Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema is such a woman of mystery that she has Democrats totally confused. This politician refuses to be trapped in a box of any variety but everyone who knows her agrees that her convictions are rock solid. The thing that has progressives totally flummoxed is they convinced Joe Manchin to cave in on their energy and climate scheme. That makes her the lone holdout. Her so-called colleagues are going spastic because they don’t know what she wants.
Democrats hanging in limbo
The clock is ticking down on the summer recess and Democrats are desperate to get their climate change deals through the Senate. Along with climate and energy provisions come significant changes to the tax code and Charles Schumer wants it all passed now. They finally got coal loving West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin on board. Sinema is a whole different situation.
Once again, she refuses to drink the Kool-Aid in the party punch bowl. Her conservative constituents take notice every time she does something like this. Republicans give her more favorable ratings than Arizona liberals do and they’re already threatening to primary her in a couple years.
Schumer is hammering her incessantly to back the plan. He “hopes she’ll be a ‘yes‘ on the motion to proceed to the measure, but the Arizona centrist hasn’t said whether she backs it.” They keep dialing.
“We’re in touch with Senator Sinema, we’re in touch with all of the members, and we’re hopeful — I’m very hopeful — we’re all going to stay united and pass this bill,” Chuck told the media on Tuesday afternoon. Democrats spent a whole week in “secret negotiations” with Manchin before he caved in and sold his Senate vote soul.
Democrats love the fact that Sinema is bisexual. They hate that she’s bipolitical. Her DINO proclivities should stay safely stuffed in the closet, they warn. She spends way too much time contemplating the conservative side of the issues. As the hill describes, “seven days later, Senate Democrats still don’t know where Sinema stands. Her office says she is reviewing the legislation and waiting for the Senate parliamentarian’s review of the text.”
She actually has the nerve to want to know what effect the bill will have if she approves it. How ghastly.
A 700-page bill
The next thing Sinema will be telling Senate Democrats is that she wants to read the whole 700-page bill. Whether she does or not, they’re dragging it to the floor for a vote on Thursday or Friday. They don’t want to make that seem like an ultimatum, but it is and she knows it. That makes her want to vote “no” even more.
Conservatives in Arizona say: “You go girl! Don’t give in to the pressure.” This is why they practically invited her to have Jeff Flake’s seat. No matter what she ends up deciding on this one, she’s already proven herself more conservative than he was.
They don’t want to actually hold their breath over it but “Republicans think there’s a good chance that Sinema may derail the legislation.” Mitch McConnell “slammed the deal as terrible.”
It looks like Sinema might agree and totally disappoint the Democrats. “I would say to our friend Joe Manchin, he made a terrible deal, a terrible deal. How he can defend this from a West Virginia point of view or think of it as a centrist kind of agreement is astonishing,” McConnell stated.
North Dakota’s Republican Senator Kevin Cramer also thinks Sinema will hang tough in opposition.
“I always have faith in her. I don’t know how it will come out. I have great faith she’s going to do what she feels is right. She’s more convicted than she is transactional.” There is no doubt that if the Democrats get their climate and tax items in, the inflation spike will blast even higher.
