Kyrsten Sinema says she makes decisions by listening to business leaders, when asked about PRO Act

[free my dawg]

The massive hate train for Kyrsten Sinema is utterly ridiculous.  I'm surprised at the level of restraint she's shown given how dedicated a large part of the internet is to turning her into the next Hillary Clinton.

I'm sure this quote will be taken out of context and spread around like wildfire until the lie becomes the truth, just like Joe Biden's "nothing will fundamentally change."

I think the hate that Sinema attracts is that she embodies the "f**k you, I've got mine" mentality you saw in figures like Paul Ryan. In addition, a lot of the left sees her as a traitor to the movement, as she was One Of Them in the past.

Kyrsten Sinema is one of the last products of the Offline political world. If someone like her tried to start a career in the age of Twitter and online archiving, they'd be crucified. The right would seize on her as Arizona's next AOC or Ilhan Omar, and people like you would be painting her as a Bernie Bro nutjob and an apologist for terrorism. But she was largely running in 2006 and 2008, long before normies grasped the concept of political hobbyism and Jo Schmo could do their own opposition research, so her comments about the Taliban and associations with 9/11 truthers faded into obscurity.

I think we all know what happened next. As a Congresswoman, she transformed from a Netroots progressive and the "most liberal representative in Arizona" (forgive the source) to one of the most moderate Democrats in the House. But even then, she was still one of 435. With the public view, she tacked even further to the right - so far that some are even questioning if she's more conservative than her newfound political idol Joe Manchin.

Her vote against the minimum wage was a perfect storm. Recall the mood for the moment. Democrats had just taken the Senate off of the backs of economic liberalism. We won in Geoorgia off of $15 and $1400. And when it came to $15, she not only voted no, she voted no in the most ostentatious way possible. Her new colleagues in Georgia voted for it. Her junior Senator voted for it. In fact, the only battleground Democrat to join her was Hassan - a Chamber of Commerce Democrat who was more concerned with its elimination of tipped minimum wages than anything else in the bill.

In contrast, the worst thing Manchin was the face of was sinking the nomination of a nominee the Bernie left saw as unqualified.

At best, Sinema is compromising her beliefs to try and be a dollar store John McCain. She embodies the old Democratic thought that I love to rant about. At worst, she has legitimately become a conservative because she's better off financially than she was 10 years ago.

[KaiserDave]

The massive hate train for Kyrsten Sinema is utterly ridiculous.  I'm surprised at the level of restraint she's shown given how dedicated a large part of the internet is to turning her into the next Hillary Clinton.

I'm sure this quote will be taken out of context and spread around like wildfire until the lie becomes the truth, just like Joe Biden's "nothing will fundamentally change."

She is being an obstacle to Joe Biden's own agenda, yeah, we're mad.

[Sir Mohamed]

The massive hate train for Kyrsten Sinema is utterly ridiculous.  I'm surprised at the level of restraint she's shown given how dedicated a large part of the internet is to turning her into the next Hillary Clinton.

I'm sure this quote will be taken out of context and spread around like wildfire until the lie becomes the truth, just like Joe Biden's "nothing will fundamentally change."

She is being an obstacle to Joe Biden's own agenda, yeah, we're mad.

Exactly. She's even not listening to polls showing Arizonians don't care about the filibuster and a higher minimum wage.

[GeneralMacArthur]

The massive hate train for Kyrsten Sinema is utterly ridiculous.  I'm surprised at the level of restraint she's shown given how dedicated a large part of the internet is to turning her into the next Hillary Clinton.

I'm sure this quote will be taken out of context and spread around like wildfire until the lie becomes the truth, just like Joe Biden's "nothing will fundamentally change."

I think the hate that Sinema attracts is that she embodies the "f**k you, I've got mine" mentality you saw in figures like Paul Ryan.

No she doesn't.  She didn't have this f--k you attitude at all up until about three weeks ago when the left decided to make her target #1 for harassment and bulls--t.

Maybe it's immature of her to punch back when most politicians (e.g. Hillary) try to let that kind of s--t bounce off them and be above it.  I know if I was a politician and people (allegedly on my side) started writing hit pieces on me every day and flaming my social media accounts and began a coordinated campaign to spread lies about me and misrepresent my quotes and actions (as in the story of this very thread), I'd probably tell them to go f--k themselves multiple times a day.  I'd probably hire a social media manager whose entire job would be to "correct the record" every time someone came up with a new lie to spread about me, and another whose job would be to dunk on the idiots who believe those lies -- or as is more often the case, pretend to believe them to generate social proof.

The left chose to make her a target by lying about her $15 minimum wage vote.  They invented this fantasy where she dressed up as an anime character and "did a Fortnite dance" after french-kissing Mitch McConnell to singlehandedly kill millions of poor people.  And spread that around until everyone in your small corner of the party believed it as gospel.

None of this has anything to do with politics.  A politician was targeted by a bunch of assholes for relentless demonization, and has since then been reacting according to her personality.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Her vote against the minimum wage was a perfect storm. Recall the mood for the moment. Democrats had just taken the Senate off of the backs of economic liberalism. We won in Geoorgia off of $15 and $1400. And when it came to $15, she not only voted no, she voted no in the most ostentatious way possible. Her new colleagues in Georgia voted for it. Her junior Senator voted for it. In fact, the only battleground Democrat to join her was Hassan - a Chamber of Commerce Democrat who was more concerned with its elimination of tipped minimum wages than anything else in the bill.

In contrast, the worst thing Manchin was the face of was sinking the nomination of a nominee the Bernie left saw as unqualified.

Man I love how you're cherry-picking Democratic senators whose votes "matter" here when 8 Democrats voted against it.

You even say "in contrast, Joe Manchin..." even though Joe Manchin also voted against the $15 amendment.

You even say "the only battleground Democrat who joined her was Hassan" even though both NH Dems voted no.  But I guess NH is only a battleground state when it's Hassan.  And of course Tester's seat (he also voted no) is Safe Dem so Montana's not a battleground.

Also I love how the left, who spent tons of energy attacking Ossoff and Warnock right up until the moment they got elected (as one does when one is a fifth column), immediately decided they deserved full credit for that victory and that the only reason we won Georgia was because of [whatever pet issue is pertinent in the current conversation].

Finally, "the most ostentatious way possible" is not true at all.  Plenty of senators vote yes/no using thumbs up/down.  You guys just feigned ignorance about the Senate so you could pretend Sinema is the only senator to ever do this.  Oh, or maybe it wasn't the thumbs down, it was her bending her knees a little bit when she did it.  That six-inch bend of the knees is the difference between a normal "no" vote and "the most ostentatious no vote ever" huh?  Give me a break.  And also who cares how she delivered her vote?  It has nothing to do with politics.  It has nothing to do with anything!  Sinema is working with Romney right now to come up with a bill to reduce student debt -- a bipartisan bill that actually has a chance of passing.  That's what a good conservadem does and that's why she's there.  That's what actually matters -- not "oh she bent her knee when she voted no on daddy's pointless show amendment."

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

Only one other D Senator has decided that Mitch McConnell gets veto power as a matter of principle.

She deserves every bit of criticism that she gets, that she brought twitter trolls on herself with a meaningless gesture is just a chef's kiss.

And you are utterly delusional if you think any substantial relief would even get Romney's vote much less 9 of his colleagues.

A 'good conservadem' isn't a thing and Mitt Romney isn't king of legislation, we shouldn't have to have an amoral venture capitalist on board for all policy.

[Literally Just a Contrarian]

Queen sh**t.

[free my dawg]

Lot to rebut here, folks:

No she doesn't.  She didn't have this f--k you attitude at all up until about three weeks ago when the left decided to make her target #1 for harassment and bulls--t.

Yeah, you totally missed my point. Read my post again and you'll get it.

Maybe it's immature of her to punch back when most politicians (e.g. Hillary) try to let that kind of s--t bounce off them and be above it.  I know if I was a politician and people (allegedly on my side) started writing hit pieces on me every day and flaming my social media accounts and began a coordinated campaign to spread lies about me and misrepresent my quotes and actions (as in the story of this very thread), I'd probably tell them to go f--k themselves multiple times a day.  I'd probably hire a social media manager whose entire job would be to "correct the record" every time someone came up with a new lie to spread about me, and another whose job would be to dunk on the idiots who believe those lies -- or as is more often the case, pretend to believe them to generate social proof.

And I think you've made it very clear you're only willing to care about Bro Discourse when it's the center being attacked. When it's the left, suddenly it's "not that bad" and it stops mattering.

I think you're pretending to care about her being harassed more because you agree with Sinema on this issue, but hey.

The left chose to make her a target by lying about her $15 minimum wage vote.  They invented this fantasy where she dressed up as an anime character and "did a Fortnite dance" after french-kissing Mitch McConnell to singlehandedly kill millions of poor people.  And spread that around until everyone in your small corner of the party believed it as gospel.

None of this has anything to do with politics.  A politician was targeted by a bunch of assholes for relentless demonization, and has since then been reacting according to her personality.

There's a video of her Fortnite dancing on the poor. Actually, you yourself even wrote up some cringe post defending her actions and saying that it was actually a Fortnite dance on the left for "harassing" her.

You know, because in MacArthur's world, if you're mean to the centrists online, you don't deserve a living wage.

[Diabolical Materialism]

Everyone, especially GeneralMacArthur, needs to get off Twitter and go outside. This sh1t is rotting your brain.

[free my dawg]

Man I love how you're cherry-picking Democratic senators whose votes "matter" here when 8 Democrats voted against it.

You even say "in contrast, Joe Manchin..." even though Joe Manchin also voted against the $15 amendment.

Manchin didn't publicly attach his face to the repeal. The only others to vote no in such an ostentatious way were Carper and Coons - who are well-known assholes.

You even say "the only battleground Democrat who joined her was Hassan" even though both NH Dems voted no.  But I guess NH is only a battleground state when it's Hassan.  And of course Tester's seat (he also voted no) is Safe Dem so Montana's not a battleground.

Almost like Shaheen is more entrenched, has a stronger reputation in New Hampshire, and has drawn weaker competition than Hassan has.

I also don't consider Manchin or Tester "battleground Senators". I didn't include them because I think they're both DOA come 2024.

Also I love how the left, who spent tons of energy attacking Ossoff and Warnock right up until the moment they got elected (as one does when one is a fifth column), immediately decided they deserved full credit for that victory and that the only reason we won Georgia was because of [whatever pet issue is pertinent in the current conversation].

lmao where did I ever do this? I've been very consistently defending Ossoff and Warnock ideologically (especially Warnock). I originally thought running Ossoff was a bad idea in the beginning because of his past performance, and believed Perdue would eke it out until the last week of the campaign, but I'm just a little bit sure he's shown he's improved.

Finally, "the most ostentatious way possible" is not true at all.  Plenty of senators vote yes/no using thumbs up/down.  You guys just feigned ignorance about the Senate so you could pretend Sinema is the only senator to ever do this.

He says, as I acknowledge a page beforehand that she was not the only Senator who did this. If you want my honest opinion, it was a very clumsy attempt to emulate John McCain's infamous thumbs down. Meanwhile, you not only acknowledged that she did it, but you defended it.

I personally have been more concerned with the fact that she voted no on the minimum wage. Mainly my two Senators deciding to simp for the GOP. Shaheen was just doing her donors' bidding when she voted no. Hassan was attempting to court them.

Oh, or maybe it wasn't the thumbs down, it was her bending her knees a little bit when she did it.  That six-inch bend of the knees is the difference between a normal "no" vote and "the most ostentatious no vote ever" huh?  Give me a break.  And also who cares how she delivered her vote?  It has nothing to do with politics.  It has nothing to do with anything!  Sinema is working with Romney right now to come up with a bill to reduce student debt -- a bipartisan bill that actually has a chance of passing.  That's what a good conservadem does and that's why she's there.  That's what actually matters -- not "oh she bent her knee when she voted no on daddy's pointless show amendment."

All while you conveniently leave out that Joe Biden has been pushing for $15. A $15 minimum wage increase is a mainstream Democratic priority now. Ossoff and Warnock won on $15 and $1400, not $11 and vague promises of bipartisanship. Of course, Biden is not an idiot and isn't going to scuttle important things like COVID relief because Sinema and Friends didn't vote for it. Comparing her to Hillary Clinton is an insult to Hillary herself.

[Sestak]

You even say "in contrast, Joe Manchin..." even though Joe Manchin also voted against the $15 amendment.

There is a large perception that has been created over the past few months (fueled by 'Manchin cycle' memes etc.) that Manchin is going eventually kowtow to Biden's policies after making lots of noise against it. With Sinema, that isn't really there at the moment. In addition, Sinema's line on the filibuster is much harsher than Manchin (Manchin is open to further reforms, Sinema is not and actually wants to bring back the filibuster for judges), making her quite clearly the largest threat in Congress to Biden's agenda.

And yes, while you don't particularly care about the more progressive policy planks Biden ran on, he did run on them and they were a big part of selling his campaign as "the most progressive in history". So people getting upset at a single member for derailing that is understandable; it's no different than the intense dislike here for Joe Lieberman having killed the public option. Admittedly there is some speculation going on here with Sinema, but again - her filibuster position is the single biggest obstacle to much of Biden's agenda.

Also I love how the left, who spent tons of energy attacking Ossoff and Warnock right up until the moment they got elected (as one does when one is a fifth column), immediately decided they deserved full credit for that victory and that the only reason we won Georgia was because of [whatever pet issue is pertinent in the current conversation].

Who the hell are you talking about here? I don't remember even a single poster here saying this about Ossoff/Warnock during the runoff campaign; in fact, most of the lefty posters here were quite enthusiastic about them (especially Warnock) potentially becoming senators. This conflation of posters here with idiots on Twitter is by far the most obnoxious thing you consistently do - given your position within the Democratic party, probably 30-40% of the country holds views to the left of yours, and you consistently try to present some of the dumbest morons on the planet as representative of all of their views.

[GeneralMacArthur]

There's a video of her Fortnite dancing on the poor. Actually, you yourself even wrote up some cringe post defending her actions and saying that it was actually a Fortnite dance on the left for "harassing" her.

You know, because in MacArthur's world, if you're mean to the centrists online, you don't deserve a living wage.

The $15 minimum wage is a terrible idea and being against it doesn't mean that you hate the poor.  A $15 minimum wage would be awful for the poor because it would eliminate the jobs they need.

Bending your knees while you vote is not the same thing as a Fortnite dance.  Sinema doesn't even know what Fortnite is.  You guys just made up this "Fortnite Dance" talking point because it sounds a lot worse than what actually happened.  Just like you made up the "she gave Mitch McConnell a big kiss before voting to kill the poor" talking point.

Sinema announced days ahead of the vote that she was against it, along with 8 other Democrats.  For this, she was the target of a massive online smear campaign, which turned her vote from a "no" into a "hell no."  I fully support that.

The $15 minimum wage amendment needed 60 votes to pass and it got 42.  It wasn't a legitimate amendment in the first place, it was written with zero expectation that it would actually pass, and Sanders knew it would fail, but he introduced it anyway purely as a wedge issue to divide the party, like the asshole he is.

But listening to you and your friends, one would think that Sinema singlehandedly killed this amendment.  You're all just pretending to be too stupid to understand how the process works so you can fool other people who legitimately don't understand how the process works.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Manchin didn't publicly attach his face to the repeal. The only others to vote no in such an ostentatious way were Carper and Coons - who are well-known assholes.

Almost like Shaheen is more entrenched, has a stronger reputation in New Hampshire, and has drawn weaker competition than Hassan has.

I also don't consider Manchin or Tester "battleground Senators". I didn't include them because I think they're both DOA come 2024.

Man look at those goalposts shifting in real time.  You created an incredibly small circle of Senators whose votes matter so you could hate the ones you want to hate and hand-wave away the rest.

He says, as I acknowledge a page beforehand that she was not the only Senator who did this. If you want my honest opinion, it was a very clumsy attempt to emulate John McCain's infamous thumbs down. Meanwhile, you not only acknowledged that she did it, but you defended it.

She wasn't emulating anyone.  She voted no via a thumbs down just like dozens of other Senators do on a daily basis.  And I defended it because there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, unless you're a Twitter leftist trying to gin up some faux outrage against a Senator you've decided to hate.

All while you conveniently leave out that Joe Biden has been pushing for $15. A $15 minimum wage increase is a mainstream Democratic priority now. Ossoff and Warnock won on $15 and $1400, not $11 and vague promises of bipartisanship. Of course, Biden is not an idiot and isn't going to scuttle important things like COVID relief because Sinema and Friends didn't vote for it. Comparing her to Hillary Clinton is an insult to Hillary herself.

I've said many times that I disagree with Joe Biden on this issue.  Believe it or not you can still like a politician without hero worshipping him and shifting your ideology to match exactly with his positions.

Ossoff and Warnock ran on like 100 different things and a $15 minimum wage was a pretty minor issue in the race.  The main issue in the race was Trump's stolen election rhetoric.  The second-most-important issue was COVID.  Other than that the race was mostly a personality contest.  We heard about "Defund the Police" 100x more than the minimum wage, which didn't even come up in the Loeffler-Warnock debate.

[free my dawg]

There you have it, folks.



I can't even imagine the amount of egregious privilege it takes to actually believe what MacArthur does.

[Sestak]

But listening to you and your friends, one would think that Sinema singlehandedly killed this amendment.  You're all just pretending to be too stupid to understand how the process works so you can fool other people who legitimately don't understand how the process works.

Manchin and Sinema, together, did kill this amendment on their own. None of the other Dem Senators who voted against announced any position before those two; they were waiting for them to decide. If Manchin and Sinema had stated openness there is literally no doubt in the mind of anyone paying attention that the remaining votes could not be (easily) mopped up by whipping votes. And yes, it is entirely within the power of a 50+1 majority of the Senate, if they actually supported the policy, to change the threshold from 60 to 50+1. Once Manchin and Sinema opposed it, the rest saw it as a free vote where they could signal.

Also, with the PRO Act (the subject of this thread), Sinema is for all intents and purposes the only one holding it up - Manchin announced he was going to cosponsor the bill earlier this week. In fact, many were hoping that this bill would be the one that would open Manchin to reforming the filibuster somewhat, since it appeals to him much more than other legislation on social issues, election law, or healthcare and holds absolutely zero chance of passing in any form on the 60 vote threshold. But now if Sinema might not even support it at all, both this bill and lots of other parts of Biden's agenda might be close to completely dead.

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

$15 minimum wage is a junk policy. Good for Sinema for voting against it. The theatrics and flash aren't the best look, though. Sinema shouldn't be dunking or belittling anyone about this; it may be mediocre economic policy, but the people proposing it have good intentions. I don't think she should be wearing "f you" rings or attacking people on Twitter. Bad look for a politician. I'm not against dunking people on Twitter, but it should be more like AOC. AOC's dunks are generally more well thought out so I have more respect for her

And yes, while you don't particularly care about the more progressive policy planks Biden ran on, he did run on them and they were a big part of selling his campaign as "the most progressive in history".

To be fair, Biden talks out of both sides of his asshole. He's a typical politician who tries to tell everyone exactly what they want to hear. He also said he would be a President for all Americans, and that he would try to work with both sides

[Adam Griffin]

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

I like how those who feel the need to defend one of those most privileged persons on the planet from the horrors of people being rude online make this about the minimum wage vote.
She is demanding that all legislation be approved by Mitt Romney and nine of his closest friends for no apparent reason. Also taking money from the chamber of commerce and doing NRA (restaurant industry, not guns) fundraisers precludes you from demanding that liberals be 'on your side'.

[GeneralMacArthur]

But listening to you and your friends, one would think that Sinema singlehandedly killed this amendment.  You're all just pretending to be too stupid to understand how the process works so you can fool other people who legitimately don't understand how the process works.

Manchin and Sinema, together, did kill this amendment on their own. None of the other Dem Senators who voted against announced any position before those two; they were waiting for them to decide. If Manchin and Sinema had stated openness there is literally no doubt in the mind of anyone paying attention that the remaining votes could not be (easily) mopped up by whipping votes. And yes, it is entirely within the power of a 50+1 majority of the Senate, if they actually supported the policy, to change the threshold from 60 to 50+1. Once Manchin and Sinema opposed it, the rest saw it as a free vote where they could signal.

The minimum wage needed 60 votes to pass.  The authoritarian fantasy where the VP overrides the parliamentarian to force through illegal legislation was never going to happen.

It's amazing how much you'll go out of your way to blame Sinema for singlehandedly killing this amendment that was never written with intent to pass.  Apparently she controls the votes of 7 other Democrats.  You guys just have to blame her because you can't accept that $15 failed on its merits.

[GeneralMacArthur]

I like how those who feel the need to defend one of those most privileged persons on the planet from the horrors of people being rude online make this about the minimum wage vote.
She is demanding that all legislation be approved by Mitt Romney and nine of his closest friends for no apparent reason. Also taking money from the chamber of commerce and doing NRA (restaurant industry, not guns) fundraisers precludes you from demanding that liberals be 'on your side'.

I'm online.  So yes, I engage with other people online.  And when they behave like middle school bullies, or act like know-it-all 15 year olds when they actually have a very poor understanding of government, I'm going to tell them they suck.

"Lol I won because you paid attention to me" way to be a little kid.

[GeneralMacArthur]

There you have it, folks.

I can't even imagine the amount of egregious privilege it takes to actually believe what MacArthur does.

Step 1:  Make a bunch of ridiculous demands in the most obnoxious way possible ("vote for our policy or you literally want poor people to die")
Step 2:  Behave like colicky babies when you don't get what you want
Step 3:  Blame your poor behavior for why you didn't get what you wanted, instead of your poor policy.
Step 4:  Insult the other side for caring about your poor behavior

The reality is, your policies don't become law because they suck.  And people hate your movement because you act like mean little children.  You conflate the two (as with this Aren LeBrun meme that got spread all around the internet) as a shield.  "Our policies are perfect, nobody could have possibly voted against them on the merits.  They must be voting against them because we act like mean little children.  LOL imagine voting to kill poor people because of mean tweets."

It's bizarre, sociopathic behavior.  I blame social media for teaching young people that it's ok to behave this way.  Nobody would ever act like this in real life around other real people.  And as the meme shows, y'all are self-aware about it.  You know you're behaving like mean little children, but you think politicians should ignore that and vote for your policies anyway.  Which they would -- if your policies didn't suck.

It's also 100% self-delusion.  Y'all just can't accept that real people who really do care about poor people still oppose a $15 national minimum wage on the merits of the policy.  Because Bernie's platform is basically a religion now and it's unimaginable that someone would actually oppose it for legitimate reasons, because it's flawless -- they must be bad people who had bad person reasons for opposing it.

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

Today I learned that a majority passing legislation is an authoritarian fantasy.

But we get it there Rahm, you don't want actual policy changes Democrats are just placeholder not Republicans for you. You can just cool it a little on your endless quest to scold those damn kids who expect legislatures to do things.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Today I learned that a majority passing legislation is an authoritarian fantasy.

But we get it there Rahm, you don't want actual policy changes Democrats are just placeholder not Republicans for you. You can just cool it a little on your endless quest to scold those damn kids who expect legislatures to do things.

Rules are rules.  You don't like 'em?  That's fine, change the rules.  There's a mechanism in place to do that.

What you can't do is just decide to ignore the rules when you don't like them.  That's like if you threw a pitch, it was a foul, and you said "screw you ump, my entire team voted and we said it was a strike, so we win."  I don't support that, a majority of the country doesn't support that -- but that's not a majority that matters to you I suppose.

[Sestak]

The minimum wage needed 60 votes to pass.  The authoritarian fantasy where the VP overrides the parliamentarian to force through illegal legislation was never going to happen.

"Illegal legislation" lmao. Illegal under what law?

The 50-60 vote threshold is entirely the creation of the Senate and the Senate can do with it whatever it wants, whenever it wants. Both times the nuclear option was invoked involved this exact same process - the Senate voted to overrule the ruling of the parliamentarian, setting a new precedent for their rules. The Senate could have done the same here to alter the Byrd rule -their ability to do so is constitutionally enshrined. The parliamentarian is not an office with any constitutional or legal power. In fact (as I mentioned during the debate), the Senate did reverse parliamentarian decisions on reconciliation eligibility back in 2001 and no one cared. But somehow now it's a big deal of "illegal legislation" etc. because it's the Democrats trying to do it.

Also, as I have repeatedly stated before, I blame Manchin just as much as Sinema for the minimum wage vote. But ofc people on the Democratic side have been bemoaning Manchin's position for years on end, so not exactly that surprising that they focus on the newer arrival for a little bit.

Also, as I've noted, the primary problem with Sinema is on stuff like this union bill, where she's clearly to the right of Manchin and the primary obstacle to it passing. And quite frankly (unlike Manchin) Sinema pretty clearly seems to be perfectly fine with killing 90% of the Democratic agenda just so she can be remembered 30 years later for "saving the filibuster" or whatever, without any thought as to the consequences of the legislation she's killing.


Obviously, if Sinema was lying when she made this comment about the PRO Act and actually plans on supporting the legislation, then it's all fine. But right now we have no indication that that's the case. And if she wasn't lying to them, that leaves us with, as you mention, two options:

1. The merits: Sinema opposes unions.
2. The petty option: Sinema doesn't actually oppose unions but will still vote against them because Bernie people are pro-union.

Is it that hard to understand why someone who takes either of these lines is very frustrating to have as a vote the Democrats have to rely on?

[Sestak]

Rules are rules.  You don't like 'em?  That's fine, change the rules.  There's a mechanism in place to do that.

The mechanism for changing the rules is overruling the parliamentarian; while there is an official textualized Senate Rules, the actual operation of the Senate is governed by a long set of precedents set by the senate itself. Some of the most prominent changes to the Senate rules (such as nuclear option for judges) were actually handled this way - no changes were ever made to the text; the Senate just overruled the parliamentarian in order to set a new precedent which has since stood as the rule.