Letters to the Editor: What do Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema really want?

To the editor: It seems that nothing satisfies Sen. Manchin Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). First he was against any measures that might hurt the coal industry. Now he doesn’t want to tax billionaires, saying he’d rather not “penalize” them.

It has been reported that Manchin has made a lot of money from the fossil fuel industry. I wonder if the people in his state are aware of that conflict of interest.

Maybe President Biden should hold a town hall in West Virginia and insist that Manchin be there. He should be forced to explain to his constituents why he is against paid family leave and improving the environment, and why he gets so much money from the coal industry.

He keeps balking at raising the deficit. Do his constituents know that the president’s plan was to include taxes on the wealthiest Americans and not raise the deficit? It would be interesting to find out if the people of West Virginia are aware of that.

After that town hall, perhaps Biden could hold another one in Arizona with Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. I’m tired of our country being held hostage by two people.

Linda Cooper, Studio City

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To the editor: Please, will the media stop referring to Manchin as a “centrist” or a “moderate”?

He and Sinema are anything but centrist. They are obstructionists, paving the way for a Republican victory in 2022 and beyond, and serving the interests of their wealthy contributors and lobbyists instead of the American people.

Using the term centrist only plays along with the Republicans’ propaganda trying to paint the Democrats’ agenda as radically leftist, when it is only trying to bring our country up to par with other Western democracies’ social safety nets and action on climate change.

Jocelyne Fine, North Hollywood