You aren't alone, just about everyone in Washington DC seriously underestimates how many people are in a precarious situation.
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“I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation (BBB)...This is a no on this legislation.” — Sen. Joe Manchin
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You aren't alone, just about everyone in Washington DC seriously underestimates how many people are in a precarious situation.
Leftists want more money for lead pipes as the money for lead pipes in the bill was not enough.
Don't say that, else you'll be labled entitled by "allies".
Every word of this.
And for years this has been one of my central criticisms of the Democratic party. I do think there's space for us to improve on walking the line between being aspirational, and being realistic on how government works. These two ideals are often opposed though, so I understand the difficulty.
I will also assert that newer members of the party are a lot sloppier about this than should be acceptable. Well, that and a few other older loud talkers but do-nothings.
Anybody saying, "with the stroke of a pen, Joe Biden could..." at this point gets an immediate side eye from me.
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AoC told us what happened. Biden came to the Black Caucus and Progressives meeting, sat down with them, and put his credibility on the line promising BBB. Only then did the progressives agree to BIF.
The problem is the Democratic party is full of right of center members, that get voted on because the alternative far right is worse. Like the other poster that replied to me said, we already knew this. Yet, Biden should still have the political weight to bring a small state senator in line with negotiations. Also, Republican representatives don't just fall in line, Republican Presidents always offered them deals in exchange for support. Pretty sure a whole lot of Republican Senators hated Trump, but still worked with him to get favorable deals.
Oh sorry misunderstood you and I 100% agree.
Republicans know how to ram their unpopular agenda, and it's funny how all those supposed endless veto points you can't get around in the senate just go poof when the win election.
Most people realize that boycotting a chicken sandwich shop doesn't actually solve anything. As a gay person I don't give a fuck if people eat there (though I judge them for their poor taste since the sandwiches suck). Actual change is going to require real effort and participation, which unfortunately is unlikely until a significant chunk of the population is desperate.
We can agree on that. $15 billion brings us 1/3rd of the way though and for whichever communities get their pipes replaced it does matter.
Yep.
At the end of the day, if we don't fix the system, nothing else matters. Unfortunately, the foxes are in charge of protecting the hen house.
Imagine people passing laws to limit their own power. Imagine a king willingly taking the Ring of Power off.
The fact that the fixes are so obvious, yet the path to implementation is so opaque speaks to the dangerous position American democracy finds itself in. Like a malformed bone, it's going to have to be broken so that it can be re-set properly. What form that break takes and how painful it will be is what remains to be seen.
while I agree with her for the most part. It's really one man plus 50 other assholes. I hate how the republicans get off the hook by just focusing on manchin/sinema.
People get mad at people saying that voting is one of the most powerful ways we have available to enact change in one breath saying their votes will never matter in one breath and then complain about learned helplessness in the next. But I honestly believe the only way for real change to happen is for people to vote more, not less. People talk about making a statement by withholding their votes, but honestly I've never actually seen evidence that that works. What does seem to shift opinion is people being more politically active, progressive candidates getting higher primary results, people showing with their vote what they want. And this can't just be at the federal level, people need to get more involved in primaries, more involved with state and local elections. But honestly I feel like a lot of people waste too much time looking for people to blame rather than reflecting on what they can do better. I'm not saying we shouldn't analyze where things went wrong or who made what mistakes, but when we have to plan a course of action we need to consider why those things happened, what led people to act the ways they did, and then what actions you can personally do to remedy those problems. At the end of the day the only person whose actions I can ultimately change are my own. I can try to convince others, but ultimately whether they listen to me or not is their call, and the only thing I can do to affect that is to learn how to better appeal to the person or group I'm trying to convince
People keep saying things like this, but do you have inside information or something? Because the facts on the ground are that they moderates and even several republicans cared about the bipartisan bill enough to engage with the process and get it done. There's plenty in there that their corporate overlords wanted passed. So you give up 100% of your leverage, give the moderates and Republicans something to go home and campaign on for the midterms, sink the actual bill that is our best shot at averting/reducing climate catastrophe, and prove that in all future negotiations that the CPC is a doormat and not a serious caucus. For what? To lose all credibility with your base? And what would be the downside of playing out the clock into next year and increasing pressure on Manchin and others to pass both? Pretty clear that the democrats aren't going to use the next year to pass anything meaningful.
yep and of course no matter how it breaks, it'll be the people on the bottom feeling most of the pain and getting the least out of the recovery
We have a plan, and that plan is to end all pandemic assistance.
Congress makes sure to be on vacation every time something expire so they don't have to answer too many questions.
This is as intended by the ruling class. They want their sub-livable wage servants back at their stations. No more complaining, no more demands, just toiling until death like a meat cog in the profit machine.
A funny thing to think about is the majority of all 3 branches of goverment has lead poisoning from leaded gasoline
Indeed.
I tell everyone I know, see, or meet with an ear to hear: Do everything you possibly can to avoid living at the edges of society. Avoid being among the least of us for whom the mood of unpredictable, unreliable politicians have the most impact. Turbulence in a plane is felt the most in the back. Do everything you can to not be in the back.
Because of the narrative that the Dems (big D) are weak and can't play dirty. They absolutely can fight dirty and are not weak when it comes to fighting the Progressive wing. Even in the most Progressive spaces, the narrative was that the CPC was the problem, not the solution, and BIF had to stop being held hostage. The Dems had already won, and they signaled hard that any more resistance would leave the CPC powerless to have input going forward.
So the only alternative is just give up and let the fascists win? Maybe thats why the gop always wins. Dem voters are always defeatists and gop always fight tooth and nail. Sigh.
Biden believed his own bullshit. The "squad" were literally the only House Dems to see through it.
I totally agree with the bolded. But this is the fight, and why it leads me to believe that Jayapal is not the leader we need for the CPC. She got played, willingly or not.
The Democrats need to call themselves what they are, not a party but a coalition.
Can't believe leftists Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema killed this bill, while noteable centrist Bernie Sanders championed it.
Eh, voting republican is actively trying to strip woman and minority rights away. If for example someone here gets mad at a republican voter for actively endangering abortion rights or LGBT+ rights, posting this topic in response as some kind of gotcha would be pretty fucked up.
We've have more than a few people here admit they would be perfectly fine with, and even desire, a left-wing version of Trump...
That's entirely possible. I don't know the pressures of all 95 members of the CPC, but it's obvious that on a whole they couldn't hold the line when 20 Republicans came on board. I can only assume that not all are as Progressive as the group's name implies.
This illuminates whom they are allied with and whom they feel threatened by.
He could still, you know, get tough and threaten Manchin. Isn't his daughter in deep shit? Use her as a bargain chip. Vote for BBB or she goes to jail.
There are alternatives that don't involve voting like mass movements. Voting can't fix the system.
That is exactly what I have been asking.
I feel like most people only say things like that out of frustration without understanding what it actually means.
Yep. Keep repeating all the good stuff that came out of not having any branch of congress controlled by Republicans. Stop threatening to quit democracy because "both sides suck", that's exactly what authoritarians want. Contact every representative you can, go canvassing, help people vote and participate…don't do the opposite, which is what is happening on this forum. Stop freaking out and acting like an average Twitter political discussion every time Manchin plays to his base through a republican megaphone. Realize a lot can happen in a year, especially these days. Focus on all the ways progress on different fronts can still happen. BBB and Voting Rights and the filibuster will be addressed in the next 11 months one way or the other. Refrain from freaking out on your internet bubble until the Trump Cult definitively sweeps Congress next Nov…what's occurring in this forum discussion (for the most part) does nothing constructive or helpful and in fact, only makes things worse. Be better. When in doubt, react and discuss issues the way AOC or Stacy Abrams or Jayapal would.
Does it? Or does it demonstrate that the Progressive wing does not have the numbers, the coalition, the support, and the influence to throw their weight around the way people assumed they would merely by being elected to office?
I think one of the more whimsical takes on the current state of American government I've witnessed in recent years is this perpetuated idea that Democrats are simultaneously weak and scattered, but also incredibly coordinated and Machiavellian in their opposition of "The Progressives" whose policy ideals are incredibly clear and would be overwhelmingly supported if not for the opposition of the mustache twirlers who run the party.
He's bought. Dude is a corruption vessel. The metro where I live in has more people than his entire state. He holds up the nation because the senate was meant to stop democracy.
Bernice from South Beach Tow.
But to answer seriously, there is no left wing version of Trump, not beyond shallow similarities like "reality TV show star".
Trump is the product and manifestation of right wing politics.
It illuminates that the American system was established to maintain power, not cede it.
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