At the end of the day politics is about the art of what is possible given the realities of ....

[Botany]

... what is there. And we can and must change those realities in '22 & '24.

This is a very good start and it is a good bill too. Yes, more things need to be done and they
almost certainly will but you have got to start someplace.

[Scrivener7]

1. "Politics is about the art of what is possible given the realities of what is there." THIS should

be pinned at the top of the home page.

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. True. But what is possible is determined not only by the cards you hold, but by how they are playedl

There is an element of poker in politics. Once it is determined that a bold show of confidence will cause other players to blink and fold their hands, a bluffer can reign supreme.

I am reserving judgement about who is and who is not being most effective at truly moving the ball forward for the American people until after the dust settles on the extended "negotiations" currently taking place on Build Back Better. But I'll say this with confidence. Democratic progressives, with the backing of most of their colleagues I believe, were absolutely correct to hold firm a month ago in refusing to pass the "Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill" when they were being pressured to at that time. When they held firm Speaker Pelosi withdrew a scheduled vote on that part of Biden's agenda, and that initiated am intense round of negotiations with President Biden deeply involved.

Here is the important part to realize. On September 27th, Senator Sinema's opposition to any reversal of Trump's tax cuts had not yet been revealed. Virtually everyone expected that at least a partial reversal of those cuts would be the main funding mechanism for the Build Back Better agenda. Snema strategically remained silent on that, allowing that perception to take root. Had the House passed the Infrastructure Bill when they were being pressured to in September, Sinema would have gotten what she wanted and virtually all leverage remaining to use on her would have evaporated. THEN Build Back Better would have been cut back to almost nothing due to funding constraints. Progressives pulling the emergency brake lever forced both Manchin and Sinema to enter into detailed negotiations during which they were forced to actually say what they wanted and what they opposed specifically. Because Biden's entire agenda was at stake, both the President and all Democrats in Congress became fiercely motivated to explore new funding sources to pay for legislation with a price tag north of 1.5 Trillion.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Given that a majority of congress is corrupt and voters are ignorant and delusional,

our options are quite limited. The reality is not good.

[Johnny2X2X]

7. And yet, we are about to get our 3rd massive bill passed this year alone

The American Rescue Plan halved childhood poverty in the US. The bi-partisan infrastructure deal is the largest investment in our nation's infrastructure in generations. And the BBB Bill will be the most progressive piece of legislation to be signed into law since FDR.

[Irish_Dem]

8. If this bills gets passed, I attribute it to the acumen of Joe Biden.

And members of congress who are not corrupt.

[Botany]

11. In the past 2 to 3 months I have seen so much of the media push "an out to get Biden" meme ...

... however Joe's acumen about how the Congress works, the reality of the #s, and how he never rose to
the bait that the GOP and our un American right wing media put out there helped to bring this home.

Besides both Sinema and Manchin know that if the bills go 100% down they will lose much of their political
clout.

Pass what we can and then show the American people who really cares about them and win big in '22 & '24
with the new DIVERSE Democratic party that Joe and the K-Bomb are building.

[Irish_Dem]

12. My theory is that Joe deliberately set an initial high price tag and expendable parts to the bill.

So that everyone could slice and dice, but in the end still give him an acceptable bill.

[MineralMan]

4. Indeed. I agree.

We can either get some or nothing. I prefer getting some.

[hamsterjill]

5. It is how the game is played.

My personal opinion is - and I am allowed that opinion - is that unless the Democrats produce on the promises that were made, the midterms will not be kind to us.

There are ways of getting things done. Democrats are going to have to figure those ways out. Push the envelope a little. Make the ones who won’t fall in line a little uncomfortable. I’d like to see a little bravado.

[lagomorph777]

9. Yup - and SineManchin are counting on that.

They expect to reap great rewards when they switch to the new "majority" party.

[hamsterjill]

10. Then let them.

As far as I’m concerned, they already have. Might as well make it official and then at least the Dems can tell it like it is.

Right now, Dems can’t say too much about the two jerks or it will look like they are attacking their own. Those two are clearly not a part of our “own”.

[Hortensis]

6. As you say. Worth remembering that from the beginning, Pelosi,

knowing that the social bill would come under severe attack, and even possibly be killed by one dissatisfied fringe or the other, or possibly both as we've seen, said she would not allow a house vote on the physical infrastructure bill whose passage is secure by itself -- it'd be both or neither.

And here we've arrived, with a battle-scarred and hacked up but live social bill that must be passed to fulfill our promises to America. And to produce additional achievements to show people why to vote Democrat again in the midterms. We don't send our representatives to DC to produce nothing.