflation and risk American energy independence means that Democrats may have to narrow their focus to only a few priorities, such as the expanded child tax credit, and dramatically pare back spending and incentives for green energy. White House chief of staff Ron Klain on Sunday retweeted a statement by New Democrat Coalition Chair Suzan DelBene (Wash.) calling for negotiators to prioritize fewer reforms and enact them for more years.”
See? Senile Joe’s people aren’t throwing in the towel, not by a longshot. Instead of lumping everything into one gargantuan proposal and lying through their teeth about the bill’s true cost, they’re simply going back to the proverbial drawing (cutting?) board. They’ll slice and dice and rework the amounts and terms of the programs and come back to Manchin’s doorstep and say, “See, we’ve broken it down and extended the years so you have to say yes now.” The costs will be the same but the package will come in smaller chunks. Just like when we were kids and we downed an entire lump of spam in one big blob rather than cut it into pieces and prolong the agony. Yuck! Now we’re stuck with the smaller amounts -- but for a longer time! Bolton’s report contains a pledge from Schumer to keep voting on the BBB concept until some measure of it passes -- saying they’ll vote and vote and vote and vote until Manchin relents on some aspects of it. The West Virginia senator’s staff should therefore anticipate a steady stream of leftwing radicals besieging his office 24/7 to obtain that crucial final yea. Like slick salesman Cal Worthington in those old used car commercials, the wackos will stand on their heads until their ears are turning red to get a deal! Maybe it’ll sound like this: “If you want a better buy, go see Joe!
You're the guy we satisfy, go see Joe!
Give a new (welfare program) to your wife, she will love you all your life
Go see Joe, Go see Joe, Go see Joe!” or,
“If you're looking for a better set of wheels
I will stand upon my head to make a deal
I will stand upon my head until my ears are turning red
Go see Joe, Go see Joe, Go see Joe!”
How stupid has all this become? When the Democrats are beginning to sound like cheesy used car salesmen, you know their spiel is exhausted and spent. Where have all the good times gone? Thank the lord for the internet and the Brave search engine, because Cal Worthington and his clever jingles will live forever. I doubt Worthington was a Democrat, but if he was, he’d be proud of today’s party leaders and rank-and-file “deal” getters!
Compounding the Democrats’ frustration, the fact Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema isn’t budging on her demand to hold the line on huge tax increases for the productive people in America, and the poor liberals must feel like they’re being caught in a two-pronged vice. Manchin doesn’t want to spend the nation into greater debt and Sinema doesn’t want to tax the wealthy to raise the bar on revenue either. Here's thinking if tax rates jumped to the point where Bernie Sanders and company were happy with them, the actual revenue produced would end up being significantly less. Such a phenomenon always happens when taxes inflate.
After Manchin’s “no on BBB” announcement, Sanders suggested holding a vote on the current Build Back Better bill anyway, knowing it would fail, but then Manchin would have to “explain” to West Virginians why he refused to make federal cash -- and debt -- rain from the sky like poop from a laxative giddy steer. Manchin might even enjoy such a gesture -- the voting part -- because he’d have the perfect opportunity to convince skeptics that he isn’t like the rest of the fibbing Democrat do-gooders who promised to mind Uncle Sam’s purse strings and then reneged on their commitments.
Some people might even consider reelecting Manchin in 2024, though I doubt he’s going to run again in a presidential election year. It’d be too humiliating to be pummeled late in his career. Or, the more likely scenario, that Manchin will give in to lots of smaller spending packages. I’ll choose option B.
Why is this happening? Where have the good times gone? Well, one reason is senile Joe’s approval ratings, which are continuing to sink with no visible bottom in sight. “Mr. Biden’s approval rating is at 41% compared to 55% who disapprove of his performance, the NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll found.”
The experts point to the ongoing saga of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP, or Wuhan, if you prefer) virus as well as rising inflation for the president’s putrid ratings. The numbers were much better earlier this year, right? I believe it’s all of the listed factors combining for the intense dislike of the current White House occupant.
But the largest factor is rarely mentioned. Aren’t people just sick of being lied to and manipulated by a bunch of self-interested snobs? And what’s with the pile-on for Joe Manchin? Senile Joe made tons of promises to get elected, very few of which he’s kept. The southern border is all-but open and unprotected. Crime rages in city streets while criminals are coddled in a “woke” embrace by Democrat prosecutors.
There’s also a tangible case of buyer’s remorse for those short-sighted Americans who thought the mood of the country would instantly improve once Donald Trump was sent back to Mar-a-Lago. Not true. The authorities persist with lies and distortions about the “Omicron” variant of the CCP virus. The death statistics keep going up, even though every high profile case of the virus (if you don’t believe it, read the sports pages) never results in any sickness.
Meanwhile, Manchin and Sinema -- a.k.a. the voices of reason -- are threatened and intimidated by leftist interest groups and members of their own party. They’re being blamed for a lack of progress on Biden’s agenda, but the ideas themselves aren’t being run through the ringer. Instead of vowing to “pressure” Manchin to relent, why not accede to his requests?
Rather than recognize Manchin’s concerns, Democrats assault the filibuster, trying to work around the rules to advance their schemes and expect him to go along. By promising lots more votes on Biden’s “voting rights” and welfare agendas, most of it will fail to gain cloture in the senate. Schumer will huff and puff and blow the entire capitol building down to get his way. Just like the big, bad wolf!
But it won’t work.
Democrats have no one to blame but themselves for Build Back (More) Better’s sorry setback. They tried to get too much with too little political power. And they lied about what it would cost every step of the way. Liberals will keep sliming Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema as long as they disagree on the big topics -- and Americans will remember come election time.
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