I believe that the Dems should divide up the Build Back Better bill. Turn it into seperate bills. Then you are making the R vote against adding hearing aids and dental to Medicare. You are making them vote against child care, etc. Yes, some items will not pass, BUT you will have their votes to advertise against them in 2022 and 2024. This will still get a lot of our Progressive agenda through, while giving voters valid reasons to vote BLUE! IF we can get a larger number of Dems in the Senate and House, we can pass the rest of the Progressive agenda. VOTE BLUE!
Thanks for clearing up the falsehoods the media has (have?) been presenting. I was under the impression that this second bill would not get any votes and fail. It’s so good to know it is popular. I am grateful too, that we are finally on the right track. Thank you, RR!
"I also worry that even if the social and climate package is enacted, Democrats may lose the opportunity and political will to pass voting rights — which is even more important in the longer term."
I worry most about this. If we do not have a federal mandate for fair elections, namely the New Jim Crow laws in those backward states, we may not have a majority in the House or parity in the Senate after 2022, and by 2024 GAME OVER. Our oligarchy will lose even the facade of democracy.
There was a column last week in the “Daily Kos” where the author called on all of us to quit sulking and perpetuating the gloom and doom. That attitude is self defeating and suppresses voter turnout due to “what’s the point? mentality. This article gives voice to that sentiment and moves us in that direction. I appreciate Dr. Reich’s commitment to correcting the false claims and naming the names of the politicians who are bought and paid for, keeping the old saw truth “those with gold rule.” They are a detriment to the people and their party. Shame on them!
Calling the Democrat’s social and climate package “a vast overreach” is obviously deflection. Pitting the care of working class and poor families against raising taxes on the wealthy is immoral - and a clear view of the values of capitalism, especially neoliberalism. Weigh the budget of the military against social services and you will see overreach in action.
It’s a win.! A step in the right direction finally for the American People.Thank God for that! If only we can keep that momentum going, perhaps not all is lost to these Political scum that sold our Country, her Democracy, her people and her humanity out to the highest bidders. Hopefully the tide is changing and America and her People can finally start to rebuild and regain her dignity back.
It is indeed “refreshing” to hear a different point of view than most of the media’s.
I keep going back to why Manchin and Sinema are holding out, and I wish there were more media reports looking into the corporations/ lobbyists who are responsible for this (besides the senators themselves), and what the needs of their constituents are. Are they really representing their constituents’ best interests, or their own personal re-election interests?
I agree with the posts about getting money out of the election process, and would like to see Citizens United overturned eventually (biggest misnomer - call it Corporations United) (additional Supreme Court justices needed for this?).
Thank you. We need to overcome the false descriptions of Democrats constantly coming from the Right. Also “FoxNews” is an incorrect term. There is no real news coming from that propaganda channel.
Moderate and progressive dems are functioning the way Dems and republicans functioned 50 years ago. Republicans are no longer conservative, they are the right wing, Dixie-crat style extremists that George Wallace represented, people who left the Democratic Party when Kennedy and LBJ backed civil rights.
When I have responded to this column before and now again, I acknowledge that it is (and most probably always will be) as an idealist, as someone who imagines rather than sees a better future for myself and for many others. Some of you may be thinking that I am all Pipe-Dreams with no solid grounding in The Facts. But I am not alone. The framers of our very Constitution, the writers of the Bill of Rights, the supporters of Anti-Slavery/Civil Rights/Women's Rights, the sponsors of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, current sponsors of Income Equality and the Abolition of Citizens United and the Electoral College, all such legislation, all of these people were idealists. They were not content with the status quo which favored them but wanted to extend the resources of a powerful, well-endowed country to those who needed such resources. They were looking at a more distant star and wondering and imagining how they might touch that star and bring its light to others. We live in an age of narrow self-interest, when prosperity for oneself is paramount, when the needs of others are swept under the nationwide rug of disregard and ignorance. I do not think that it hurts one bit if a few of us decide to focus on what might be possible for others as well as ourselves and turn away from the immediate focus on greater wealth to the wealthy and already self-endowed. I don't think it's overly idealistic to expect our elected public servants to give their full time and serious attention to the folks who chose to support them with a vote.
The money to be spent should not go to states unless tight restrictions are in place. States like Texas would try to divert it to other things. Or worse yet, like the federal rent relief, wouldn't pass it out at all. Tens of thousands of Texans are being evicted while a billion dollars in federal money sits in the coffers.
When the next climate- induced catastrophe hits us with costs in the $billions I hope readers of the N.Y.Times will remind the editorial board that they considered the BBB bill as "vast overreach".
Why, why, why is the corporate Media so intent in turning this into a showdown between progressives and moderates? Should we be canceling our NYTIMES subscriptions in protest?
I believe that the Dems should divide up the Build Back Better bill. Turn it into seperate bills. Then you are making the R vote against adding hearing aids and dental to Medicare. You are making them vote against child care, etc. Yes, some items will not pass, BUT you will have their votes to advertise against them in 2022 and 2024. This will still get a lot of our Progressive agenda through, while giving voters valid reasons to vote BLUE! IF we can get a larger number of Dems in the Senate and House, we can pass the rest of the Progressive agenda. VOTE BLUE!
Congrats . Pres. Biden..keep charging.
You are right get something done "for the people"!
I am reading the novel "1984" again..two phrases remind me of the Republican party.
"THOUGHT POLICE" and "LOYALTY TO THE PARTY" George Orwell was way ahead of his time!
So sad for us!
Thanks for clearing up the falsehoods the media has (have?) been presenting. I was under the impression that this second bill would not get any votes and fail. It’s so good to know it is popular. I am grateful too, that we are finally on the right track. Thank you, RR!
We need to shame EVERY politician taking corporate bribery!
"I also worry that even if the social and climate package is enacted, Democrats may lose the opportunity and political will to pass voting rights — which is even more important in the longer term."
I worry most about this. If we do not have a federal mandate for fair elections, namely the New Jim Crow laws in those backward states, we may not have a majority in the House or parity in the Senate after 2022, and by 2024 GAME OVER. Our oligarchy will lose even the facade of democracy.
There was a column last week in the “Daily Kos” where the author called on all of us to quit sulking and perpetuating the gloom and doom. That attitude is self defeating and suppresses voter turnout due to “what’s the point? mentality. This article gives voice to that sentiment and moves us in that direction. I appreciate Dr. Reich’s commitment to correcting the false claims and naming the names of the politicians who are bought and paid for, keeping the old saw truth “those with gold rule.” They are a detriment to the people and their party. Shame on them!
You are a stalwart leader in the Army of the Good.
Thanks ever so much for your knowledgeable, thoughtful and humane analysis and commentary.
Please "Be not weary in good works". Many depend on you.
Calling the Democrat’s social and climate package “a vast overreach” is obviously deflection. Pitting the care of working class and poor families against raising taxes on the wealthy is immoral - and a clear view of the values of capitalism, especially neoliberalism. Weigh the budget of the military against social services and you will see overreach in action.
It’s a win.! A step in the right direction finally for the American People.Thank God for that! If only we can keep that momentum going, perhaps not all is lost to these Political scum that sold our Country, her Democracy, her people and her humanity out to the highest bidders. Hopefully the tide is changing and America and her People can finally start to rebuild and regain her dignity back.
It is indeed “refreshing” to hear a different point of view than most of the media’s.
I keep going back to why Manchin and Sinema are holding out, and I wish there were more media reports looking into the corporations/ lobbyists who are responsible for this (besides the senators themselves), and what the needs of their constituents are. Are they really representing their constituents’ best interests, or their own personal re-election interests?
I agree with the posts about getting money out of the election process, and would like to see Citizens United overturned eventually (biggest misnomer - call it Corporations United) (additional Supreme Court justices needed for this?).
Regards, Candida Silva
Thank you. We need to overcome the false descriptions of Democrats constantly coming from the Right. Also “FoxNews” is an incorrect term. There is no real news coming from that propaganda channel.
Moderate and progressive dems are functioning the way Dems and republicans functioned 50 years ago. Republicans are no longer conservative, they are the right wing, Dixie-crat style extremists that George Wallace represented, people who left the Democratic Party when Kennedy and LBJ backed civil rights.
When I have responded to this column before and now again, I acknowledge that it is (and most probably always will be) as an idealist, as someone who imagines rather than sees a better future for myself and for many others. Some of you may be thinking that I am all Pipe-Dreams with no solid grounding in The Facts. But I am not alone. The framers of our very Constitution, the writers of the Bill of Rights, the supporters of Anti-Slavery/Civil Rights/Women's Rights, the sponsors of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, current sponsors of Income Equality and the Abolition of Citizens United and the Electoral College, all such legislation, all of these people were idealists. They were not content with the status quo which favored them but wanted to extend the resources of a powerful, well-endowed country to those who needed such resources. They were looking at a more distant star and wondering and imagining how they might touch that star and bring its light to others. We live in an age of narrow self-interest, when prosperity for oneself is paramount, when the needs of others are swept under the nationwide rug of disregard and ignorance. I do not think that it hurts one bit if a few of us decide to focus on what might be possible for others as well as ourselves and turn away from the immediate focus on greater wealth to the wealthy and already self-endowed. I don't think it's overly idealistic to expect our elected public servants to give their full time and serious attention to the folks who chose to support them with a vote.
The money to be spent should not go to states unless tight restrictions are in place. States like Texas would try to divert it to other things. Or worse yet, like the federal rent relief, wouldn't pass it out at all. Tens of thousands of Texans are being evicted while a billion dollars in federal money sits in the coffers.
When the next climate- induced catastrophe hits us with costs in the $billions I hope readers of the N.Y.Times will remind the editorial board that they considered the BBB bill as "vast overreach".
Why, why, why is the corporate Media so intent in turning this into a showdown between progressives and moderates? Should we be canceling our NYTIMES subscriptions in protest?