Paid family leave falls out of Biden's bill as tempers rise

[TexasTowelie]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Democrats signaled a deal is within reach on President Joe Biden’s big domestic bill, but momentum fizzled and tempers flared as a paid family leave proposal fell out and a billionaires’ tax appeared scrapped, mostly to satisfy a pivotal member of the 50-50 Senate.

With his signature domestic initiative at stake, Biden will head to Capitol Hill on Thursday morning to urge Democratic lawmakers to bring talks on the social services and climate change bill “over the finish line” before he departs for global summits overseas.

Still in the mix: expanded health care programs, free pre-kindergarten and some $500 billion to tackle climate change remain in what’s now at least a $1.75 trillion package.

And Democrats are eyeing a new surcharge on the wealthy — 5% on incomes above $10 million and an additional 3% on those beyond $25 million — to help pay for it, according to a person who insisted on anonymity to discuss the private talks.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/climate-joe-biden-business-wv-state-wire-congress-60a1bc276d0ab8eb3e0347fc54ee8c2c

[jaxexpat]

1. Now would be a good time for a comic book super hero to straighten this out.

What? They're fictional? But surely this is a job for "The Taxman" and his sidekick "Budgetron". How, then, can justice be served? Are we to forever remain the hapless victims of "Republicon"?

But seriously, the one profound fact spot-lit by this escapade is that those at the apex of the economic matrix serve no purpose except to conserve the fruits of their own relentless greed.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Very good news

The timing, planned all along I would suspect to just before election day, is spot on. Biden really - really - knows what he's doing.

[HUAJIAO]

3. Uh, somehow I don't think that was really the plan....

[vercetti2021]

4. I'd say fuck it at this point

Leave shit in and make him vote no against it. Screw him and the dirty money he rode in on

[hamsterjill]

11. I tend to agree.

Let Manchin and Sinema be shown for who they really are.

Democrats are not going to be respected for whittling the bill down to nothing and getting crap passed. By bowing and scraping to the two assholes, it only emboldens the two assholes. Put the bill to a vote and then tell the senior Democratic voters that Manchin and Sinema don’t care if they have rotting teeth because they (Manchin and Sinema) are paid to pass legislation that benefits their wealthy donors.

At least it would be honest.

[left-of-center2012]

5. I'm guessing the GOP is laughing their asses off

[gab13by13]

6. I don't,

the GQPers would be laughing their asses off if both bills failed. A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.

[johnthewoodworker]

7. Help the wealthy and fuck everything else. That might pass.

[Johnny2X2X]

8. Just wait until the bill gets passed

Thread after thread of speculation. Family leave might be in or out, we don't know yet.

The difference between this bill and most others has always been that this is not a normal spending bill that funds normal things that Congress People then add to for their priorities. This was always a bill that was 100% going to be full of good things for working people. So whether it was $3.5T or $1.9T it was always going to be all good things.

This isn't one of those situations where we had to give the Pentagon $750 Billion to get $15 Billion to feed the poor. This was always going to be all good.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

9. Does it still contain $107B for dreamers?

It's been a while since I read anything on it.

[The Mouth]

10. unfortunately, this is the way stuff gets done, unless you have a dictatorship

As much as I wish we could just wave a wand and get the full, original package, that was never going to happen with a 50-50 Senate.

The only way to get the full package would have been to have enough solidly blue votes to override the Reps and DINOs...


Not getting the Paid Family Leave is going to hurt us in the mid terms and the long run unless we make it a major issue. It's the kitchen table, lower/middle class financial stuff where we speak to the people.

Still, half a loave is better than none.