Joe Biden and the do-nothing Democrats
Centrist Dems are compromising us right out of our democracy
Come next year, you’ll hear President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats out on the midterm campaign trail extolling the virtues of the infrastructure bill they passed earlier this year.
The bill does a lot and yet seemingly not enough at the same time. It offers billions of dollars for much needed infrastructure projects, but public transportation experts complained that the bill gives too many dollars for too many new highway lanes and not enough transit money. Republicans, despite voting against the bill, are busy in their home district scrambling to take credit for the Democratic law.
But the biggest problem for Democrats is that the infrastructure bill is likely to be the only thing they have to run on this upcoming election. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) have stood in the way of most of the rest of the way of Biden’s legislative agenda.
It’s fair to ask if this political reality is sustainable for Democrats to maintain their tenuous control over of the federal legislative branch. At the end of the day, Dems need to show the American public that they can produce results. If they can’t, well then what’s the point of letting them have the majority?
I’m sure some Democratic voters reading this are rolling their eyes? “What’s the alternative? Republicans?” I hear you asking. Well, I think Republicans are going to take control regardless, through voter suppression, radical gerrymandering, and a ridiculous one-way media system that distorts every bit of news into a fresh radicalizing event for conservatives.
Senate Democrats have a chance now to put a stop to this, to ensure they have a fair shot at elections. Instead of needing 65% percent of the vote in a given state just to control 51% of the state’s legislature, federal Dems can pass voting reform legislation.
Instead, Sinema and Manchin (and I suspect several other more conservative Democrats who are happy to let the terrible two take the fall for them) are standing in the way of passing voter reform. The two are insistent that the Senate filibuster remain in place as a protection for the minority party.
It’s likely they’re going to need it, as Republicans are positioning themselves for possibly a permanent majority. Centrist Democrats are going to let it happen.
