The Manchin-Sinema Mess -- No, Not That, Two Other Ones...

Yes, today we're looking at problems for senators Joe Manchin and Kyrstem Sinema -- but no, it's not the problem of the blocking change to the filibuster rule.

For Manchin, it's a personal matter to a degree, overlapping with a crisis for some of his constituents.  Last November, two pharmaceutical giants -- Upjohn and Mylan -- merged.  As a result of that, the united companies formed a new unit called Viatris, who had a plant in Morgantown, West Virginia.  However, this week that Viatris facility is closing down in order to move operations to India and Australia, in order to ""maximize the best interests of the shareholders," the company says.  Because of this, 1,400 West Virginians who work at Viatris in Morgantown will be unemployed, and are appealing to their senior senator, Joe Manchin to help.

The problem?  The person who had been chief executive of Mylan before the merger is Heather Bresch – who is Joe Manchin’s daughter.  And, to make matters more problematic (and yes, it’s possible) got $31 million when the companies united.  Making matters worse still is that there have been many reports that recommend keeping pharmaceutical production in the United States because of security lapses overseas.  “This is pure insanity,” says investigative journalist Katherine Eban, “"It seems like it is both pharmaceutical and national security suicide to close this plant."
 
As for Kyrsten Sinema, her problem is somewhat similar to her filibuster blockage, though on another important issue – the reconciliation bill.  There was a great deal of excitement in the news yesterday when it appeared there could possibly be agreement on the Infrastructure Bill.  For that bill to have meaning, though, House Democrats have said they’d only vote for it if the larger $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill would pass.  That seemed the easier of the issues, since all it would take in the Senate was agreement among all 50 Democrats, with Vice President Harris breaking the tie.
 
The problem?  Lost amid much of the headline was Sinema saying, “"I have also made clear that while I will support beginning this process, I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion.”
 
That’s a hurdle. Anything less than $3.5 billion will likely be unacceptable to progressive Democrats in the House, since in a perfect world they’d like the amount significantly higher.  So, if Sinema holds to her statement, both the Infrastructure Bill and reconciliation could both go down to defeat.
 
How flexible she’ll be – especially in what is sure to be major pressure by the White House – remains to be seen.  She did leave some cracks open, but noting, “…in the coming months, I will work in good faith to develop this legislation with my colleagues and the administration to strengthen Arizona's economy and help Arizona's everyday families get ahead," 
 
More to the point, though, is – what on earth is she thinking??  I could ask the same about her obstinacy against changing the filibuster, though while that is probably more important, in order to pass a Voting Rights bill to protect democracy, I can almost sort of understand it, trying to protect a sort-of, kind-of tradition.  But blocking a signature bill for the Biden Administration is just bizarre.  Yes, it’s a huge amount of money, but not only is even more needed, but much of it could be paid for.  And it would be an utterly massive win for Democrats.  I do think some agreement will ultimately be found, though I don’t know that.
 
But above all, the Manchin-Sinema tag team do seem to have a talent for landing in the middle of messes.
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