BERNIE SANDERS TO HOUSE PROGRESSIVES: HOLD STRONG OR THE SENATE WILL TANK BIDEN'S AGENDA

[Uncle Joe]

HOUSE PROGRESSIVES GATHERED privately on Tuesday afternoon and recommitted to blocking any effort to split the bipartisan infrastructure bill away from the broader reconciliation package, which includes the bulk of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.

The pledge comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi threatened Monday to delink the two, risking key elements of the Biden agenda. According to a public whip count, 24 House progressives have stated their commitment to vote against the infrastructure bill unless it is passed with the reconciliation bill. During the meeting, at least 10 members of Congress not on the list also spoke in support of the strategy, pledging to vote no on Thursday if the bipartisan bill comes to the floor, two sources on the call said.

(snip)

In the meeting, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., the whip for the CPC, told members that she had just been on the phone with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who warned that if progressives let the bipartisan bill go through, the Senate is unlikely to pass the reconciliation package. Two Democrats serving in swing districts made the same argument on the call, suggesting that anybody who believed the Senate would pass the reconciliation bill without its hand being forced was fooling themselves and would wind up with no concrete achievements to run on for reelection.

On the call, more than two dozen members spoke, with not a single one saying they would vote yes on the bipartisan bill. Rep. Katie Porter of California, a so-called front-liner who represents a swing district, urged other front-liners to see the political upside in getting both pieces through, arguing that the reconciliation package would deliver immediate benefits. “Those are things that will immediately begin to improve the lives of Americans and will begin to immediately improve our economy,” Porter told the Washington Post in an interview Tuesday, making a similar point. “Democratic members, regardless of your district’s composition, this is what voters want.”

(snip)

https://theintercept.com/2021/09/28/bernie-sanders-reconciliation-infrastructure-biden-agenda/

[JohnSJ]

1. Bernie has been very successful in dividing Democrats. If nothing passes, 2022 will be very

interesting

I trust Pelosi judgement more than Sanders

[Lunabell]

2. Bernie has been very successful at driving Biden's agenda.

We need to hold strong or the republicans will win!

[JohnSJ]

4. Again, I will defer to Pelosi over Sanders any day

[empedocles]

7. Yes

[Rebl2]

10. Same here

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. Likewise

[Lunabell]

12. So, to hell with Biden's agenda?

Hmm...

[JohnSJ]

14. You don't think Biden and Pelosi are talking about strategy?

[Fiendish Thingy]

13. So if Pelosi cancels Thursday's vote because she doesn't have the votes, you'll respect her choice?

Because unless Gottheimer can round up 60+ Republican “yes” votes, that’s what’s going to happen…

Pelosi and Sanders both support passing Biden’s full agenda.

[JohnSJ]

16. You know what Pelosi will do?

[Fiendish Thingy]

24. She said she won't bring the bill to the floor on Thursday if she doesn't have the votes

Which at present, she doesn’t.

[JohnSJ]

25. Are you convinced she doesn't, because I'm not

[Fiendish Thingy]

26. Jayapal said yesterday 60+ members of the CPC will vote no

Only 5 Republicans have gone on record stating they will vote yes. You do the math.

Yesterday, Pelosi said two things:

1. She has scheduled a vote on the bipartisan bill for Thursday, and
2. If she doesn’t have the votes to pass the bill, she will not bring it to the floor.

I have heard no reports of Gottheimer, McCarthy, Scalise, or anyone else trying to whip Republicans to vote yes on Thursday, have you?

[JohnSJ]

27. 48 hours we will see

[George II]

20. If Sanders supports Biden's full agenda, why is he urging members of the OTHER house...

....to vote against it.

He should be working on members of his own chamber to get them to support it, not discouraging those in the other chamber from voting for it.

[Fiendish Thingy]

23. Sanders urges a no vote ONLY if the bipartisan bill comes to the floor before reconciliation bill

Sanders knows that if the bipartisan bill passes first, the rest of Biden’s agenda is dead. So, since he supports Biden’s ENTIRE agenda, he has urged the CPC to stand firm.

In addition, Sanders has been shepherding the reconciliation bill through the “pre-conferencing” process between the house and senate committees.

[George II]

28. Chuck Schumer has been doing the shepherding along with Nancy Pelosi....

I don't get it, "supporting Biden's entire agenda" by urging people to vote against it?

[Fiendish Thingy]

29. Have you really not been paying attention, or just too busy spreading hate for Sanders?

Sanders is urging a “no” vote ONLY if the bipartisan bill comes to the floor before the reconciliation bill. If the bipartisan bill passes first, the reconciliation bill, and the bulk of Biden’s agenda, including the only legislation to fight climate change, is DEAD.

Once reconciliation passes, Sanders, Jayapal and the entire CPC wholeheartedly support passage of the bipartisan bill.

[George II]

30. I have been paying attention. This is governing and helping the American people. It's not....

....the baseball playoffs where if you win the first round you move onto the next round.

There are two bills, they're not linked or dependent upon each other. No games, let's just pass what we can, regardless if the first one or the second one succeeds.

[Fiendish Thingy]

31. I support Biden's ENTIRE agenda, and support efforts to pass it all, not settling

I don’t think it’s good governance to allow 9 bought and paid for centrists in congress plus two stubborn senators to dictate that the rest of the Dems should settle for legislation that falls far short of the potential benefits and life saving intervention supported by the majority of Americans regardless of party affiliation.

Although the centrists would like us to buy their narrative that this is the best we can get, I don’t accept that. This struggle isn’t over, and unless 60 Republican yes votes emerge out the woodwork in the next 48 hours, it won’t be over on Thursday either.

That’s where we differ.

[George II]

32. So it's a matter of purity again - all or nothing? No aspect of life is like that....

If one of the two bills is ready to be passed with enough votes, just pass it and THEN work to pass the other one.

In all my years of following Congress and government, I don't think I've ever seen a situation like this where a group of legislators say outright "if X doesn't pass I won't vote for Y".

Are they going to ask for simultaneous votes to make sure they get what they want?

Who are these so-called "9 bought and paid for centrists" that you're speaking of? That's a new one on me.

[Fiendish Thingy]

33. Not a matter of purity, but putting the needs of the country over pragmatism

Here is some information on Gottheimer’s Gang, who are centrists in safe seats:

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/08/the-house-suicide-squad-hurt-their-party-but-gained-nothing.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/24/susan-wild-josh-gottheimer-house-democrats-infrastructure/

Here are the others, with their 2020 margins:

https://www.rollcall.com/2021/08/24/standoff-by-moderates-highlights-democratic-rift-but-will-it-affect-2022/

Carolyn Bourdeaux, Georgia’s 7th District - 2020 D+6

Ed Case, Hawaii’s 1st District - D+33

Jim Costa, California’s 16th District - D+19

Jim Costa, California’s 16th District - D+19

Jared Golden, Maine’s 2nd District - D+6

Vicente Gonzalez, Texas’ 15th District - D+3

Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey’s 5th District - D+8

Stephanie Murphy, Florida’s 7th District - D+12

Kurt Schrader, Oregon’s 5th District - D+7

Filemon Vela, Texas’ 34th District - D+14

Info on their donors:

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/infrastructure-bill-vote-2021-reconciliation-build-back-better-1232624/

A review of campaign-finance records shows a long and lucrative corporate money trail funding the centrist Democrats now accused of hampering the bill. Gottheimer has raised nearly $3.5 million in PAC money in his last two elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The biggest funders in his corner, donation records show, are the finance, insurance, and real estate industries, labor unions, and the health-care industry. PAC donors include Goldman Sachs, the American Investment Council, Morgan Stanley, TIAA, and UBS Americas.
The individual donations to his campaign are filled with representatives of Big Law, Big Finance, and other powerful corporate interests. Of the leading donors to his 2020 reelection campaign, securities and investment companies, lawyers and law firms, real estate, and insurance fill the top four slots.
It’s been a savvy investment for the firms. Gottheimer has one of the most moderate and pro-business voting records of any House Democrat. The Chamber of Commerce endorsed him for reelection in 2020. Last month, in fact, executives for one major health-insurance company, Cigna, and for a hedge fund, Davidson Kempner Capital Management, hosted fundraisers for Gottheimer as the negotiations over the two infrastructure bills ramped up, the investigative website Sludge reported. (A spokesman pointed to Gottheimer’s Sunday CNN interview but declined to comment further.)

So, as you can see, Gottheimer’s gang, with maybe the exception of Gonzalez, are all in comfortably safe seats, so there is no reason for them to obstruct Biden’s agenda, other than to reward their donors, who have been lobbying them intensively.

Meanwhile, moderates in swing districts who won in 2020 by very narrow margins, are sticking their necks out, putting the country’s needs before their donors’, and supporting Biden’s full agenda.

[George II]

21. Then why is he telling members of the House to vote against it?

[stillcool]

3. I really, really want

for either Nancy or Bernie to pull a rabbit out of the hat and make it okay. They're both right, but both actions have consequences.

[George II]

19. If a rabbit will be pulled out of the hat in the Senate, it will be Schumer who will do so.

[sheshe2]

5. The Intercept Glenn Greenwald

Analysis / Bias
The Intercept has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats, such as this New Yorker article that reads, “Greenwald’s focus on “deep state” depredations has exiled him from MSNBC but has given him a place on Fox News.” Intercept co-founder Glenn Greenwald has criticized MSNBC host Rachel Maddow for turning into an “utterly scripted, intellectually dishonest, partisan hack.” Greenwald says this criticism has led to the end of his appearances on MSNBC. Greenwald often criticized left-leaning media coverage of Trump-Russia collusion, namely CNN, MSNBC, and CBS, arguing that “very little evidence supported the idea that Moscow was hot for Donald.” However, The Intercept is harshly critical of Donald Trump and right-wing policies with articles such as this: Trump’s Muslim Ban Is Culmination of War on Terror Mentality but Still Uniquely Shameful.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-intercept/

[JohnSJ]

6. Mr Greenwalds favorite show is Sean Hannity

[sheshe2]

8. Ugh!

[JohnSJ]

9. From what I have read he appears on that show all the time. He wants attention

[Fiendish Thingy]

15. Greenwald didn't write this article. Nt

[sheshe2]

17. Correct, he did not.

The article clearly states:

The Intercept was founded by former Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald, documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, and former Nation writer Jeremy Scahill.

I never said otherwise.

[George II]

18. What does Sanders know about passing legislation?

[JohnSJ]

22. +++