Democratic patience runs out on bipartisan talks

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Democratic tensions over infrastructure and the Biden agenda showed signs of boiling over Tuesday as one progressive lawmaker after another blasted a bipartisan framework negotiated by centrists in both parties.

The scaled-down agreement backed by a bipartisan group of 10 senators appears on life support days after it was announced, with progressives pressuring the White House to move on from bipartisan talks.

While Biden has repeatedly said he'd prefer a bipartisan deal on infrastructure, the two parties appear to be far apart over what the proper size of a package should be, or how to pay for it.

And progressives in both the Senate and House are losing patience with the process. Their ire has mostly been directed toward centrist Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), but there is a danger for Biden that it will extend to the White House.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democratic-patience-runs-out-on-bipartisan-talks/ar-AAL6cJd

Democrats pursue "two tracks" on infrastructure legislation

Washington — Although a bipartisan group of senators reached a tentative deal on infrastructure legislation last week, congressional Democrats are preparing to forge ahead with a process to pass a larger proposal without any Republican votes if needed, lawmakers said Tuesday.

"The White House made clear to us that we should be prepared to proceed on two tracks," Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a press conference. House Democrats met for their first in-person caucus meeting since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, where they heard from Biden administration officials who laid out the "two track" pathway.

One of those tracks is continuing negotiations with Republicans, while the other is preparing for budget reconciliation, a lengthy and complicated process that would allow legislation to pass with a simple majority.

The "two track" pathway may be necessary, as progressive Democrats grow impatient with the ongoing negotiations. A group of five Republicans and five Democrats announced last week that they reached an agreement for a proposal that would include $579 billion in new spending over five years. This is significantly less than President Biden's $1.7 trillion proposal, a slimmed-down version of his initial $2.3 trillion offer.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-pursue-two-tracks-on-infrastructure-legislation/ar-AAL4zMs

[sakabatou]

1. Senate Democrats have to know that Republicans have ZERO interest with bipartisanship

[PortTack]

2. Thune was on fux, I believe telling viewers how they would agree and then sink it

He and his toady friends think Schumer and Biden don’t know that?? How many years have Schumer and Biden had dealing with their crap?

[wryter2000]

4. I wonder

If they were to do that, could that get Manchin on board with budget reconciliation for the original plan?

IMHO, the better we can make things for the people, the better our chances are in the midterms.

[LonePirate]

3. There are multiple motives for Republicans to drag this out.

First by dragging out the negotiations, they can pound home negative views on RW media which eventually will take a toll on moderate Dems. using them concede or soften up on demands/requests. This allows the final bill to be much smaller than Dems want and maybe even cause the bill to be scuttled entirely. All the while, the image of Congress being ineffectual for not passing this bill, and by extension Biden loses luster for not pushing his agenda/objectives through Congress.

Biden and Schumer should have given Republicans until the end of April (not May or June) to put forth their compromise before moving on without them. The sooner the bill is passed and signed into law, the sooner the projects can go forward and America can pick up the pace of fixing itself.