The truth hurts — unless you’re permanently blind to it. Then, it doesn’t hurt at all.
The fact is, the radicals could have had a lot of what they wanted in the Build Back Better bill, but they refused to compromise to achieve it. But because they’ve convinced themselves that this is the last chance in a generation to enact their radical agenda, they have closed off their minds to other possibilities.
In this case, they allowed the perfect to become the enemy of the good. Worse, they’ve been trapped by their own wild rhetoric and even wilder personalities.
“Why do we have to acquiesce to what members of another party think we should be doing, what so called moderates think we should be doing, what so called independents think we should be doing? All of that represents a status quo,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.). “Our status quo is rooted in racism, sexism and classism, and us not passing Build Back Better or scaling it back dramatically, even more so than has already been done, is going to disproportionately harm people of color, women, the poor, children and seniors.”
There’s still a chance that elements of the Build Back Better bill, including the child tax credit and some Obamacare reform, are still alive. But if the left takes an “all or nothing” approach to legislating, even a Democratic president with a Democratic Congress won’t be able to get anything done.
Whether liberals’ public pronouncements that they are done scaling back their priorities is just pique talking or a firm decision will be just as key to what the party can accomplish as whether Manchin comes back to the negotiating table.
Some, like Bowman, said they saw Manchin’s announcement coming back in November, when House leaders and Biden pushed House Democrats to enact a bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill favored by moderates with the promise that the party would “get there” on the social policy and climate change bill.
Bowman and a handful of other liberals voted against the spending for roads, bridges and broadband, arguing it was their only leverage for keeping people like Manchin at the table.
They were right. But it wasn’t only Manchin who had concerns about the Build Back Better bill when it was priced at $3.5 trillion. Several moderate House members in addition to Manchin and Sen. Krysten Sinema made it clear that the price tag had to come down substantially before they would support it.
Related: A Requiem for Reconciliation: Radicals and Moderates Sabotage the Democrats’ Plans
This led to Biden adding all sorts of spending gimmicks to the bill, such as sunsetting certain provisions after a year or two when he fully intended to keep those provisions forever. This brought the cost of the total bill down but didn’t fool anyone — especially Manchin.
The radicals gritted their teeth and kept their mouths shut — for a while. But as negotiations with Manchin dragged on, it became clear to the radicals that Biden was going to remove many of their cherished programs in order to get Manchin’s vote.
In the end, the left didn’t get anything.
The republic may be saved because of the stupidity and obstinancy of the radical left, who could have settled for less and still have gotten most of what they wanted. Any way you slice it, that’s stupid politics.
And thank the Lord for small favors.
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