"It's Joe Manchin's Bill"

[brooklynite]

Punchbowl

There’s one reality Democrats need to get comfortable with when they turn back to this in January: This is now Joe Manchin’s bill. We knew this all along, but Manchin controls the fate of the BBB. If and when the BBB comes out of the Senate, it seems likely to be watered down to reflect Manchin’s priorities, much to the frustration of the progressive wing of the party. Can the Squad and House Progressives back such a bill? It depends on what they think of the party’s prospects heading into November.

There will be a lot of analysis in the coming days and weeks of how Biden, Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi handled the BBB debate. Much of that judgment is likely to be unfavorable.

In this latest instance, Biden has provided Schumer with some badly needed political cover that allows Senate Democrats to leave town for the Christmas holiday with the BBB unfinished. In the House, Biden did the same for Pelosi at one point. Yet Biden also came to the Hill to rally with House Democrats on the BBB in late October and never asked progressives to vote for the accompanying infrastructure bill, which led to an embarrassing setback.

One has to wonder whether Biden and Democratic leaders erred back in the spring when they combined the American Jobs Plan and American Family Plan into one mammoth, $4 trillion-plus package. By aiming to do everything, they risk now getting nothing. In addition, Democrats and the White House allowed Republicans to get a political advantage, seizing on inflation and supply chain problems. This may prove a costly blunder.

[dsc]

1. How anyone who covers politics for a living and writes this

One has to wonder whether Biden and Democratic leaders erred back in the spring when they combined the American Jobs Plan and American Family Plan into one mammoth, $4 trillion-plus package. By aiming to do everything, they risk now getting nothing. In addition, Democrats and the White House allowed Republicans to get a political advantage, seizing on inflation and supply chain problems. This may prove a costly blunder.

without mentioning that we can pass one bill per year under reconciliation is literally worse than worthless.

[Elessar Zappa]

3. That's what I was thinking.

[Celerity]

6. +1000

[FBaggins]

8. My first thought as well

Only one bite at the apple per year.

[Mad_Machine76]

2. If they made any mistakes

It was underestimating Manchin and Sinema’s perpetual goalpost-moving and intransigence. It’s hard to believe that they aren’t GOP moles at this point. They simply are not negotiating in good faith.

[FBaggins]

7. "Goalpost-moving"?

It keeps getting spun that way, but I struggle to see anything that has changed from his original position (other than slightly increasing his stated cap)

[Mad_Machine76]

9. Every time they address one "concern"

They think of something else to complain. If that’s not moving the goalposts I don’t know what is. The Biden and SCHUMER and Pelosi keep giving him what he wants and they keep finding excuses not to vote for anything. Neither have committed to anything so far. As soon as there was lots of talk in the media about inflation Manchin latched onto that too.

[FBaggins]

11. You have the scare quotes on the wrong word

It should have been on "address"

Progressives keep trying to get him to make the tough decisions for them... and then furiously spin the results as though he's changing things. But his position hasn't changed (other than slightly increasing his figure). He's willing to support $1.5T (now 1.75) in additional spending over ten years - without gimmicks that "score" programs as cheaper than they'll actually be over ten years. He'll support tax increases on the wealthy and/or corporations to fully fund (or even over-fund) the spending. He won't support a bill that removes the Hyde amendment and he won't vote to bypass the Byrd Rule by overruling the parliamentarian.

[gab13by13]

4. Chuck Schumer should have used that strategy

6 months ago with BBB and S1. I posted what I would have done were I Schumer, I'm not posting it again.

[FBaggins]

5. "We knew this all along"

If only some had acted like it.

[aocommunalpunch]

10. Acted like it was Manchin's bill?

So long as they can call it such with all the necessary baggage that entails, cool. We can't call out bad behavior in our own party and the conservatives get to craft the bills we have to vote for at the same time? Fuck that. Conservatives need to feel the actual heat for their cowardice. All they get is cover.

[FBaggins]

12. Acted like they knew that they needed his vote

And that we couldn't get with 50 senators anything close to what we could have gotten with 54.

[aocommunalpunch]

13. And the conservatives continue to get the cover they want.

It's just gross.