Pramila Jayapal Won't Let the Biden Presidency Fail.

[elleng]

Michelle Goldberg

Opinion Columnist

'I RECENTLY confided to Pramila Jayapal, the leader of the House Progressive Caucus, that I was literally losing sleep over the fate of the giant social spending bill she’s negotiating. It’s been impressive to see the left exert control over Congress, refusing to move on legislation cherished by moderates until there’s a deal on a bill containing progressive priorities. At the same time, it’s been terrifying to imagine what it will mean for the Biden presidency — and the future of the country — if an agreement isn’t reached soon.

Was she sure, I wanted to know, that progressive resolve wouldn’t blow up in all our faces?

She insisted she wasn’t worried. “We’re going to get both bills done,” she said. . .

House progressives, perhaps more powerful than they’ve ever been, are trying to exercise veto power of their own, holding up a bipartisan infrastructure bill that the Senate passed in August, and which Manchin and Sinema value. The progressive threat is this: Either everyone gets some of what they want, or no one does. They held firm even after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, under pressure from moderates in her caucus, scheduled the bipartisan bill to come to the floor, and Pelosi was forced to cancel the vote.

This was a tactical victory for the left, but one seen in the Beltway, perhaps unsurprisingly, as a big setback for Joe Biden. The New York Times described it as a “humiliating blow to Mr. Biden and Democrats.”

To Jayapal, passing the reconciliation bill is a political imperative as well as a moral one, because she’s convinced that voters will reward Democrats for making their lives materially easier. She shares some of Senator Bernie Sanders’s analysis of Trumpism, seeing it at least in part as a result of Democrats abandoning economic populism. Speaking of the Build Back Better agenda, she said, “I would argue that had Democrats done some of these things 10 years ago, we would have a lot of the working-class voters that are white in Republican districts.”'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/16/opinion/pramila-jayapal-infrastructure.html

[hlthe2b]

1. what exactly can she do to get past the Senate obstacles--besides the R's?

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. By continuing to do what she's been doing- not giving in to saboteurs

Jayapal is the (mostly) unsung hero in this whole story. The unity of the CPC has prevented Gottheimer’s Gang from steamrolling congress to pass the bipartisan bill first, which would kill the reconciliation bill.
This unity has turned up the heat on Manchin and Sinema, and has brought at least Manchin to the bargaining table, and will leave Sinema in the position of having to stand alone in opposition once a deal has been struck with Manchin, which sounds like it will be fairly soon.

[hlthe2b]

3. I hope you are right..

[Budi]

5. It's getting deep in here..

🙄

[question everything]

6. I will believe this when I see it, hoping that it will not be too late

She should stop holding the infrastructure bill hostage, get it passed, promote it during the 22 and 24 elections.

Her insistence on a bundle will never pass the Senate, and as the midterm elections are starting in two months, this failure will be looked at the incompetency of the party.

Why can't she separate the two bills?

[Budi]

7. Here's a statement she gave to a group of supporters on Tuesday.

Is she saying one thing to this private group of supporters & the opposite to the press?

Can someone ask? Not sure what to believe from her anymore.

Link to tweet

[NurseJackie]

10. Astounding. So having no legislative accomplishment is considered to be a point of pride?

[Budi]

11. Corporate Owned Media lives for these chaos headlines

They need each other.

[femmedem]

8. Because the infrastructure bill is the best leverage we have over Manchin/Sinema.

The infrastructure bill is something Manchin and Sinema want to tout as accomplishments, so they are far more likely to agree to vote for even a moderately substantial reconciliation bill if the infrastructure bill doesn't pass first.

I think that if the progressives lose all hope of passing a reconciliation bill, then they will back down and pass the infrastructure bill. But most of us have been saying Democrats need to play hardball with Manchin and Sinema, and this is the hardest ball we have.

[Budi]

9. Because $2trillion of nothing is better than $2trillion of something??

👎