Joe Manchin said on Tuesday he is committed to voting against packing the courts or ending the legislative filibuster no matter what situation
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best excerpts:
Manchin said that this summer's rallying cry of progressives, "Defund the Police," made no sense to the typical voter.
With a sense of exasperation, he exclaimed, "Defund, my butt.”
"Defund, my butt!" he said in response to the idea of stripping funding of police departments
He also went after the socialist wing of the party for demanding "Medicare for all."
"Hell, we're not able to take care of the Medicare for some that have earned it. I said, Christ, you want Medicare for all, you'd better take care of the some you already owe it to,” he said. “Next of all, let's work and clean up the Affordable Care Act. Let's get some Republicans to help us truly get a good healthcare bill. Some people want to know what we stand for, these are the things we've always stood for,” he said
Manchin, who says he shares a warm relationship with Biden, said if he had his ear, he’d tell him to get to a couple of things immediately.
“First of all, you have to heal the country," he said. "We've got to fight this pandemic, the coronavirus. OK? Get our country back working again, then go right into infrastructure. It's all about the jobs. It's about bringing America up ... you know what? There's not a damn pothole in America that won't bust your tire, whether you're Democrat, Republican, it ain't going to protect either one of you. Basically, that's the one thing that we can all agree on. If it's a falling down bridge, it could be my bridge that falls down, could be my road, or my tire that gets busted. It could be basically just broadband and high speed, we need all the way over rural America.”
As for the question he gets asked the most, “Will he switch parties?” his answer remains the same. "Well, I've gotten that all the time because I'm so independent by vote. I still believe very strongly in Democratic principles and who we are, the party Democrat that wouldn't reach out to the bottom of their soul in order to try to help somebody."
He added, “But also, I believe that we have a responsibility to the people that can't help themselves, get them up and start making them do something. Don't just keep giving handouts. People just have the perception Democrats just want to give away everything. I don't. I wasn't raised that way. I'll help you if you're down and out. If you can't take care of yourself, I'll make sure we take care of you, but by golly, if you can contribute, get off your ass and start working.”