Recently I have seen several messages on Facebook posted by progressives attempting to shame the 8 moderate Senate Democrats who did not vote for the $15 minimum wage hike to become part of Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package.  It is obvious that those on the left who attacked those 8 Democrats need a lesson in practical politics.

First, normal Senate rules usually mandate that 60 votes are required to bring any legislation to the floor for a vote.  Since there was no chance that 10 Republican Senators were going to get on board it was necessary to invoke an exception to normal order called the budget reconciliation rules in order to enact the legislation. Under those rules, only a simple majority vote is necessary to enact budget legislation.  However one of the provisions of budget reconciliation is that legislation contain only “changes of spending or revenues”. 

President Biden, with his long history as a Senator, has long predicted that the minimum wage provision would not meet that test, and he was right.  That’s why he always said that he would probably have to address a minimum wage hike in a separate piece of legislation.  As expected the Senate parliamentarian, the authority on such matters, ruled that the minimum wage provision did not meet the test of being a “change of spending or revenue”.  Why? Simply because it would not increase or decrease the government’s spending or revenue; it would have only mandated that businesses pay their employees a higher minimum wage.   

Senator Sanders’ amendment to include the minimum wage provision in the relief package was most mostly for show. Those Democrats who voted for the provision knew it should not and would not be included in the bill, but a yes vote would cost them nothing and it would make them look good for their constituents back home. Those Senate Democrats who voted against the measure’s inclusion were simply and properly upholding the rules of the Senate.  I fully expect that if Joe Biden were still a Senator he would have voted against the amendment himself.

However, there is the much larger issue of the animosity of many on the left flank of the Democratic party towards moderate Democratic senators.  What they fail to grasp is that we have a very tenuous majority in the 50 – 50 Senate only because the voters in some Purple and Red states have elected Democrats to represent them in the Senate.  What is more important politically is that those men and women from those states would have had absolutely no chance of being elected had they been as progressive as Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.  Had they not approached politics from a moderate perspective, there is a high likelihood that many of their states would have elected their Republican opponents instead.  

So here is what it comes down to in practical political terms.  Would progressives rather have a moderate Democrats like Joe Manchin represent a Ruby Red state like West Virginia, which Trump won by the greatest percentage of votes in the 2020 election, or would they rather have Mitch McConnell in charge of the Senate.  I can guarantee you that if Manchin had been any more liberal during his time in the Senate, West Virginians would very likely long since elected a Republican to replace him. With Joe gone and Republicans holding a 51 to 49 majority in the Senate, the minimum wage provision would never have been an issue.  Mitch McConnell would have never let President Biden’s stimulus bill proceed to a vote in the Senate, or any other progressive legislation for that matter.

What some politically naive progressives don’t seem to understand is that in Purple states politicians of both parties have to espouse moderate stances on most issues if they want to get elected.  Supporting the politics too far to the left or too far to the right of center in those states is a political death sentence. In Red states like West Virginia, being a moderate or even a bit right of center moderate is an absolute necessity. 

In summary, moderate Democratic politicians in Purple and Red states can’t get elected if they adopt progressive stances on most issues.  And unless they can get elected, Democrats will not be able to control the Senate. Without a Democratic Senate majority, Mitch McConnel will insure that none of our agenda will become reality regardless of which party controls the House or who sits in the White House.

So if you are one of those progressives who gets upset about how some of our more moderate Democratic Senators may vote on a particular issue, be aware that when you display those emotions in public you also actually displaying your political naivete.  Just be happy that on most issues those moderate Democratic senators are on our side. 

In conclusion, remember what Bernie Sanders said after Democrats alone, with the help of Vice President Harris, passed the stimulus package in the Senate (even without the minimum wage provision included), “. . . this is the most significant legislation for working people that has been passed in decades”.  Also remember that it would not have passed without the votes of the eight moderate Democrats some on Facebook ignorantly tried to shame,.

Cajun  (Rick Guilbeau)   3/10/2021