Only one Democrat, Jared Golden of Maine, voted with the Republicans against the Build Back Better Act this morning. He deceived Maine voters-- and particularly Democratic primary voters-- when he first ran for Congress, pretending to be a progressive, but soon joined the Blue Dogs and ran up the third worst voting record of any Democrat in Congress, only Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX) and Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA) voting more consistently against progressive positions and progressive values. There's one constituents Golden is likely to make very happy with his vote; Tucker Carlson just moved to Lewiston. And as you can see, for the current year, no Democrat comes close to being as bad as Golden:
Yesterday he put out a press release claiming he would vote against Build Back Better because of SALT, attempting to trick Maine voters into thinking he opposed lowering drug prices, funding senior care (in the state with the oldest population) funding child care and universal pre-K, raising taxes on the rich, because there is also a tax break for the very rich. Is that also why he voted against impeaching Trump and against COVID relief?
Golden, who I've spoken to at least a dozen times and who has written guest posts pretending to be a progressive (here, here and here) for DWT before he exposed himself as a low down, dirty conservative, is one of the most deceitful politicians I've ever dealt with. (We even persuaded Nancy Ohanian to drawn a caricature of him a few years ago.)
Unfortunately, Golden doesn't have a viable primary opponent this cycle... but he is very likely to lose the general election to former Congressman Bruce Poliquin, who he defeated in 2018. Unlike Golden, normal Democrats are celebrating passage of the Build Back Better Act this morning. Marie Newman (D-IL):
Last year, voters put Democrats in charge of the House, Senate and White House so that we could finally deliver the transformational change that Americans throughout this country urgently want, need and deserve. Today, I am overjoyed to say that House Democrats have delivered on that promise by passing President Biden's monumental Build Back Better Act, which will cut taxes for working families, reduce household costs and make critical investments in clean energy, child care, paid leave and so much more. And as confirmed by the Congressional Budget Office just yesterday, this once-in-a-generation legislation is not only fully paid for but would also reduce the deficit by $127 billion and ease inflation.
From negotiating lower drug costs for seniors to providing universal pre-school for all 3- and 4-year olds, the Build Back Better Act will deliver real, lasting change to Americans of all ages in every community. With its passage in the House, we are one step closer to slashing families’ child care costs by extending the Child Tax Credit, expanding access to affordable home care for older adults and those with disabilities and reducing health care premiums for more than 9 million Americans. And by making big corporations and the wealthiest pay their fair share, not a single American making under $400,000 will pay a penny more in taxes.
On top of all of this, the Build Back Better Act invests more than $555 billion to deliver the largest effort to combat climate change in American history. By cutting pollution, reducing energy costs and creating new good-paying jobs through this bill, we are finally ensuring America leads the world in creating a 21st Century clean energy economy.
This is what building back better looks like and I could not be prouder to have voted to pass this landmark legislation. Now, let's get this passed in the Senate and sent to President Biden's desk immediately.
This is what Rashida Tlaib sent about what the Build Back Better Act is intended to accomplish to her constituents in Detroit:
The problem is in the Senate, where Manchin and Sinema are working with McConnell to kill the bill-- or at the very least cut to it to ribbons. It would be tragic for what passed this morning to turn out to be nothing more than a nice messaging bill for House Dems to use in the midterms.