Podesta: Democrats risk losing Congress over $3.5T spending plan

[brooklynite]

Source: The Hill

Former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta on Wednesday sent memos to Democratic lawmakers telling them they risk losing their Senate and House majorities if they fail to reach an agreement on their reconciliation package, The New York Times reported.

“The historical trend makes it clear that Democrats will face severe headwinds next November,” Podesta said in his memo, which was sent to all Democratic lawmakers, according to The Times, “but nothing will guarantee a political reckoning faster than if the Democrats fail to pass anything.”

He warned progressives in the party that the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package price tag needs to be dialed back, saying that the bill will not be able to pass as currently constructed.


“The political reality is clear, given Democrats have no margin for error in the Senate and a limited margin in the House,” Podesta said in his memo, according to The Times. “We will not secure the full $3.5 trillion investment. It’s time for

Read more: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/573555-podesta-democrats-risk-losing-congress-over-35t-spending-plan

[Elessar Zappa]

1. I think some form

of both bills will ultimately pass but the 3.5 trillion bill will be cut down significantly. Progressives and moderates need to get on board with something or risk backlash in 2022.

[Red Mountain]

2. Pass what can be passed

so candidates have something to point to, put the rest on a back burner, hold the House and take a firm Senate majority then go for broke.

We can have two solid years of progress for the nation if we do well in 22.

[FBaggins]

3. Could be a VERY busy weekend

Much of it is scheduled to come to a head on Monday

[OneCrazyDiamond]

4. Instead of warning progressives in the House,

Warn hawks in the Senate.

[gab13by13]

6. The article is from the Hill

I can't take this shit any more. This kind of talk from Podesta is what divides Democrats, not unites them. He took a side, Joe Manchin's side and progressive Democrats are supposed to fall in line or else.

[brooklynite]

12. Podesta was President Obama's Chief of Staff. His opinion holds value.

[gab13by13]

13. Podesta was never president Obama's Chief of Staff,

I believe he was Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff, correct me if I'm wrong.

[TheRealNorth]

21. And they lost the House and Senate in 2010...

Podesta is a failure, and the failure of the Democrats has less to do with what we propose, but with how we sell it, and the lack of message discipline in both the left and right wings of the party.

[gab13by13]

26. In all fairness

Podesta wasn't in the Obama administration until 2015, I believe.

Dems lost the House in 2010 and 7 Senate seats.

[TheRealNorth]

35. I stand corrected...

You are right- Rahm Emmanuel was Obama's guy in the early years. And the Democrats clung to the Senate until 2014 (mostly because of the atrocious candidates ran by the Republicans in 2012)

[OneCrazyDiamond]

19. IKR.

This time is a little different though....They need the progressives in the House to go along. They can't just ignore them.

[gab13by13]

27. Just a question,

do you consider president Biden a progressive? It's his agenda.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

36. His personal views I consider moderate.

His agenda progressive.

Abortion is an example:
A devout Roman Catholic, Biden says he personally opposes abortion and has spoken openly about his internal struggles with the issue.

In his 2007 book “Promises to Keep,” Biden describes his beliefs and voting record on abortion as “middle of the road.” He wrote that he doesn’t think he has “a right to impose my view on the rest of society” and committed to protecting Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion. In a recent email to supporters, Biden underscored: "I refuse to impose my religious beliefs on other people."

[Beastly Boy]

29. He did both

From the article:

Podesta, who is the founder and chairman for the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress, also addressed the moderates in the party who have signaled more support for the bipartisan infrastructure bill than the reconciliation bill, saying that both pieces of legislation are going to pass or none at all and adding that “the prospect of neither is unconscionable.”

[gab13by13]

5. I get sick of this,

Blame progressives for trying to pass president Biden's agenda, Build Back Better is why Biden and other Democrats were elected.

Why doesn't Podesta come out and blame president Biden for trying to do what the American people want?

I also get sick at the fake alarm over the 3.5 trillion dollar price tag, that's over 10 years, that's 350 billion dollars a year and nearly all of it is paid for.

To me Podesta is pushing GQP talking points, but then again I'm one of those progressives that is apparently bad for the Democratic party. I still remember how moderate Joe Lieberman screwed us out of the public option in Obamacare because passing that would cost democrats seats, yeah right.

[TheRealNorth]

22. Who's paying Podesta nowadaya?

[Snackshack]

7. After the last...

8 months with very little meaningful legislation passed except by EO. Absolutely no accountability of DT or any of his accomplices for the Coup attempt, 700,000+ dead from COVID because of an incompetent response to the pandemic, Afghanistan being set up for failure to make President Biden look bad, DT/GOP still doing everything they can to continue to make President Biden look bad with the anti-masks and anti-vaccine dip 💩’s, $8 trillion in new debt… the list goes on and on.

I’ve been a Dem all my life. Always voted Dem since I could vote…and I have never been this disheartened by the Democratic Party. Given the mountain of problems President Biden is having to deal with for the Democratic Party to splinter as it has, sinema, manchins bull💩 is infuriating.

Hundreds of thousands are dead, millions have bought into lies and misinformation which is killing more Americans and crippling our healthcare system. DT, Flynn, Bannon, GOP are actively doing all they can to hinder/hurt President Biden attempts at recovery it would have been nice for the Democratic Party to at least have agreed to put up a unified front in support of President Biden to at least while he plugs the holes left by DT/GOP.

/end

[Elessar Zappa]

10. The Democrats

are pretty much United behind Biden. It’s primarily just two idiots, Manchin and Sinema, that are fucking everything up.

[Fiendish Thingy]

16. There's also Josh Gottheimer and his Gang of 9 in the house

They are in safe seats, but are acting as shills for Manchin and Sinema, pushing Pelosi to hold a vote for the bipartisan bill first while Manchin and Sinema delay the reconciliation bill in the senate.

Everyone on the hill knows if the bipartisan bill passes first, the reconciliation bill is dead. That’s why Jayapal and her caucus are standing firm in refusing to pass the bipartisan bill first- they support Biden’s whole agenda, which must be passed using the two track process.

[mpcamb]

8. The main difference:We'll spend it on ourselves; it'll come back, not like spending on endless wars.

Spend it, fix our country, our infrastructure. Fix the tax structure, too. The money'll comes back directly.

[JT45242]

9. his basic tenant is sound -- if nothing passes we all lose

"Do nothing democrats" label will be all over (R)'s speeches at the midterm if stuff does not get passed.

Moscow Mitch is counting on us to be as dysfunctional as the Rethugs were while TFG held office. So is Putin by the way -- which is why money pumps into groups in both parties that obstruct anything good form happening. Mitch will do everything in his power to block everything from happening so that they can scream "Do Nothing Democrats" promised they would help you and passed nothing.

I ABSOLUTELY HATE that asshats like Synema and Manchin can force us to dial back the build back better plan -- but we gotta pass something so that we gain seats in the midterms and don't need them the next time around.

It should be an easy plan --

#1 -- Repeal all of the tax trump tax cut -- frees up nearly all the money needed to pay for all of this
#2 pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill
#3 pass the Build Back better reconciliation bill with about 2-3 trillion in it

#4 WIN THE MIDTERMS

#5 do the rest of the Build Back Better and tell Manchin and Synema to shut up and sit down -- then primary her for sure when she is up for re-election

while you are at -- eliminate cap on Social Security tax -- roll back some more of the tax cuts since 1986 (I would roll back everything since then as it was the last truly bipartisan tax solution)

[Fiendish Thingy]

15. You got the steps in the wrong order

#2 must be pass the $3.5trillion reconciliation bill, then
#3 pass the bipartisan bill

The only reason for passing the bipartisan bill first is to sabotage the reconciliation bill; on the other hand, no harm is done by passing the bipartisan bill after reconciliation.

[TheRealNorth]

25. But if the bill doesn't make a difference for the average person....

The voters won't care that you passed it.

One of the problems that I saw with with the 2009 ARRA act was that for a lot of the infrastructure work, new people were not hired, but the money was used to maintain current levels of employment by builders. I remember driving through my city and seeing streets blocked off with the "ARRA" sign displayed, but no actual work was being done until the contractor eventually got around to doing it with his current workforce (as opposed to hiring more employees to do the work now).

The implementation of ARRA did not have the stimulus effect that we would have hoped for (although it did prevent additional layoffs).

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. So OK, he warns "progressives" that they can''t expect to get the full 3.5 Trillion...

Did he also warn "moderates" that they have to come a lot closer to reaching that 3.5 trillion figure, in order to get something passed, than the insulting One to 1.5 Trillion dollar figure Manchin said he would be willing to support? The progressives are the ones backing President Biden's full agenda.

[Beastly Boy]

28. He did.

From the article:

Podesta, who is the founder and chairman for the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress, also addressed the moderates in the party who have signaled more support for the bipartisan infrastructure bill than the reconciliation bill, saying that both pieces of legislation are going to pass or none at all and adding that “the prospect of neither is unconscionable.”

[Tom Rinaldo]

32. Sort of.

Manchin and other moderates claim that they support passing both the infrastructure deal and a reconciliation bill, and that both in fact will/should pass. But Manchin for example talks about delaying a vote on the reconciliation bill, not refusing to pass any reconciliation bill. The immediate problem involves both timing and the scope of the bill to be passed. Totally decoupling voting on both bills clearly violates at least the spirit if not the actual substance of the deal Democrats signed off on months ago, and throwing out numbers like one to one and a half trillion after a 3.5 trillion dollar compromise has long been the working number is, at the very least, negotiating in bad faith. OK, Podesta may be warning moderates to back away from abandoning the passage of a reconciliation bill, but he isn't imploring them to negotiate in good faith and make reasonable compromises.

The fact that he stresses the need to pass both the infrastructure bill AND a reconciliation (as if that wasn't always the plan) is confirmation of exactly what progressives fear from moderates. Namely, that once they secure passage of their cherished bipartisan infrastructure bill that they will stop playing ball and rush to pack up and go home, or at most agree to only a bare minimum reconciliation bill, and by that point they will hold all of the cards and won't have to negotiate with anyone

[Beastly Boy]

34. He is not imploring anyone to do anything specific.

It is not his place. To do so would be stepping on Biden's toes. All he can do is warn of the consequences of not passing both bills.

[Fiendish Thingy]

14. Fuck off Podesta

Progressives don’t need your “warning”, they already support Biden’s two track Build Back Better agenda- the $3.5T price tag is his agenda, not the progressives. Is Podesta suggesting Biden was thinking too big?

Why not tell Josh Gottheimer and the rest of his Gang of 9 (most of whom are in very safe seats), to suck it up, stop playing procedural games, and support the two track plan? Why not pressure Manchin and Sinema to support Biden’s agenda; why not dismantle Manchin’s “concerns” as false and lacking evidence?

Because he’s helping the so-called “centrists” craft a narrative to focus on the progressives as the villains, rather than the real saboteurs.

[gab13by13]

17. Well said,

I can find a well respected article from a well respected person and come up with the opposite conclusion that Podesta reached. If Democrats don't pass president Biden's Build Back Better reconciliation bill it will cost them seats in the next election. Democrats should be united in passing president Biden's agenda, it's why we won the last election. Someone, who is respected, is saying that Democrats can't follow through with what president Biden promised because I guess 2020 Democratic voters have changed their minds.

Remember this, there were numerous Democratic Senators who voted for the infrastructure bill only on the condition that both bills be tied together. What is Podesta's answer to that situation? Those Senators are not in favor of breaking up the 2 bills.

[The Mouth]

18. Everybody has to give some.

Even all but the most idiotic of the farthest right wing realize some infrastructure needs to be updated and created. Even all but the most fanatical of the farthest left wing realizes that 3.5 Trillion is an opening gambit; sure, it's over 10 years and half what we spend on the military, but you *NEVER* make your opening bid your final offer, not if you want to get anything at all, not on any scale or in any situation other than having absolute power backed by force.

Purists and ideologues do more damage than good; politics is the art of the possible and progress is always the result of compromise. If we had 60+ solidly, hardcore Democratic Senators and another 10 or 20 seats in the House, maybe we'd get $3T... maybe

They win more often because, as the old saying goes "Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line."

[gab13by13]

20. How much did Trump come down

from his 1.9 trillion dollar tax cuts for the rich?

How much did Trump come down from his 2.2 trillion dollar CARES Act?

When you say "everybody" do you mean just Democrats?

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-covid-response-economy-jobs-taxes-inequality-1080345/

[The Mouth]

24. Yep

I think that even the Republicans are going to end up compromising. We *do* have a majority, just a very slim one.

When the Republicans have 51 R's they seem to get a HELL of a lot more done than when we have 51D's; we simply aren't going to get any more done than the most conservative Democrats will abide by in the Senate, or do you have some miracle up your sleeve to change Manchin's mind? I personally think the Republicans have some sort of blackmail operation(s) going on their most 'moderate' Senators, we're too civilized to do that.

Get what you can, come back for more later. Anything is better than nothing. 1-2 Trillion in Infrastructure beats the hell out of 0% of 3.5 Trillion.

I'd *like*, very much, to see the full thing passed; it ain't going to happen unless someone has serious dirt on Manchin and Sinema and is willing to use it. I'd like very very much to be wrong.

[gab13by13]

30. Manchin is the #1 receiver of fossil fuel money,

Sinema, who used to be for allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices, is now against it. Is it a coincidence that Big Pharma has given her $750,000.00?

Giving money to politicians should be illegal, they should have to live on their salaries.

[Rebl2]

23. All I know

is if they don’t get their act together, we can say goodbye to the house and senate next fall. Get it together NOW and get these packages/bills passed!

[NullTuples]

31. Dems risk losing Congress over the filibuster. Unless they can protect voting, it's gone.

[ancianita]

33. Lose Congress because half of it won't give up a rule that allows minority rule.

No matter how they scale back, they're still not guaranteed a change in the current no votes.

They must eliminate the filibuster rule. Then they will win in 2022 because they preserved majority rule.