Yesterday’s Celtics game was so frustrating since the team that swept the Nets with a swift offense and a Smart defense did neither of those things yesterday. We were back in February with Tatum and Brown shooting missed 3 after missed 3 rather than going for the layups and rebounds in succession that would get you more points on the board more quickly. At the end of the day, as Yogi Bera would remind us, winning the game requires having more points than the other side. It does not matter whether they be 3 pointers or 2 pointers, the team with the most points wins.
I’m reminded of this when looking at the Biden presidency and Congressional Democrats. Their win big or go home mentality will result in many of them going home-for good-this coming November. And if our democracy was really at stake, isn’t it worth jettisoning they Build Back Better agenda for some midnight basketball that could actually pass the bloody Senate?
Former Treasury Secretaries Lew and Rubin have a common sense plan to restore the child tax credit, one Joe Manchin already signed off on as long as it’s revenue neutral. Romney has a great family aid plan that is also revenue neutral and will put $350/m into the pockets of every working parent. Rubio has a student loan reform package that would end this insanity of endless borrowing for good and in a more fiscally responsible manner than the Warren-Schumer jubilee. I’ll also add there’s stuff Manchin is willing to support on climateclimate, good stuff Bennett has proposed on prescription drugs and Medicare expansion. All of which will help working families save money without making inflation or the deficit any worse and without the waste, fraud, and abuse that affected nearly a quarter to a third of all the Covid and ARP packages.
Americans want to help other Americans who are also willing to help themselves by working and raising families. We don’t want to pay for people to be idle. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama got this, so did Joe Biden in the primary. I worry Ron Klain and the Progressive Caucus forgot this winning formula. A series of 2 pointers is ultimately better than continuing to miss your 3’s. Time for the Democrats to figure that out and start passing stuff rather than wasting time by making the perfect the enemy of the good. Our very democracy may depend on it.
All this plus the perennial issue of better messaging (and paying for it!). I see some decent messaging from party organs on Facebook, but their pages are mostly liked and followed by people who already agree with them (along of course with some trolls who will never agree with them). The party needs to pay for messaging that will hit voters who are not paying attention in the face, like billboards and TV ads.
Funny you should write this on a day when I’ve already had to resist the temptation to flame about Nancy Pelosi’s showboating in Ukraine. Who thought this useless and needlessly risky trip was a good idea? What purpose did this trip serve?
I agree with your comment and I’m disgusted with what our elected officials in the House and Senate are doing.
For whatever reason the pundit class has made visiting Zelensky in person some litmus test for credibility, but I agree with the UN Secretary General seemingly targeted the other day that it’s too risky. Also promising “victory” in this kind of war could lead to unforeseen consequences. I’m glad we are providing them with this aid, but this war will not end with Putin deposed or Ukranian forced marching into Moscow. It will hopefully end with Ukraine keeping most of their country, their democracy, and their freedom of association with billions of more Western aid to rebuild.
Showing support and experiencing such events first hand both sound like good reasons to go to me.
The Democratic Party needs to go in guns blazing as the democratic party. Only one major party believes in electoral democracy. Only one major party believes in defending all persons in the exercise of their rights. Given tonight’s developments we need to discuss reproductive rights now more than ever.
Completely agree. Time to go on offense.