This has not been an inspiring week for Democratic Sen. Angus King talked about Republican obstructionism and how toxic the always-bad filibuster rule in the Senate has became in the hands of a radicalized Republican Party in an interview with Rachel Maddow, Continued Republican Abuse Of Filibuster Begins To Change Minds On Reform In Senate MSNBC 10/21/2021
On Wednesday, the Republicans used the filibuster rule to black a vote on the For the People Act, the version of voting-rights legislation sponsored by West Virginia coal baron Sen. Joe Manchin, who claimed he could get enough Republicans to vote for it to pass it without changing the filibuster rule. (Thje Brennen Center has a helpful summary of the current varieties voting rights legislation being blocked by Republicans and by Democrats who refuse to exempt them from the filibuster rule: Key Differences Between the For the People Act and the Freedom to Vote Act 10/14/2021.
At this point, Biden is specifying a variety of program reductions in his §3 trillion (over 10 years) "reconciliation bill" - without any clear indication that the main Democratic obstructionist, coal baron Manchin and professional weirdo Kyrsten Sinema, are willing to accept them and support Biden's infrastructure bill (Biden abruptly accelerates his involvement in agenda talks Washington Post 10/20/2021)
... those working closely with Biden or familiar with his meetings say that the president is now more clearly setting guidelines for what should stay in his social-safety-net bill and what will have to go as it gets whittled down from $3.5 trillion to $1.9 trillion or less. These guidelines do not carry an ideological cast, the people said, but rather seem aimed at shaping a deal that can pass.The part about no "ideological cast" is a telling bit of stenography. The article continues:
In some recent meetings, Biden has acknowledged that the Clean Electricity Performance Plan, an ambitious but controversial part of his climate change agenda, probably will not be in the final bill. He noted that the child tax credit, which has nearly halved child poverty this year, will probably be extended only for one year.In Washington Beltway-Speak there is nothing "ideological" about neglecting to fight the climate catastrophe or keeping child poverty higher than it needs to be. Those are just practical measures that are part of the political horse-race competition.
The article indicates that Biden and the Democratic Congressional leaders are pushing for a decision this month. I hope they stick to it. At this point, Biden and the leadership are looking like they're just getting slapped around in the negotiations by Manchinema. We're at the point where the leadership needs to give Manchinema a final take-it-or-leave-it offer that provides clear and immediate tangible benefits to ordinary voters. Then Manchin and Sinema will have to decide whether they want to keep functioning as Democratic legislators or become the villains of the year for all other Democrats.
According to The Hill, Democrats are putting a hopeful spin on this. (Mike Lillis, Democrats see light at end of tunnel on Biden agenda 10/21/2021)
David Dayen is much more cautiously optimistic. (Democrats Abandon Middle Class on Build Back Better Resolution The American Prospect 10/20/2021) But he has a very good explanation of the political risks of setting up popular programs but with long phase-ins and also of means-testing on them. Anything that is means-tested is something the Republicans will attempt to stigmatize as "welfare." Because Social Security and Medicare are set up as universal programs, they avoid that label. The means-tested Medicaid program, Medicaid, on the other hand, has to constantly struggle with it.
But one way or the other, the Democrats have to bring this phase on infrastructure and voting rights to an end.
If Biden is not going to be able to get any more of his programmatic legislation enacted in 2021-2, he and the Dems will need to take a new approach and rely much more heavily on Executive actions and building up for the 2022 campaigns to mobilize a Democratic electorate to whom they can't deliver either the Build Back Better program of even minimal substantive legislation to protect voting rights.
And that makes it even more important for the Justice Department to proceed unhindered by political considerations, or by some assumption of impunity for Republican criminals, against the organizers and participants in the January 6 insurrection and the various other crimes of which he know during the Trump Administration. Joe Conason has concerns even on that score: What Merrick Garland Must Do Now National Memo 10/17/2021
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