Progressives have unfortunately
begun lining up behind the pared
back budget reconciliation bill.
The same bill that we learned today
will not include a billionaire tax
on unrealized gains.
The same bill that has
now completely cut out two years
of free community college and
paid family and medical leave
that's completely gone.
We don't even get four weeks there,
we don't get four weeks, gone.
But Progressives
unfortunately are lining up in
support with a few exceptions.
Now not every Progressive is on the
record to be fair, let's give them
time maybe by tomorrow we'll have
a better understanding of how many
progressives in the Progressive
Caucus plan on voting no.
But we do know that Representative
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has
committed to voting no on
the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
That's the corporate handout bill
that was separated out of
the budget reconciliation bill as
the corporate favorite.
That's the one that corporate
Democrats desperately want.
That's the one that
Republicans desperately want.
Because that's the one that
corporations desperately want.
That's the bill that privatizes
public infrastructure,
they love it.
Wait, we get to take public
infrastructure and
implement tolls and fees.
So Americans who need to commute to
work are going to have to pay just
to get to work.
Awesome, awesome, they love it.
The budget reconciliation bill
which was supposed to be the human
infrastructure bill, the bill that
was supposed to actually materially
improve the lives of workers,
that's been pared back to
something that's unrecognizable.
So again AOC says I'm voting no on
the bipartisan infrastructure bill
and I think that's the right way to
go about it,
that is the right strategy.
But what about the rest of
the Democrats who spoke to
the Associated Press.
Well just to remind you all Manchin
forced Democrats to drop language
finding utilities that don't move
away from heavily polluting fuels
and rewarding those that do.
Which was a pillar of their climate
change plan so that was also
cut out of the reconciliation bill.
But Mazie Hirono,
Democrat says this,
of course I don't like it,
she says,
of the outside influence moderates
have had in compressing the package
and erasing some of its provisions.
These are all things that we've
been fighting for for decades.
But she said with Democratic
unity needed, the party should use
the bill to open the door to its
priorities and then try extending
and expanding them later.
Just like they did with the
Affordable Care Act, guys, remember
how the Affordable Care Act
was just meant to be the foundation
of health care reform?
And then Democrats were going to
fight like hell to really
build upon that,
really expand that, right?
Is that what they did?
No, they didn't do that at all.
In fact, Republicans under
the Trump administration succeeded
in doing away with the mandate,
which was one of the ways to
keep premiums
low in the Affordable Care Act.
I mean, it's a disaster.
So not only did they fail in
expanding the Affordable Care Act,
they also failed in mitigating
the damage that's been done
by the Republican Party.
But let's give you some
more statements.
Here's Representative Jim McGovern,
who says, at the end of the day we
have to accomplish something,
we have to deal with the reality in
which we are living.
So the question is would we prefer
not getting anything or
would we prefer something that
can at least be a down payment on
some of the transformational
programs that we want?
All right, let's be clear
about something.
This bill, the reconciliation bill
is not transformational.
With the exception of universal
Pre K, assuming that that doesn't
get cut, that's the only thing that
I've seen so
far that has not been pared back.
But wait,
who knows what the future holds?
So as it stands today,
it's not really transformational.
Do Democrats really want it?
He says transformational programs
that we want.
Do you really want it?
because if you really want it you'd
vote no on the bipartisan
infrastructure bill.
Because as things stand today,
corporatists want that by partisan
infrastructure bill,
way more than progresses want
the reconciliation bill
because the reconciliation bill
is unrecognizable at this point.
It doesn't include most of
the major provisions that they
claim they really want that they
claim they've been fighting for.
So why would they give corporatists
a win?
Progressives actually have way more
leverage than they realize,
the question is are they going to
use that leverage?
And it seems that there are several
Progressives in the so
called Progressive Caucus who
are unwilling to use that leverage
because they're
worried about the midterms.
So that's the other thing,
Corporate Democrats not only
desperately want to pass that
bipartisan infrastructure bill,
they also want to point to
something as a victory as they
run for their reelection campaigns.
So are Progressives just going to
give them a reward for the behavior
that they've engaged in?
I mean, I know I wouldn't.
And just to answer
Representative McGovern's question,
yeah, I think nothing is better
than what we're about to get.
Because it's not just about what
remains in the reconciliation bill,
it's about the precedent to set.
It's about communicating to the
corporate wing of the Democratic
party that Progressives even when
they have tremendous leverage can
be pushed around and they're just
going to shut up and take it.
That's a really bad precedent
to set.
But more importantly it just does
the exact opposite of
what Progressives
were elected into Congress to do.
They were supposed to fight
back against the corporate wing
of the party.
And to just like lay down and
take it, it's beyond depressing.
And then there's this weird game of
chicken, because that whole game
where Corporatists won a vote on
the bipartisan bill before
the reconciliation bill that's
still going on, believe it or not.
So Pramila Jayapal, the head of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus
was asked about that.
What is going to be the order of
voting here?
Are you willing to vote in favor of
the bipartisan infrastructure deal
before the reconciliation bill is
ready?
And her answer was as follows,
let's watch.
>> If we can all get to agreement
before the president leaves that
would be great.
We can have an agreement in
principle and we can finish the
voting the bills About next week.
>> And is that enough for
you in agreement in principle to to
move forward on a vote on
the bipartisan package?
>> Well, we're calling for votes on
both bills at the same time.
So hopefully by next week,
we can get them both done.
>> By next week, okay.
I mean, hopefully sooner than that,
we're ready, we're ready,
we've been ready.
I mean, we've been ready
for some time.
>> But the Progressive Caucus in
your position still hasn't changed.
A framework is not enough to
vote on the bipartisan package.
>> What we've said consistently and
we've been really clear about this
is, we want to vote both bills now,
we're willing to if there's
agreement on
the Senate moving forward.
And the President has an ironclad
commitment from all 50 senators,
we will vote both of them out
of the house, but we still want to
vote both of them out of the house.
>> I mean, who cares?
The reconciliation bill is
unrecognizable, it doesn't include
many of the provisions
the Progressive's claim they want
and have been fighting for.
But even with everything pared
back, the corporate wing
of the party is still trying to
play this game, where they're just
trying to get that bipartisan bill
passed immediately.
And then, yeah,
we'll get to the reconciliation
bill when we get there.
And what's amazing or maybe not
amazing, maybe this is the most
expected part of the story was how
Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted to
what Pramila Jayapal said there.
Let's watch.
>> Speaker Pelosi comes from
a giant ball just said that
a framework agreement is not enough
to vote for the bill.
>> Well, I think it is,
thank you all.
>> I think it is, I think it is.
Even if we don't have the bill
written yet and all we have for
the reconciliation bill is
just a framework, which is nothing
I think the framework is enough to
ensure that we vote on
the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
That's what Nancy Pelosi
said there.
When you do that you get rid of all
your leverage, for
the reconciliation bill.
Now they've given up,
the reconciliation bill is like
super on the back banner based
on the way House leadership just
responded to that question.
Also during a closed door meeting
of House Democrats on Tuesday
morning, Pelosi implored her rank
and file members to compromise and
embrace an emerging deal on Biden's
roughly $2 trillion social spending
and Climate Change Package.
Even though its size and scope was
far less than the 3.5 trillion
Progressives had hoped to achieve.
And listen, it's not just about
the top line number.
It's not just about how much
it spends,
it's about where the money goes.
No paid family leave or
medical leave gone.
No to free community college, gone.
Funding for elder care pared back,
major provisions pertaining to
climate action gone,
corporate tax increases gone.
What does the bill include?
Don't talk about embracing it.
Don't try to turn this lemon
into lemonade.
This is, it's a rotten lemon,
absolutely rotten.
But she's encouraging Progressives
to go along with it, why?
Well, she claims we're on the verge
of something major.
Transformative, historic, and
bigger than anything else.
That's amazing because
it's not true.
Embrace it for what it is.
No bill is everything,
we cannot miss this opportunity.
But what she's really concerned
about is the midterm elections.
Democrats want just get this done.
Midterms are coming, they
gotta go back to fundraising and
they want to point to something
they accomplished for
their fundraising purposes and for
their campaigning purposes.
And so recent polls show both
the New Jersey and Virginia
gubernatorial races tightening with
Democrat Terry McAuliffe now
essentially tied with Republican
Glenn Younkin and Virginia.
National Democratic leaders
are increasingly worried that
a Republican upset in either state
would deflate the base,
energize the right and cripple
the agenda of Biden, whose approval
numbers are already underwater.
You know who's crippling Biden's
agenda?
Corporate Democrats.
So how about you deal with them?
But again, this is more evidence
that Progressive lawmakers have
a lot more leverage than they even
realize.
Why give Corporate Democrats
a reward?
I wouldn't do it,
luckily AOC isn't going to do it.
But I'd like to see more Democrats,
especially justice Democrats on
the record as saying no to
the infrastructure bill.
The Corporatists did not hold
up their deal of this whole
negotiation.
If they're not going to play along,
why should Progressives play along?
Trust me, they want that bipartisan
infrastructure built because
their corporate donors want it.
So for Progressives to lose in this
game of chicken is
incredibly depressing.