At an energy conference, Manchin doesn't even pretend to care about his constituents or the environment
WV's senator uses "we" when speaking to a room full of oil and gas executives
From Kate Aronoff in today's New Republic:
At S&P Global’s CERAWeek—one of the continent’s largest energy conferences—Manchin seemed to present himself as a representative for the industry in Washington, offering the room pointers on how to deal with politicians.
“We haven’t been good at . . . you know, I say, ‘we,’” Manchin said, stumbling a bit, seeming to count himself among the assembled fossil fuel executives. “The energy—the leadership of energy in our country. We haven’t told our story. There’s an old story in politics: Tell your story before someone tells one on you. It’s hard to play defense. It’s much easier to run an offensive play, then make your adjustments.”
That was last Friday. Here is what Manchin did on Monday:
The following Monday, after long declining to state his position publicly, he came out against Biden’s nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to become the top banking cop at the Federal Reserve, as vice chair of supervision. Like his Republican colleagues on the Senate Banking Committee—who boycotted a vote on all pending Fed nominations over Raskin’s professed willingness to incorporate the reality of the climate crisis into banking rules—Manchin cited “the critical importance of financing an all-of-the-above energy policy to meet our nation’s critical energy needs.” By Tuesday afternoon, Raskin had withdrawn her nomination.
Later in the article:
He exhorted CERAWeek attendees to provide leadership in Washington and look for a “return on investment” from politicians who solicit campaign donations from them, or “mother’s milk,” as he called it.
He should know. As the article points out, Manchin is "the Senate’s top recipient of coal, oil, and gas donations." (Later in his speech, Manchin explains what he has done for his "investors.")
This is a well written and well-documented article. Read more by clicking on the link above or here:
Days before helping Republicans sink Sarah Bloom Raskin's Fed nomination, Joe Manchin told fossil fuel executives that they should seek a "return on investment" from the politicians they fund. Guess they listened!
— Kate Aronoff (@KateAronoff) March 15, 2022
Here's what else he told them: https://t.co/WXeP7WCL1y
