Biden tried to shift the blame for Tuesday's electoral catastrophe away from himself to congressional Democrats, saying the results underscore that the party needs to "produce for the American people" but suggested that his inability to get Congress to pass a $1 trillion infrastructure deal and a $1.75 trillion package of social and climate programs ahead of the voting didn’t make a difference... He added that, "people are upset and uncertain about a lot of things” including the pandemic, the job market and the price of a gallon of gasoline."
Late yesterday, perhaps in response to Biden-- or to swing voters in Virginia and New Jersey-- Pelosi, reported Punch Bowl News, "is slamming her foot on the gas pedal, looking to pass both the Build Back Better Act and the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill this week. In doing so, Pelosi is asking her House Democratic Caucus to vote for a bill with an uncertain future in order to jumpstart the long-delayed reconciliation process. She’s also attempting to brush aside a whole host of concerns from within the caucus. [Corrupt conservatives] are publicly worried about immigration-related provisions and the budgetary impact of the legislation-- but really have concerns that are broader than that. Progressives still want assurances from the Senate that the BBB will survive the chamber intact-- and those assurances are impossible to give.
She doesn't have the votes. On the left, several members say they're not ready to vote for the conservative hard infrastructure bill yet. AOC: "I think if we have reconciliation, and we have clear assurances from the Senate on reconciliation, that's not just kind of wishful thinking, but really clear assurances, then I think we have a path." On the other hand, a right-wing corporate shill who chairs the Blue Dogs, Stephany Murphy (FL) is demanding a vote of the hard infrastructure bill even as she and her fellow Blue Dogs throw up obstacles to the human infrastructure bill. They are adamantly opposed to Democrats keeping any form of family leave and any form of Medicare expansion in the bill. And they oppose taxing the rich to pay for social programs. Any different from Republicans? Not on this. No Labels and Big PhRMA have been running misleading ads for all their Blue Dog and New Dem shills blocking the bill. Here's one on the air now for Vicente Gonzalez.
Former Orlando Congressman Alan Grayson, running for the Marco Rubio Senate seat, which is also being contested by a Schumer-endorsed nothing candidate, looked at the Virginia and New Jersey races yesterday and said "This is what happens when the Democrats fail to deliver."
For most of this year, in the face of unanimous and implacable GOP opposition, the Democrats have tried to pass two bills that would:
Extend Medicare to cover eyes, ears and teeth.
Provide two years of universal pre-kindergarten schooling.
Provide two years of free public college.
Make day care affordable for everyone.
Take America off the short list of six countries-- in the entire world-- that don’t provide paid sick leave.
Help our immigration policies to comport with basic human decency.
Wire the entire country with fast internet.
Rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges and schools.
Provide KidCash to virtually all families with children, cutting child poverty in half.
Dramatically reduce carbon pollution and climate catastrophes.
Begin to tax the $2.5 trillion of untaxed billionaire profit.
This is our “Contract with America.” But it has been thwarted-- all of it-- by every Trumped-out Republican, and two very stubborn Democratic Senators.
Yesterday, voters in Virginia and New Jersey punished the Democrats for that.
There is only one way out of this. We can’t go backward. We can’t stay where we are. We have to go forward. With all of it. We HAVE TO DELIVER.