Out d’Coup | Manchin, the Filibuster, and the End of Biden’s Big Agenda; PA Republicans Prep Us for 2022 Election; Space News; Notch Brewing; New Shows

Joe Manchin decides to sink hopes of passing voting protections laid out in the For the People Act, taking out an editorial in West Virginia newspapers to spew nonsense about bipartisanship. His move happens, of course, while Republican state legislatures are passing voter suppression laws at a breakneck pace. 

A similar fate awaits Biden’s infrastructure plan as Manchin and Sinema refuse to get rid of the filibuster. Talks between Biden and West Virginia’s Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito fell apart after it was clear the Republican position “did not meet the essential needs of our country to restore our roads and bridges, prepare us for our clean energy future, and create jobs,” according to a statement from White House press secretary Jen Psaki. A new bipartisan proposal from a group of 10 senators led by Krysten Sinema and Mitt Romney was developed late yesterday, but sounds like it will gut all investment in climate infrastructure. Senator Markey and other Democratic Senators have said they will not vote for a bill that does not invest in necessary climate infrastructure. 

Turns out Trump’s justice department was secretly subpoenaing phone and other records from Democrats on House Intelligence committee. The practice continued under Biden’s administration until just a couple of weeks ago. 

The Keystone XL pipeline is dead. 

PA Republicans propose major changes in the Commonwealth’s election law, calling for stricter voter ID rules and restrictions on early voting. 

PA Republicans spent a good part of the week with attacks on women’s rights, passing more restrictive anti-abortion laws. 

The PA Senate also gleefully  passed a bill that prohibits PA health secretary from “mandating stay-at-home orders, imposing masking and social distancing guidelines, and ordering business closures.” The PA legislature also voted to end Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic disaster declaration this week. Republican Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward joyfully proclaimed: “for all practical purposes, the state of emergency in our Commonwealth is over.”

PASSHE hearings were held this week and Chancellor Daniel Greenstein spent much of the hearing happy texting on his phone. However, as Bill Schackner reported, with over 100 individuals calling in with comments, only ONE person endorsed plans for consolidation. 

Jeff Bezos announces that he is going to space with his brother for Blue Origin’s first crewed suborbital mission. Bezos announced his intentions in an Instagram video in which he said, “You see the earth from space and it changes you. It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. It’s one Earth. I want to go on this flight because it’s the thing I’ve wanted to do all my life. It’s an adventure. It’s a big deal for me.” Ah yes, that warm fuzzy feeling you get when the richest person on the planet gets to live out his boyhood dreams, built on the back of massive exploitation of Amazon’s workers. 

NASA says that Russia may pull out of the International Space Station. Russia has been a key international partner on the ISS since the beginning. NASA’s Chief administrator, Bill Nelson, is concerned that Russia may be looking to work more closely with China now that China has begun to build its own space station and has big lunar ambitions. 

Notch Brewing: Brave Noise - Pale Ale, brewed to show solidarity for all those that have suffered discriminatory behavior in the workplace, now available at our Salem Tap Room & Biergarten in 16oz 4-packs and on draft. The release party featuring @lagerdogofficial official and donation opportunities for @pinksbootssociety starts at 6pm!

New Show - Space Left