TAKE YES FOR AN ANSWER. Build Back Better Is Here, And It's F*CKING BETTER.

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.wonkette.com/rejoice-we-have-a-build-back-better-plan

Looks like President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have finally settled on what's going to be in the Build Back Better reconciliation bill, just in time for President Joe to fly off to Europe for two major summit meetings. A White House announcement of the framework of the bill indicates it will contain a lot of the priorities Biden had campaigned on, although it's been trimmed down from the original, more ambitious plan that was introduced earlier this year.

Biden met this morning with House Democrats to discuss what's in the agreement framework, which still needs to be written up in formal legislative language, to delete any marginal notes reading "fuck the moderates, SOCIALISM NOW!" The package had to be pared back significantly in order to meet demands from Sens. Joe Fucking Manchin (D-West Fucking Virginia) and Kyrsten Fucking Sinema (D-Fuck Goddamn Shit Arizona. Fuck). The Washington Post notes that it

remains unclear if Manchin and Sinema support the new framework, but the White House believes all Democrats will unite behind the plan, according to senior administration officials, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity earlier Thursday.

So good, it looks like Manchin and Sinema at least haven't decided at the last minute that the bill should also designate lobbyists as America's national mammal.

*snip*

[berni_mccoy]

1. Has it been signed off on by Manchin and Sinema

They are the ones in control.

[Celerity]

9. nope, Biden just told the House leaders he cannot guarantee Manchin and Sinema are totally on board

even with the already massively cut and stripped $1.75 trillion version

as it currently stands:

Paid Family/Medical Leave - Gone

Prescription Drug Price Savings - Gone

Tuition Free Community College - Gone

Dental and Optical Medicare Coverage - Gone

Billionaire and Wealth Taxes- Gone

Clean Electricity Performance Program - Gone ($150 billion, so a very large part)

Child Tax Credits - Slashed via lower caps and reduced to only ONE year

Immigration Reform spending (multiple reports directly from live interviews with Senators and Representatives today that the Senate Parliamentarian is going to disallow a lot of it)

Student Loan Relief - Long Gone and it looks like Biden is leaning towards not even doing an EO for the vastly reduced $10K amount

Major parts of the tax increases - Gone (or never in it for months)

Medicare/Medicare Expansion - looking very shaky at the moment, 2 minutes ago Jayapal said Biden told her and the other leaders that he cannot guarantee that Manchin and Sinema are on board as of this moment

Vast parts of multiple other pieces of BBB dramatically slashed, example being child care expense relief, slashed by almost 70%, plus major parts of the green/renewable energy/environmental programmes slashed (almost all of the programmes in the BIF for this are gone)


finally (and this was already done):

The Bi-partisan Infrastructure Bill new spend was gutted by almost 80%. What remains are long term projects that will have little impact before the 2022 mid-terms. The total per year new spend ($55 billion per annum) is less than ONE per cent of the money spent in 2020 fiscal year budget.

[Takket]

16. So basically this bill...

Tells everyone that was promised the above if they came out and voted blue in 2020 to go fuck themselves hard, and stay home in 2022 because it is a waste of you time to vote.

Maybe Manchin and Sinema could have just issued a statement to that effect in January and saved us all the time we wasted.

[Celerity]

18. there are some great things in it (universal pre K is great), of that there is no doubt, but they

completely ripped entire huge, headline parts of it, instead of just lowering the number of years from 10 to 5 or so, for instance.

Looking at the top-line numbers

and using the 'compromise' framing

here is the compromise totals fro the 2 bills

Bi partisan hard infrastructure bill (BIF) (new spend figures only, $650 billion of the $1.2 trillion final bill is simply renewal of transportation programmes that were passed under Obama and Trump)

Progs original proposal: $ 4 trillion in new spend

Biden's original proposal that the Progs agreed to months ago: $2.6 trillion

Manchin and Sinema 'compromise': $550 billion

Final new spend: $550 billion and entire huge parts GONE (so ZERO in terms of dollars compromise given by Manchin and Sinema)

So the compromise BIF scorecard

Manchin and Sinema win with an almost 80% reduction in new spend from the Biden original proposal, 87% reduction from the original Prog number


BBB Act

Progs original figure: $6 trillion

Biden's original proposal: $3.5 trillion (which the Progs agreed to months ago)

Manchin and Sinema original figure (mostly Manchin, Sinema never said an exact figure, but she said Manchin's number was one she could support): $1.5 trillion

final total (as of now) $1.75 trillion (as the Senate parliamentarian is 90% plus likely to NOT allow another $100 billion in immigration spend)

$1.75 trillion


Final BBB Act compromise scorecard:

Manchin and Sinema compromised $250 billion

So they win again with a 50% gutting (including multiple entire headline programmes of Biden's, core campaign promises) from Bidens' original number, and a 71% gutting from the Prog's original total



Both bills total ($2.3 trillion combined final total new spend as it stands) combined compromise scorecard:

Machin and Sinema 'caved in' for a total of $250 billion

Biden 'caved in' for a total of $3.8 trillion (15.2 times as much as Coal and Curtsy 'caved in')

Progs 'caved in' for a total of $7.7 trillion (30.8 times as much as Coal and Curtsy 'caved in')

Coal and Curtsy stripped out what is closing in on 2/3rds of all new spend (using Biden's numbers) between the 2 bills, with entire programmes, huge headline programmes/campaign promises, GONE, proofed


so to call it a 'compromise' is stretching the meaning of 'compromise' to the point of being meaningless

it was a Manchinema straight up gutting, those two wreckers literally are running a huge chunk of the national government atm


Moscow McTurtle is laughing so hard his dusty old mouldy shell may crack (as he knows that those two obstructionists ALSO will very likely not allow a filibuster carve-out for voter rights (so it is absolutely full steam ahead on the voter suppression/gerrymandering/election tampering for 2022, and then 2024)

[empedocles]

2. CNN reporting at 12:12p, Sanders sending message to House Progressives

to defy!

Not go along with House bill.

[Budi]

3. As expected. But let's keep blaming Manchin & Sinema while the cloak of shame is worn by others..

Start blasting the names of all the NO Votes following the final vote.

Demonize them without protection nor the usual but..but..but.. villlify their neglect of the waiting Americans for the simple reason to spite our President in all his blessed efforts.

Call the Vote & put them ALL on record.

Spite for the good that one man is willing to do will bury this country.
This is their shame to wear. Not Joe Biden's.

[FBaggins]

4. Did he tell them that we need to support the President's agenda?

By voting against what the President just asked you to vote for?

[Fiendish Thingy]

10. Um, actually Sanders is encouraging a delay, not approving the BIF before the BBB

I dont trust Manchin and Sinema either.

[berni_mccoy]

11. That's a lie. He asked the House to delay the vote on BIF until BBB is ready for a bote

As it was agreed upon by all at the beginning.

[empedocles]

14. Sanders on video had a number of objections. CNN said it [seemed?] not their word,

'a message to Progressives to defy'. Seemed clear to CNN, with Sanders avoiding his 'signature'.

[berni_mccoy]

15. He didn't say he wouldn't vote for it. So thanks for the lie

He has said all along he would support the bill as long as it was better than nothing.

[qazplm135]

12. Until Manchin and Sinema

Can be bothered to at least SAY they support the final reconciliation bill then there's still not a deal.

So I agree with Sanders you simply can't trust those two. Pass it in the Senate first and then vote for both in the House.

[mcar]

5. Kick!

[hamsterjill]

6. So, seriously, what's in it that's better?

Didn’t get to watch the presser…

[MissB]

7. A fix for SALT cap doesn't seem to be in there

Which isn’t great for high tax blue states.

[hamsterjill]

8. Family leave isn't in there either, is it?

Medicare coverage increased?

[PoliticAverse]

13. Find it hard to believe it isn't in there being that it primarily benefits the 1%. n/t

[Takket]

17. Will Sinema even bother to vote?

Or will she say she has to go get her booboo foot looked at in Arizona before heading to a fundraiser with rethugs again?