Hypocrisy in Current Politics
The Case of Manchin & Sinema
Democrats are being kind to Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin by not pointing out their hypocrisy.
Being hypocritical is different from being merely insincere in that hypocrisy presumes action. Insincerity is just a statement. Hypocrisy is evident when one’s actions do not conform to a person’s claims of moral standards. A commonly espoused example is in the repeated misbehaviors of Mitch McConnell, who regularly votes in ways that do not conform to previously stated standards, as in the impeachments of Clinton vs. Trump or in the Supreme Court approvals of Garland vs. Barrett or in objections to modifying the filibuster after doing it himself (and which he’ll readily do again once Republicans have a Senate majority).
How can McConnell justify a change in moral standards so frequently? He cannot, but he doesn’t care, because people who agree with his actions do not require moral justification. When political actions agree with one’s political stand, most people wear blinders, and politicians ignore prior moral rationalizations — because they can. Hypocritical politicians avoid rationalizations, knowing their base doesn’t care, and when cornered for specifics, they just lie.
Hypocrisies Uncovered?
Democrats don’t hesitate to point out the hypocrisies of Republican McConnell, but are loath to point out hypocrisies within their own party.
Kyrsten Sinema’s and Joe Manchin’s objections to the Build Back Better bill are a case in point. They pretend that some ideology or concern for their constituents are at stake when what’s truly at stake is their personal benefit, both financial and reputational.
- If Manchin cared about the coal miners of West Virginia and elsewhere, he would propose funding to train them for new positions and compensation for lost wages as coal is going away. He knows it’s going away eventually. Wouldn’t this be the time to deal with it instead of avoiding it? Why not live with the clear advantages of the BBB bill to Americans and, at the same time, truly help coal miners? (Manchin is heavily invested in fossil fuels.)
- Sinema… Who knows what she wants? She’ll tell us only what she doesn’t want. She objects to “too much money in the BBB bill.” Compared to what? Where is her detailed analysis of cost vs. benefit? Why does she want to “protect” billionaires from the loss of tax loopholes and certain big pharmaceutical firms from overcharging on prescriptions? Who’s holding her feet to the fire, or is it just a matter of personal gain? (Sinema gets huge donations from pharmaceutical companies.)
Of course, Manchin and Sinema are not the only disingenuous politicians involved. So much Democratic criticism is being targeted at them as obstacles to the “Biden Agenda” that we might forget the fifty Republicans in the Senate who are voting as a block to defeat attempts to bring real progress to the American people. What is this potential “real progress”?
Build Back Better
Polls indicate that most Americans favor the essentially progressive elements of the BBB:
(a) Fighting climate change,
(b) Critical assistance to Americans struggling to afford skyrocketing prescription drug costs,
(c) Reducing insurance premiums,
(d) Medical, dental, hearing and vision insurance coverage,
(e) Children’s health insurance program,
(f) Home and community care services,
(g) Maternal health improvements,
(h) Transition of released prisoners into the community,
(i) Funding to assist 9/11 survivors and responders,
(j) Advanced research projects for healthcare breakthrough technologies,
(k) Funding to rebuild and modernize public health departments and health care facilities,
(l) Improved electric transmission infrastructure,
(m) Reduced cost of childcare,
(n) Lead pipe replacement,
(o) Enhanced Internet,
(p) Improving the 9–1–1 service,
(q) Enhanced access to the internet for students,
(r) Identification of critical manufacturing supply chain vulnerabilities, and
(s) Consumer privacy and data protection.
Too much money?
For which of these enhancements to American progress do Sinema and Manchin (and the entire block of Republican legislators) want to cut funding in whole or in part? If in part, by how much and why? They won’t say. Instead, they simply contend that “it’s too much money,” without regard for what it buys.
They’re not being merely insincere, they’re being hypocritical, because their obstructive actions are critically damaging American progress. This is not the time to be kind with euphemisms about who these Senators are. It’s time to be straight with the American people.