Will he? Won't he? Is there a possibility he might? Or perhaps he won't? What seems to be his latest attitude?
Welcome to the absurdly obsessive world of Politico reading the Senator Joe Manchin tea leaves trying to find a clue as to how the Reconciliation bill negotiations are going. The latest example of Politico microanalyzing Manchin came on Monday This obsession was reflected in at least SEVENTEEN (17) Politico stories featuring Manchin in one day.
It's almost as if they're a staff full of Democrats who are deeply invested in the belief that the rise or fall of the Party is based on these massive "infrastructure" bills.
So eager was Politico to read the Manchin tea leaves on the bill that they didn't even wait until sunrise Monday to begin pondering Manchin's attitude at 4:30 AM in "What's still in the Dem megabill? Cheat sheet on 12 big topics."
The White House is aiming to reach at least a framework agreement with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) before the end of the month. But even if a deal is locked in this week, it likely will take weeks to finalize the package.
...Now the White House is proposing a one-year extension to reduce the initial $450 billion price tag. Even though Manchin wants to impose work requirements and ensure the extra credit goes only to families making $60,000 or less, Biden publicly rejected that idea last week.
...The push for free community college ran into opposition from key senators, including Manchin and Sinema, according to Democratic aides.
...Biden said last week that including all three new Medicare benefits would be a “reach,” citing opposition from Manchin and Sinema.
...Even Manchin, who has snubbed so much of his party’s proposal, is on board with increasing the corporate and highest individual tax rates.
...Manchin’s opposition has all but killed the clean electricity program Democrats envisioned to penalize utilities that don’t increase their use of renewables and pay those that do.
Whew! That's a lot of Manchin to start off the day with...but wait! THERE'S MORE!!! So much more.
In fact, Politico had only barely begun to mine their Manchin ore for the day. Only a little over an hour later, at 6:06 AM when most people are still sleeping, we got a full six Manchins in "POLITICO Playbook: The 9 most important days of Biden’s presidency" starting with "The White House wanted to have a final deal on the sweeping reconciliation package clinched Sunday after Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) and Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER had a breakfast meeting with the president in Wilmington, Del. Instead, it was another day of inconclusive talks."
A triple Manchin was even scored in a single paragraph about Manchin "the devil" at the theater:
MANCHIN GETS HIS PENCE/‘HAMILTON’ MOMENT — At a recording of West Virginia Public Radio’s “Mountain Stage” program at the Kennedy Center on Sunday night, singer Carsie Blanton called out Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who was in attendance, in a song she’d written called “Dealing to the Devil.” It’s a story about her ex-boyfriend and Donald Trump, but she shifted the dedication to Manchin over his resistance to fully extending the child tax credit, drawing cheers from the crowd. Awkward.
For a longer list, click on Expand:
For their 7:30 AM breakfast, Politico served up another order of a half dozen Manchins in "Is this finally the week?"
If you were late for the early bird breakfast you could still fill up on four Manchin appetizers at the 8:00 AM breakfast in "Democrats closing in on spending agreement."
At 10 AM Politico served up brunch with five more Manchins on the menu in "Democrats weigh axing Medicare expansion."
And at exactly the same time an equal number of Manchins were delivered in "The climate deal sprint."
Also at 10 AM we had yet more Manchins in "Crunch time for Dems’ social spending talks" which was not to be confused with the 10 AM Manchin in the first paragraph of "Paid leave to go?" nor with yet another 10 AM Manchin cameo in "School board group backtracks on letter for security help from DOJ" nor in the final 10 AM Manchin mention, "Will Wyden's new wealth tax survive the courts?"
During lunch at 12:50 PM the entertainment was a video, "Biden pressed by reporters on meeting with Manchin."
If you lingered over your meal, at 1:16 PM you were able to watch another video on Politico's favorite topic, "Manchin speaks out: Deal on ‘conceptual framework’ could happen this week."
Still hadn't gotten your fill of Manchin? No problem. Just wait three minutes and you could gorge on 17 Manchins at 1:19 PM in "Fellow Dems lobby Manchin as he gets closer to 'yes'."
Manchin even stole the attention in an article supposedly about Bernie Sanders at 1:51 PM, "POLITICO Playbook PM: Where’s Bernie?"
The Manchin obsession did not end there with appearances by him in at least three more stories culminating in "The Sinemanch shadow in Congress" (as of this 8:30 PM writing) which had a Manchin score of nine.
