The Legacy of a Retiring Senator
Some history on Senator Joe Manchin III.
He has never met a lump of coal he did not like. There is money in the almost black gold. Twenty years of supplying the Grant Town power plant in West Virgina with low-grade coal mixed with rock and clay known as “gob.” And stymieing any interest in less polluting energy. Joe the third made his retirement secure.
Never mind West Virginia ranks near the bottom of the states in economics and providing for its citizens. However, Joe Manchin did take to the floor to talk about one young pretty blond-haired woman, who came from a better than average family, a recovering drug addict.
She lost her battle brought on by 50 tabs of oxycodone prescribed to combat pain from surgery. The surgeon did not know she was still a recovering addict after 7 years. After running out of tabs, she bought from the street. She overdosed while sitting in her car. Apparently, the pills she obtained on the street were laced with Fentanyl. It does not take much.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin also went to the Senate floor to crystallize his opposition to Dr. Robert Califf’s nomination to lead the Food and Drug Administration, but the nominee still advanced past a key procedural hurdle. Joe blamed him for the opioid epidemic because he signed off on a new drug.
What-aboutism” is still a valid reason for pointing to flaws in beliefs. What about the Williamson, West Virginia story of being the recipient of ~21 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills at two small pharmacies. Williamson had a population of 3000 during this period from 2008 and 2015. 7200 pills for each citizen there. One a day for many years to come then. So rather than leave his Senate Seat graciously, Joe decided to strike one more blow against Democrats and Biden. No gold toilet seat for Joe in retirement. Just one made of coal . . .
“Direct attack on working people:” On their way out, Manchin and Sinema vote to kneecap the NLRB, Salon
One of three Democrats, Lauren McFerran currently serves on the five-member National Labor Relations Board, which under President Joe Biden was functioning as an ally of organized labor and foe of corporate overreach. Under the board’s chair Lauren McFerran guidance, the NLRB has voted to ban severance agreements and bar employers from holding mandatory anti-union propaganda sessions.
Why Democrats would wait till the last-minute baffles me, but they did. McFerran’s term expires next week. In a last-minute gesture Senate Democrats voted to see if they could extend her appointment before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office.
Dems did not have the votes. One law firm advised its business clients, an NLRB run by Trump appointees will likely “ease up on prosecuting employers for alleged labor violations and shift certain policies to favor employers over workers and unions.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement, “It is deeply disappointing, a direct attack on working people, and incredibly troubling that this highly qualified nominee, with a proven track record of protecting worker rights did not have the votes.”
A Trump-led NLRB is now a done deal. Manchin and Sinema’s “no” votes on McFerran’s nomination serving as what Axios describes as their “final middle finger” to Democrats. Both senators are returning to the private sector next year.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Joe Manchin made it clear his no vote was based on hostility to the current, Democratic-led NLRB. Joe specifically citing its ruling on “joint employers.” In 2023, the board found a company such as McDonald’s can in fact be held liable for labor violations such as unpaid overtime and underage employees found at its franchise locations.
Manchin quit the Democratic Party last spring and told HuffPost his vote should “not [be] a surprise to anyone.” Indeed, it should not be a surprise. A month before he left the party, Manchin joined Republicans in voting to overturn the NLRB’s joint-employer decision, which he claimed at the time would “destroy the system of franchising” and “shut the door for thousands of citizens who want to start a business and fulfill the American Dream.”
Sinema, meanwhile, has not deigned it necessary to explain herself, although she too had previously criticized the NLRB’s joint-employer rule. As Politico noted Tuesday, the senator, who left the Democratic Party in 2022 before ultimately deciding not to run for reelection, had not bothered to vote since Thanksgiving; she returned Wednesday to vote against McFerran’s nomination.
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, offered an explanation in Sinema’s absence: “[T]hey voted against the working people of this country.” Indeed, the fight was not over McFerran nomination, per se, but had “everything to do with reversing generations of progress workers have made toward building a fairer and more just economy,” Shuler said in a statement.
The next member of the NLRB will now be appointed by Trump. Instead of Democrats controlling the board until mid-2026, it’s also possible the board no longer exists then. The president-elect’s benefactor, billionaire Elon Musk, is suing to have the NLRB declared unconstitutional (in that he’s joined by Jeff Bezos and Amazon).
It’s just the latest and possibly last betrayal of the Democratic agenda from two former members of the party, Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA union, said in a statement.
“Manchin and Sinema are responsible for killing voting rights, worker rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, childcare, vision and dental for seniors, and an economy built for the people,” Nelson said. “This is one more FU to the working class on their way out the door.”
Furthermore, Joe has not done that much for West Virginia.
Senators, Opioids, and EpiPens – Angry Bear
What has Joe Manchin done for West Virginia?
Why were millions of opioid pills sent to a West Virginia town of 3,000? | Opioids crisis, The Guardian