SCORE ! In a dramatic vote late last night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the vote for the $1.2T Senate passed Bipartisan Infrastructure bill with the following result : YES NO
DEMOCRAT 215 6
REPUBLICAN 13 200
TOTAL 228 206
Sometimes, the good guys and gals win!
Please share widely!
While addressing the chamber from the floor before the vote, the Speaker was loudly mocked by the Pukes when she praised President Biden’s Build Back Better plan. She responded : ” Did I hear a laugh over there from those who added two trillion in tax cuts for the richest people in America?”
That’s called LEADERSHIP ! God, I love this woman!
I missed that! She has proven time and again she is not to be trifled with.
This is finally great news, but we could have had it a lot sooner if the progressives had not whined about the process. The 6 Dems who voted nay were NOT conservatives or DINOs who legitimately thought it was a bad idea on the merits, but “the Squad” who are pouting that their agenda didn’t go first, an attitude I expect from kindergarteners. If they keep this up they are going to find themselves irrelevant.
BIB is a “Blue Collar Blueprint” to rebuild America.
“D in Democrat is for Deliver.” Assistant Speaker of the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Katherine Clark (CD-5, Melrose)
My text message to Katherine, today : SCORE, Katherine ! Boy, did you DELIVER !
Family leave, drug price reform, Medicare coverage for vision, hearing and dental, etc. etc.– all this, in Chris’s mind is just “their agenda.”
No, not at all.
The issue is that they did all in their power to torpedo the entire Democratic agenda because it didn’t happen the way they wanted it to.
The “Squad” is our Tea Party. I think they’re toxic and I think they should be replaced.
More specifically, this episode has pushed me out of the wait-and-see give-her-a-chance stance I’ve been in since she unseated Mike Capuano. Mike Capuano would have been leading the charge to get these bills enacted and move on.
I am eagerly seeking a viable candidate to oppose Ayanna Pressley in the upcoming 2022 election. I am eager to support that candidate with money and time.
I’m DONE with Ayanna Pressley.
So did you have any other plans for the next few years? 🙂
I had entertained faint hopes that Ms. Pressley would grow into her job and rise to the occasion.
She has instead shown herself to be exactly what I was afraid of when she first ran. I miss Mike Capuano. He would have been a real asset for the entire party during this insurrection.
I’m very happy about the outcome of this week’s local election in Somerville. Five of the six candidates I supported — including the Mayoral candidate (Katjana Ballantyne) and the city councilor for my ward (Beatrice Gomez) won election. The “Defund” slate was demolished, thankfully.
It’s my agenda too, but I also believe in getting the stuff everyone agrees on passed first and go from there. I don’t believe progressives argued either that infrastructure is bad or that with limited resources the other bill had to take priority.
See how this works? When Manchin or Sinema threaten to vote against something, Pelosi, Schumer et al throw up their hands and say they have to placate them because there is no alternative.
When progressives try to bargain, the leadership suddenly gets creative and goes around them.
The leadership always finds and excuse to stab progressives in the back. If it’s not two crooked Senators, then it’s the Senate Parliamentarian. But when the Pukeocrats want something for their donors, they make friends Republicans.
I do indeed see how this works.
When a major legislative accomplishment passes a thinly-divided House and Senate, some of us whine, stomp their feet, and throw a temper-tantrum because it doesn’t meet their personal standards of perfection.
The insurrectionist GOP is doing everything in its power to obtain the ability to overturn any election they choose at the state level. That is effectively the end of representative democracy. Our only chance of putting down this insurrection is to increase our majority (so that individuals like Mr. Manchin and Ms. Sinema have less power) and pass legislation that, in the short run, restores the provisions of the Voting Rights Act that the right has struck down.
The specific items that you and the Squad are throwing temper-tantrums about are nowhere near as important as the things yesterday’s legislation does and that next week’s second phase will do.
Mr. Manchin is correct when he observes that spending billions of dollars providing free child care or paid family leave is a shell game while Social Security benefits will hit a brick wall in 12 short years. Today’s GOP has already shown that they are perfectly happy to destroy the world’s financial system — and the credibility of the US — by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. That same GOP — especially if it gains additional seats in the 2022 and 2024 election — will happily kill Social Security. The GOP has been trying to kill Social Security for as long as Social Security has existed.
I am, frankly, happy to see Mr. Manchin saying things that “the Squad” — and the radical extremists that the Squad represents — doesn’t want to hear.
Mr. Manchin has already gone on the record enthusiastically endorsing a wealth tax. If there is a battle to be fought by progressives, that battle should be about taxing WEALTH — not income.
I just tried to find public statements by the Squad about a wealth tax, with no success. That doesn’t surprise me, actually, because I have the distinct impression that hard-nosed math and economics is not their strong suit. Wearing an expensive white gown that says “Tax the Rich” to some high-society gala is not what I’m talking about.
The Squad have shown me that they have no place in Congress. I will do all in my power to replace Ayanna Pressley (my representative) with a person better able to actually do something about the crucial issues of our time.
This is a strange comment, Tom. Let me go over some of our recent discussions.
1) When the subject was the repeal of the SALT deduction limits, your position was that this was unimportant because the ultimate solution was taxing wealth, and settling for progressive income taxes wouldn’t be a perfect solution.
2) When the subject was the prohibition on Medicare negotiating to reduce drug prices, your position was that this was unimportant because we had to completely reform the entire health care system. And reforming drug prices wouldn’t be a perfect solution.
There is a time when not letting “the perfect become the enemy of the good” is the right strategy. This is not one of those times, and. given what you said about SALT and drug pricing, you are not the person to make that argument. The House and Senate leadership had a deal to send the reconciliation bill through with the infrastructure bill. They broke their word on that deal. The six progressive Democrats had good reason to try to maintain their leverage because passing this bill now means that the reconciliation bill will just get worse.
Holding out for child care, Medicare expansion, drug pricing reform is not the same thing as “whining and stamping your feet.”
There’s nothing “strange” about it.
The Social Security trust fund is exhausted in 12 years. The impact of that completely dwarfs whatever change in prescription pricing is being proposed for Medicare.
My current health-care coverage — Medicare plus a BCBS “gap” plan — is far and away the best health care coverage I’ve had since the Reagan era (which is when health care insurance costs began to skyrocket). My monthly premium is $225/month, compared to over $1,000 a month on my last corporate plan. My out-of-pocket costs are a fraction of what they were — especially my out-of-pocket costs for prescriptions.
The Medicare prescription benefit is already compellingly better than anything offered by any private plan I’ve seen.
The things you mention are minor in comparison to losing Social Security, losing representative democracy in America, and handing the keys to our government over to the insurrectionists.
Yup, in fact it is. The Squad literally does not have the ability to make any of those things happen. Holding hostages is never a viable strategy, and all The Squad is doing is attempting to sabotage the agenda of the rest of the party.
The difference is Manchin and Sinema object to the bigger bill on the merits while progressives are whining about process. If those two will only give us half a loaf that’s what I’ll take for now. The Squad apparently prefers to go hungry.
Like the Tea Party before them, The Squad prefers to stay in the spotlight. Not only will they go hungry themselves, they’re perfectly happy to impose starvation on everyone else as well. “Purity” is everything.
Purists have always done this — it isn’t enough that a statement be made, it must be made by THEM. See “The Strawberry Statement” from the Vietnam War era (https://www.amazon.com/Strawberry-Statement-Notes-College-Revolutionary/dp/B00BMEFR56)
I actually see no evidence that the objections of Ms. Sinema are substantive — they too strike me as showboating in hopes of increased visibility.
Mr. Manchin is raising substantive objections that reflect both his constituents and his own values and priorities. We might not like it, but Mr. Manchin seems to be doing exactly what we elect Senators to do.
As I’ve said multiple times before — and as he himself has said multiple times — the best way to reduce the influence of Mr. Manchin is to elect more men and women to the Senate who are more radical than him.
I hope that the rest of the Democratic Party comes to its senses. The “Defund” movement is the most egregious form of political suicide that I’ve seen in decades.
Where do you draw the line between the people who oppose Critical Race Theory and people who oppose Defund the Police?
“Finally, infrastructure week,” a beaming President Biden told reporters. “I’m so happy to say that. It’s a monumental step forward for the nation.” POTUS Joe Biden
P.S. Remember, it was Orange Julius who, for 4 four torturous years of lying, declared every week…”infrastructure week.”
My line is fact versus fiction.
In some of the more extreme cases I’m not sure there’s a line to be drawn. The idea of defunding the police — for example, as attempted here in Somerville — is pure idiocy.
Both have been taken out of context and used to falsely beat Democrats over the head.
Opposing Critical Race Theory is currently a dog-whistle of the right wing, and has certainly been used to beat Democrats over the head. It is false, in the sense that to my knowledge Critical Race Theory is not taught in any public school.
“Defund the Police” is a movement championed by many prominent Democrats. Ayanna Pressley went on the record supporting it last June (https://time.com/5857571/ayanna-pressley-defund-police-time100-talks/). Ms. Pressley and Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) announced their support for the “Breath” act (https://breatheact.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/The-BREATHE-Act-PDF_FINAL3-1.pdf) — legislation that promotes the proposals of the “Defund the Police” movement.
The “Breathe Act” was — thankfully — superseded by the “https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1280”.
Support for the “Defund” movement has, in fact, come from at least some prominent Democrats — The Squad, in particular.
I’m pretty sure defunding the police is not the official stance of any branch or leaders of the Democratic Party.
It was a top-level bullet point for each candidate in the Our Revolution Somerville slate.
Like it or not, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a leader of the Democratic Party. She is an outspoken proponent of “Defund the Police”.
Doesn’t it feel better to build bridges, instead of walls? from a friend
I’m all for building bridges.
Striving to destroy the foundations of the society that I live in makes that process more difficult. Voting against a historic bill to rebuild the crumbling hard infrastructure of Massachusetts and Somerville is not a way to build any sort of bridge with me.
Ayanna Pressley is the only member of “The Squad” that I have an opportunity to vote for or against.
Ms. Pressley has, so far, offered only a raised middle finger to me and my neighbors. I’ve written her office several times since she was elected and received NO response — not even a form letter. Her statement about her vote against the hard infrastructure bill (https://www.nbcboston.com/news/politics/mass-rep-ayanna-pressley-explains-no-vote-on-1-trillion-infrastructure-deal/2555967/) exemplifies what I mean (emphasis mine):
That statement is a complete red herring. She invented that false choice. Her vote against the infrastructure bill, in fact, pitted the overwhelming majority of people in Massachusetts and CD-7 against her and whatever community she claims to represent.
I invite Ms. Pressley to explain how her vote helps anybody in CD-7.
I certainly hope that EVERY Democrat in the House votes in favor of the “soft” infrastructure bill this week.
I hope that a viable Democrat steps forward to run against her in upcoming 2022 mid-term election.
Her quote above makes no sense unless she is claiming that our resources are limited and she prefers to prioritize the soft infrastructure. The way you don’t pit people against each other IS to vote for BOTH.
She is outspoken, but not a leader. She is not a member of the DNC or part of the House leadership structure, not even a subcommittee chair. She does not hold any position which should lead anyone to assume she speaks for anyone besides herself and possibly her own constituents.
Oh my.
I hate to break this to you, but being a leader does not require any of the things you mention.
AOC is among the most prominent, most visible, and most well-known elected Democrat.
She most certainly IS a leader of the Democratic Party. Donald Trump holds no office and plays no formal role in today’s GOP — yet he dominates the party in a way that nobody has dominated any party in generations.
Would you argue that Mr. Trump is also not a “leader” of the GOP?
I generally do think of a party’s most recent presidential nominee as one of its leaders. AOC is certainly prominent and visible, but she has never been designated by the party to speak for them. Also, there’s a saying that one who leads without people following is just someone taking a walk. When AOC talks of defunding the police, she is NOT speaking for the party. Donald Trump, OTOH speaks for his party precisely because almost all of them kneel and kiss the ring.
She speaks for an ENORMOUS number of progressive Democrats — especially among minority voters.
The explicit assertion that AOC is not a leader in the Democratic party epitomizes the issue that the Democratic Party has with minority voters at this very moment.
So do you want her speaking for the party or not? Does the party get a say in who speaks for them or not? My personal answers to those questions are no and yes respectively. She gives voice to A subset of the party’s base. If you suggest that my assertion she is not a leader means we have an issue with minority voters (a premise I’m not at all sure I accept) then do we take their position on issues even if it costs us? This subthread began with your comment, which I agree with, that defund the police is not a good message for the party. If that is true then why would we call someone officially a leader who trumpets that message?
My hunch is that if one were to ask any Republican to name a Democratic member of Congress, “AOC” would be in the top five if not the top three names that came to mind.
Like it or not, she “holds that position”.
Yes, she is correct when in her district that included Riker’s Island, the police budget is more than several of the social service budgets combined. Yes, I agree with her that budgets need to be adjusted and many duties that are now the responsibility of police need to be transferred to other departments for the benefit of all those involved.
The phrase “DE-Fund the Police” is a tone deaf statement, political suicide, and Democrats need to quickly drop the use of that phrase.
While it might make sense in AOC’s district, in the suburbs and rural areas of the USA, it’s another dog whistle for the right to warn them of the approaching apocalypse of brown and black criminals who will destroy America.
Six sixes and an “Amen”
Because she knows how to use Twitter. It would be really nice if VOTERS understood the difference between one Representative who can get away with saying certain things in the district she represents and the party as a whole.
I think the voters know what they are doing. Have you followed the career of Joe Crowley, they guy she defeated?
I’m neither complaining about nor casting aspersions on Dem primary voters in that district who wanted someone more progressive. That is their prerogative. My objection is voters from around the country who may not support progressive stances, but assume that AOC’s views represent the party as a whole even when candidates in their own districts or our presidential nominee insist they don’t share those views.
I think we both agree that are there are lots of voters who are less than perfectly aware of what the Democratic Party really stands for today.
If voters ever did find out . . ..
It is up to the Democratic Party to make that distinction clear and tangible for those voters. When the party has nothing substantive to say about issues that voters are passionate about, then those voters will ignore the party.
If the official Democratic leaders — as you define them — had spent more face-time on TV telling voters what these bills did, rather than a spitting contest about how much they cost and how tortured the process is, it would be much easier for the voters to pay less attention to AOC and The Squad.
Nature abhors a vacuum, and when the official party apparatus has nothing of substance to say, show, or do then people like The Squad will step up to fill that vacuum.
This is the same paralysis that we see here in the state party. I have no doubt that we will nominate yet another content-free candidate who has nothing substantive to say about the issues that matter and is then crushed by Mr. Baker in the general.
You won’t get an argument from me that Dems can do better with messaging. That seems to be our perennial Achilles heel, and I’m really annoyed right now that progressives slow-walked infrastructure because they couldn’t get everything they wanted all at once. (AOC being of course one of the handful who still voted against the infrastructure bill.) However, Joe Biden (who is, you know, THE leader of the party) was tagged with defunding the police despite saying every chance he got that was not his position. Of course some of this stems from willful distortion by our opponents too.