Theoretically, in a 50-50 Senate with a Democratic VP as tie-breaker, either progressive Democrats or conservative Democrats-- purposefully (or stupidly) mislabeled "moderates" by anti-working class members of the mass media-- could derail anything Biden attempts, unless they get their way. What this should lead to would be progressives like Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Mazie Hirono and Tammy Baldwin sitting down and negotiating in good faith with corporate conservatives like Joe Manchin, Mark Warner, Frackenlooper, Mark Kelly, Angus King and Tom Carper and coming up with a series of compromises for the good of the country. (Not included on the list is Kyrsten Sinema because she is batshit crazy and the phrase "good faith" cannot ever be applied to her.) Instead, the conservative Democrats are cutting a deal with mainstream conservative Republicans, who they prefer to deal with over progressives in their own party.
The Republican wing of the Democratic Party in the Senate-- the assholes above plus Michael Bennet, Chris Coons, Dianne Feinstein, Maggie Hassan, Jacky Rosen, Jon Tester, Tim Kaine and Jeanne Shaheen-- is as against working families' interests as the House Blue Dogs and New Dems. Have you heard about the media-dubbed "Sweet Sixteen," which would be more accurately described as the Stinking Sixteen? Corporate-leaning journalists John Bresnahan, Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman came up with the term for the 8 Republicans, 7 Democrats and Angus King, a conservative independent who caucuses with the Democrats, who hope to tug the Senate right-ward the way the corporately-financed Problem Solvers Caucus does in the House:
Angus King (I-ME)
Democrats:
Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Frackenlooper (D-CO)
Maggie Hassan (D-NH)
Mark Kelly (D-AZ)
Joe Manchin (D-WV)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Mark Warner (D-VA)
Republicans:
Shelley Capito (R-WV)
Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Rob Portman (R-OH)
Mitt Romney (R-UT)
Todd Young (R-IN)
If Biden were still in the Senate, he would absolutely be a member of the Stinking Sixten. The 16 of them are working diligently to cut back on Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus proposal to make it more palatable for Wall Street and their corporate donors and to Republicans in general, like babbling imbeciles Susan Collins and Mitt Romney. Collins: "It's hard for me to see, when we just passed $900 billion worth of assistance, why we would have a package that big. Now maybe a couple of months from now, the needs will be evident, and we will need to do something significant."
Romney: "My focus is to see where’s the need, and let’s make sure that the numbers are real based upon need, as opposed to simply looking for more stimulus."
Last week, Jacobin published an essay by David Sirota that you ought to read if you don't want to suffer undo shock when Biden turns out to be the second worst president of our lifetimes-- Joe Biden Was Right About the Lies in Our Politics. But He’s Repeatedly Been One of the Liars. Take this to heart:
Trump was less an anomaly than an extrapolation of a worsening culture of lying. He capped off an era that saw icons of both parties lie the country into a war that killed a million people, and then saw those liars rewarded with status, power, and wealth. It was an epoch that saw financial firms deceive America into an economic collapse, then saw Wall Street moguls bailed out as millions suffered-- all while a Democratic president pretended, and continues to insinuate, that nobody actually committed any crimes. It was a time period that saw a political system tolerate-- and at times tout-- fossil fuel industry lies that created a climate crisis that now imperils all life on Earth.
Trump was defeated by an opponent who may not be a pathological liar, but who serially lies. Biden not only promoted the lies that led America into the Iraq War and was not only part of an administration that let Wall Street off the hook for its fraud-- he also more recently repeatedly lied about his public record and promises throughout the Democratic primary. At one particularly illustrative moment, Biden was asked if he ever gave Senate floor speeches touting Social Security cuts, and he flatly denied it-- just brazenly lying.
The big, brazen lie that Biden began his administration with:
Both won, largely because of the $2,000 checks promise. But, instead there are $1,400 checks... which are not going out immediately in any case.
