Republicans promise vote-a-rama 'hell' as Manchin, Sinema advance Dem social spending and tax bill

[Cough! Cough!]

In article <t0nnou$2id90$***@news.freedyn.de>
<***@gmail.com> wrote:
Republican senators are promising to make the Senate's upcoming
vote-a-rama "hell" for Democrats over their social spending and
tax bill, and are even threatening to tank a continuing
resolution as payback.

"What will vote-a-rama be like? It will be like hell," Sen.
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a press conference Thursday.
"They deserve this. As much as I admire Joe Manchin and Sinema
for standing up to the radical left at times, they're empowering
legislation that will make the average person's life more
difficult."

Graham added: "I'm hoping that we can come up with proposals
that will make sense to a few of them, and they will abandon
this jihad."

Sen. Manchin, D-W.Va., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer,
D-N.Y., announced last week a deal on bill Democrats plan to
pass using a process called budget reconciliation. That process
will allow them to get around the 60-vote filibuster threshold.

Support from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., was widely seen as
the biggest hurdle for Democrats to pass the bill, because they
will need all 50 of their votes to pass the legislation in the
evenly-divided Senate. Vice President Kamala Harris can break
ties.

Sinema announced Thursday that she supports moving forward with
the bill after Democrats made some changes to it. That move
likely sets the legislation on a path to passage.

First, Democrats will have to move through the procedures of the
reconciliation process, including a vote-a-rama, in which
senators are allowed to offer unlimited amendments to the bill.
The session can include dozens of votes and drag on for the
better part of a day, sometimes overnight into the wee hours of
the morning.

Senate GOP Conference Chair John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Friday
Republicans plan to introduce amendments on "energy, inflation,
border and crime," during the session.

Republicans hope to at least use the process to make Democrats
take uncomfortable votes ahead of the midterm elections. They
may also be able to change the bill with their amendments, and
perhaps sink it entirely if one of those successful amendments
causes some Democrats to oppose the bill.

"I think that these votes are going to be hard votes for
Democrats," Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., said. "And
I think the question for both Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema is
if any of these amendments succeed at the end, will you or will
you not vote for the wrap-around amendment?"

A wrap-around amendment is an amendment party leadership often
offers at the end of a vote-a-rama, which effectively negates
any amendments that passed. It is seen as a way to allow
vulnerable members to vote the way they need to on any tough
issues brought up by the minority, but prevent any changes from
actually making it into the bill.

"They both said that they won't vote – after they felt like in
the American Rescue Plan they voted for a wrap-around amendment
and felt like they were misled by their leadership at the time –
that they would never vote for one of those again," Thune added.
"Are those amendments going to be amendments that actually might
change the bill, could make it better, might make it harder to
pass in the House. Who knows?"

Tough Senate votes are not the only way Republicans said they
plan to get back at Democrats Friday. Graham also mentioned a
part of Manchin's deal with Schumer that included a commitment
to vote on energy permitting reform at a later time, potentially
in a "continuing resolution" to fund the government.

Graham said he will oppose any such bill, even if he likes the
underlying policy, out of principle because it's connected to
the reconciliation bill.

"They're supposed to pay you back on the continuing resolution,"
Graham said. "You're supposed to get some things on permitting
reform that maybe I'll like. You're supposed to get some special
deal for some pipeline in West Virginia."

"I will not vote for a continuing resolution that is part of a
political payback scheme," Graham said. "Sen. Manchin, if you
think you're going to get 60 votes, to get to sweeteners that
can't be done in reconciliation, you need to think long and hard
about what you're doing."

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., also said he would oppose a
continuing resolution on those grounds.

Manchin, meanwhile, says that Republicans are being blinded by
partisanship and would be on board with the bill if Congress
were not so polarized.

"The thing I talk to my Republican friends, they always want to
make sure that – we've just got to have more energy. Well, guess
what? We're going to have a lot more," Manchin told Fox News
Digital Thursday. "We're going to drill a lot more… We're going
to build some more gas lines to take the energy. And we're going
to invest in the future, energy for the future."

"They always say, ‘well, we want to pay down debt.’ Well, we're
paying down $300 billion for the first time in 25 years,"
Manchin added.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/republicans-promise-vote-rama-
hell-manchin-sinema-advance-dem-social-spending-tax-bill

[BeamMeUpScotty]

Post by Cough! Cough!
Republican senators are promising to make the Senate's upcoming
vote-a-rama "hell" for Democrats over their social spending and
tax bill, and are even threatening to tank a continuing
resolution as payback.
"What will vote-a-rama be like? It will be like hell," Sen.
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a press conference Thursday.
"They deserve this. As much as I admire Joe Manchin and Sinema
for standing up to the radical left at times, they're empowering
legislation that will make the average person's life more
difficult."
Graham added: "I'm hoping that we can come up with proposals
that will make sense to a few of them, and they will abandon
this jihad."
Sen. Manchin, D-W.Va., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer,
D-N.Y., announced last week a deal on bill Democrats plan to
pass using a process called budget reconciliation. That process
will allow them to get around the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
Support from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., was widely seen as
the biggest hurdle for Democrats to pass the bill, because they
will need all 50 of their votes to pass the legislation in the
evenly-divided Senate. Vice President Kamala Harris can break
ties.
Sinema announced Thursday that she supports moving forward with
the bill after Democrats made some changes to it. That move
likely sets the legislation on a path to passage.
First, Democrats will have to move through the procedures of the
reconciliation process, including a vote-a-rama, in which
senators are allowed to offer unlimited amendments to the bill.
The session can include dozens of votes and drag on for the
better part of a day, sometimes overnight into the wee hours of
the morning.
Senate GOP Conference Chair John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Friday
Republicans plan to introduce amendments on "energy, inflation,
border and crime," during the session.
Republicans hope to at least use the process to make Democrats
take uncomfortable votes ahead of the midterm elections. They
may also be able to change the bill with their amendments, and
perhaps sink it entirely if one of those successful amendments
causes some Democrats to oppose the bill.
"I think that these votes are going to be hard votes for
Democrats," Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., said. "And
I think the question for both Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema is
if any of these amendments succeed at the end, will you or will
you not vote for the wrap-around amendment?"
A wrap-around amendment is an amendment party leadership often
offers at the end of a vote-a-rama, which effectively negates
any amendments that passed. It is seen as a way to allow
vulnerable members to vote the way they need to on any tough
issues brought up by the minority, but prevent any changes from
actually making it into the bill.
"They both said that they won't vote – after they felt like in
the American Rescue Plan they voted for a wrap-around amendment
and felt like they were misled by their leadership at the time –
that they would never vote for one of those again," Thune added.
"Are those amendments going to be amendments that actually might
change the bill, could make it better, might make it harder to
pass in the House. Who knows?"
Tough Senate votes are not the only way Republicans said they
plan to get back at Democrats Friday. Graham also mentioned a
part of Manchin's deal with Schumer that included a commitment
to vote on energy permitting reform at a later time, potentially
in a "continuing resolution" to fund the government.
Graham said he will oppose any such bill, even if he likes the
underlying policy, out of principle because it's connected to
the reconciliation bill.
"They're supposed to pay you back on the continuing resolution,"
Graham said. "You're supposed to get some things on permitting
reform that maybe I'll like. You're supposed to get some special
deal for some pipeline in West Virginia."
"I will not vote for a continuing resolution that is part of a
political payback scheme," Graham said. "Sen. Manchin, if you
think you're going to get 60 votes, to get to sweeteners that
can't be done in reconciliation, you need to think long and hard
about what you're doing."
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., also said he would oppose a
continuing resolution on those grounds.
Manchin, meanwhile, says that Republicans are being blinded by
partisanship and would be on board with the bill if Congress
were not so polarized.
"The thing I talk to my Republican friends, they always want to
make sure that – we've just got to have more energy. Well, guess
what? We're going to have a lot more," Manchin told Fox News
Digital Thursday. "We're going to drill a lot more… We're going
to build some more gas lines to take the energy. And we're going
to invest in the future, energy for the future."
"They always say, ‘well, we want to pay down debt.’ Well, we're
paying down $300 billion for the first time in 25 years,"
Manchin added.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/republicans-promise-vote-rama-
hell-manchin-sinema-advance-dem-social-spending-tax-bill

That money the Democrats are passing through their Democrat run system
will be siphoned-off to fund the THEFT OF YET ANOTHER ELECTION CYCLE.

[Pelosi's Folly]

Everyone should have a voter ID card and a gun.

As the Senate gets ready to vote on the Manchin-Schumer energy
and healthcare bill, it will likely go through a "vote-a-rama"
before it can ultimately be passed.

For Republicans, a "vote-a-rama" gives them a chance to drag out
the process of getting the bill passed, but also set potential
traps for Senate Democrats by forcing them to vote on
controversial topics. But it won't be all one way, as Democrats
will be able to push the package through on a straight party-
line vote once the "vote-a-rama" is over and not have to worry
about the filibuster, according to CNN.

With that said, one question remains for many — what exactly is
a "vote-a-rama"? The measure requires lawmakers to vote on a
series of amendments in a way that can, and often does, drag on
for hours on end. Voting on the final bill cannot be made until
all the amendments of it have been “disposed of” or “voted on.”

The party in charge, in this case, the Democrats, typically
tries to move the "vote-a-rama" along as quickly as possible
with as few votes as possible. But the minority party, the
Republicans, will likely take the opportunity to force votes on
many different measures that its members typically do not have
the power to put on the floor.

Lawmakers will typically use a series of procedural maneuvers to
avoid voting on amendments and avoid the "vote-a-rama." However,
that isn't possible in a budget reconciliation process.

Every amendment typically goes through a similar process. A
lawmaker will introduce an amendment, each side gets the chance
to debate on it, and a vote is then taken. Overall, it usually
tasks about 15 minutes to get through an amendment. The much-
faster than usual timeframe also makes it vitally important for
members of Congress to stay in or be close to the chamber for
the entire marathon event to vote on every amendment.

The bill that will likely undergo this "vote-a-rama," should it
be passed, would empower Medicare to negotiate prices of certain
costly medications, penalize drug companies if they increase
their prices faster than inflation, and impose a 15% minimum tax
on corporations. In addition, it would slash carbon emissions by
40% in the United States by 2030, Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer’s office said.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) offered her support Thursday for the
deal. The bill would mark a political victory for Democrats
before November's midterm elections.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate/vote-a-rama-what-
is-it-manchin-schumer-vote-live

[Ed Buck]

Everyone should have a voter ID card and a gun.

The proposed legislative compromise between Democratic Sens. Joe
Manchin (WV) and Chuck Schumer (NY) would either boost the share
of electric vehicles on the road or undermine such efforts
completely — depending on whom you ask.

The bill, which would expand a $7,500 tax credit for U.S.
consumers who purchase electric vehicles, is aimed at
incentivizing U.S. companies to build out the supply chains for
critical mineral components used to make the cars — a longtime
goal of President Joe Biden. But many industry officials and
lawmakers have expressed concern that those supply chain
buildups could take years, undercutting the bill's prospects to
reduce emissions.

For EVs to qualify for the tax credit, a certain percentage of
their batteries and key minerals must be sourced from the United
States or a nation that is party to a U.S. free trade agreement
beginning next year.

That means “[to] the extent the policy is effective, it will
slant the market in the direction of American products,” George
Mason economist and Bloomberg columnist Tyler Cowen wrote.

But that’s an ambitious undertaking considering that most
critical resources needed in EV manufacturing — lithium, nickel,
cobalt, and graphite — are mined and processed in China, Russia,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia, none of
which are party to U.S. free trade agreements.

In the short term, this might drive up the cost of production,
cutting against the Biden administration’s climate goals and the
president's pledge to end all sales of gas-powered vehicles in
the U.S. by the year 2035.

“This is the one issue that may stop this proposal from going
forward,” Joseph McCabe, president and CEO of AutoForecast
Solutions, said in an interview. “The current language sets
aggressive time-based sourcing targets, which are considered
very difficult to hit. Basically, it is designed to push out the
reliance on countries like China but will most likely add
significant costs and stress on the supply chain.”

“And as costs go up, they are usually passed on to the
consumer,” he added. “We at AFS are expecting that the language
in the bill as it currently stands will need to be adjusted in
order to move forward.”

Robbie Diamond, CEO of the nonprofit group Securing America’s
Future Energy, said in an interview that building out these
supply chains can’t happen overnight.

“Broadly speaking,” he said, the measure “is an important step
for the United States. We can’t stop one dependence on oil for
transportation and go to a new dependence on batteries.”

“That said,” Diamond added, “they could make the provisions a
little bit more workable.” One such change he suggested would be
to broaden the definition of “free trade countries” in this
instance to include military alliances. This would allow for it
to be brought to NATO, he said, “and to two key non-NATO allies:
Japan, Argentina, and others that have certain components of the
supply chain as we continue to build it.”

The reaction from U.S. automakers has been mixed. Some, such as
Autos Drive America, which represents a dozen foreign
automakers, including Toyota and Volkswagen, said the group is
still working to understand the impact of the tax credit plan.

“We encourage Congress to steer clear of any policy that would
constrain electric vehicle production, hinder consumer adoption,
and make it more difficult to achieve our shared climate goals,”
CEO Jennifer Safavian said in a statement.

General Motors Co., for its part, struck an optimistic tone:
"While some of the provisions are challenging and cannot be
achieved overnight, we are confident that the significant
investments we are making in manufacturing, infrastructure and
supply chain along with the timely deployment of complementary
policies can establish the U.S. as a global leader in
electrification today, and into the future,” it said in a
statement.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-
environment/manchin-schumer-bill-has-key-weakness