As RedState has reported on extensively, the so-called “Build Back Better” bill is currently dead. Joe Manchin finally put the nail in the coffin, announcing his opposition over the weekend. Since then, the coping and seething has been entertaining, with figures like Bernie Sanders angrily lashing out.
But that’s all these Democrats can do. They have no other move to make here to try to get their agenda passed. Yelling at clouds will have to do, and Chuck Schumer is vowing to throw a fit that will ultimately screw his own members.
So Schumer’s big plan is to force a vote that will fail? But while some may say that it’s smart for the Democrats to get people on record, is it really?
The dirty little secret about the BBB bill is that it wasn’t only opposed by Manchin. Last I checked, Kyrsten Sinema was still a no as well. But past that, there are several Democrats from red and purple states that absolutely do not want to be forced to vote for this monstrosity. For months, Manchin has provided them cover they didn’t deserve. Still, he seemed content to be the fall guy given he’s from West Virginia.
But now Schumer is threatening to expose those previously nameless senators while apparently gaining absolutely nothing in the end. The Republican campaign commercials will write themselves going into 2022.
Further, if the goal is to somehow bring Manchin back to the table, how does poking the bear accomplish that? If anything, these games by Schumer will only harden Manchin’s opposition. And while it may play well with the progressives, it’s not going to get them any closer to accomplishing what they want to accomplish.
In other words, there’s no actual strategy here. Rather, this is Schumer kicking and screaming to try to please the far-left base of the party. And it’s that insistence on prioritizing a small segment of the political population that put Democrats in this position in the first place. They never should have tried to enact “transformational” change in a 50-50 US Senate. That never made any sense. FDR had the equivalent of a 75-25 Senate majority when he passed the New Deal. There’s just no comparison.
Yet, the urge to please the “squad” and make the Bernie Bros squee has become the entire personality of the Democrat Party. All they had to do was be sane, confirm some judges, pass a child tax credit, and profit in 2022. Instead, they went absolutely crazy, and now they are reaping the consequences of that.