Most of us are already weary of the months of public infighting between progressive and moderate Democrats which brought the advancement of both the infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better legislation to a screeching halt. Both sides made frequent appearances on cable news programs to try to rally the public to their causes. Watching how politically sausage is made is never a pretty sight, but in this case it has been downright disgusting.
The loss of the governorship in Virginia, the first Republican statewide victory in that state in eleven years, should be a stark reminder of things to come in the mid-term elections if Congressional democrats can’t get their act together.
Enough already! Get it done! NOW!!!
Today: As I write this 6:20 EST Friday, 11/5/21, the latest word is that the House will try to vote on the very popular $1.2 Trillion infrastructure bill which was approved in the Senate in early August by a 69-30 vote with 19 Republican voting to approve with Democrats. House leaders had also scheduled a vote on the paired down $1.8 Trillion Build Back Better bill, but that effort has again run into a snag and probably be delayed. Then again, I have little confidence that the House vote on the infrastructure bill will take place today either. If a vote is held, it is likely that that some progressives will against it.
It is past time to get the attention of the warring Congressional Democrats by threatening to hit them where it hurts, their ability to make it through the primaries in their next election cycle. Politicians seem to value their ability to remain in power above all other considerations.
Make them vote “No’: Recently the House leadership has set numerous deadlines for bringing the very popular infrastructure bill up for a vote. Each of those deadlines has passed with now without House action because the votes for passage simply weren’t there.
It is time to bring the infrastructure legislation for a vote in the House whether the votes to pass it are available or not. Call the bluff of those progressive House Democrats who promised to vote “no” on the infrastructure bill unless they get their way on the Build Back Better bill and get it passed as well. If they still vote “No”, and eventually nothing gets done on either bill, they have to explain to their constituents why they voted “no” on the infrastructure bill that would have provided many benefits for their districts. With that negative vote hanging around their necks I’ll bet that they will be more willing to compromise in order to get both bills passed when they come up for votes in the future.
My prescription for success in passing both bills is the same for the Senate. Of course, the Senate has already passed the infrastructure bill, but Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Senate Joe Manchin of West Virginia have been the obstacles preventing passage of the Build Back Better bill in the upper chamber. Negotiations between progressives and moderates on the scope and contents of this bill have continued for far too long.
What needs to be done is for the House to put together the best possible Build Back Better bill based on the current stage of negotiations and bring it up for a vote in the House. Again, put on the spot those progressive and moderates who dare to pretend that they might vote against the bill which will benefit so many Americans and would be a major step in moderating climate change. Make them record their vote for the record.
Assuming that the slimmed-down Build Back Body bill is passed by the House, bring it up for a vote as is in the Senate and dare Sinema and Machin vote against it. While there are sure to be some aspects of the House’s version of the bill which those Senators will not like, there are several other provisions of the bill which are sure to be very popular with the majority of their constitutes back home in Arizona and West Virginia.
If they vote against the bill they will either have to work extremely hard on a compromise that they can support or face their angry constituents back home.
Threaten to support alternative candidates in the primaries: All of the House members are up for re-election in the 2022 mid-term elections and Simona and Machin will presumably be on the ballot again in 2024. With the exception of Joe Manchin, who is very likely the only Democrat who can win a statewide office in West Virginia, they all be at least to some extent vulnerable in their Democratic primaries back home.
It is time for the type of arm twisting that Lyndon Johnson was known for. The Democratic establishment should make it clear to both progressives and moderates who stand in the way of progress that they will have to get in line and make the necessary compromises or else. The “or else” being that the party will otherwise recruit and back good candidates to oppose them in their upcoming primary races. Dirty pool? Politics is a rough and tumble sport and if the only way to get through to a politician is to “appeal” to their selfish self-interests, so be it.
It is long past time to play hardball: Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats in Congress promised during their campaigns that they, unlike the Republicans, could govern, that they could actually get things done. What we have seen thus far out of our Democratic members of Congress in their attempts to advance President Biden’s agenda has been a national embarrassment that has contributed to the President’s sinking poll numbers.
If Democrats can’t get their acts together in order to pass both sets of legislation, the loss of the Governorship of Virginia will be a predictor of loss of both the House and the Senate in 2022 mid-terms and there in the loss of the ability to get anything done for the next three years. If some Democratic progressives and moderates have to be pushed kicking and screaming into doing what is best for the country and themselves, so be it.
Cajun (Rick Guilbeau) 11/5/2021
Update:
The bill passed the House with thirteen republicans breaking ranks to vote for it. The so-called posse voted against it in what I consider a foolish and empty gesture.
What was excluded can be brought up later, meanwhile much that is needed was voted upon.
Now, on to the BBB!
Extremely important word was omitted here:
CONSERVATIVE.
The moderates and progressives were unified on both bills (as long as BBB was not pushed aside), and participated in good faith in the process.
It was CONSERVATIVE Democrats Manchin and Sinema who are the root of the ALL difficulties, stalling the the BBB bill, and constantly demanding MORE and MORE deletions from Biden’s BBB, while still not offering their vote for it.
Otherwise, BOTH bills would have been passed
many weeks ago.
Manchin/Sinema STILL have not promised to vote for BBB, even after all their demands were ceded to them.
BTW, the bi-partisan bill is very overrated, as it contains major giveaways and new tax deductions for corporations.
That’s why some Republicans liked it.
Some formerly public highways and perhaps water systems and other infrastructure will be handed over to for-profit enterprises.
Get ready for more toll roads and much higher water/broadband prices as private interest$ do their all too predictable gouging.
Meanwhile, in their typically cowardly way, centrists have shown signs of wanting to “punch down” at progressives, instead of identifying CONSERVATIVE, not moderate, Democrats as being the true obstacles to Biden’s program and legacy.
How dare anyone in the party criticize progressives and not identify and lambaste conservatives as the *main problem* in this whole process. That is pathetic.
A wise person once noted that; politics is the at of the possible. I am in agreement with your castigation of the right certainly, they are engaged in a coup against our democracy .
But, at the same time I want to see progress, and I understand that some of that is better , by far, than none at all. I do respect, admire, and applaud the so-called posse within the Democratic Party, pushing ever leftward.
But I also applaud passing beneficial legislation, much needed while regretting the privatization added to that bill to get it passed. That which has been omitted or is simply wrong can be rectified later, the war is not over until the final battle.