86 Comments

Manchin and Sinema are behaving as they have been paid to behave by their corporate donors, so the way to deal with that is twofold: publicly offer them good incentives for their own states' citizens which would be difficult to turn down (and don't listen to any whining from progressives on this because this is a good bribe); at the same time, make public which elements they are refusing to back e.g. childcare, IRS funding etc and make them own it in public. Make everything transparent so that the whole US can see what is on offer from the Biden admin and what is being turned down by both Republicans and corporate Dems.

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Pelosi, Schumer and Biden play serious hard ball with Dems who act like Republicans; find whatever it takes to get them in line. And do it again for voting rights. Lyndon Johnson did it for the Civil Rights Act.

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The answer is in the question. It’s leadership. The captain has been picked, the game plan has been decided. Arguing while on the field is just giving the other side an advantage. And if you loose as a result you didn’t because the game plan failed or was wrong. It’s because you didn’t play as a team under a leader.

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First of all contrary to Republican propaganda, Democrats are not all liberal. And Manchin & Senama are not centrist, they are conservatives. Also the progressives are not radical leftists, they are progressives & are asking for what we’ve been needing for the last couple of decades, not any outrageous pie in the sky thing. Pelosi, Schumer & President Biden know that & I’m counting on them to provide it. Manchin & Senama need to vote for democracy over their corporate donors.

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I agree with you in that is so important in how we label things- it describes the politics more truly as to what they really are. CONSERVATIVE- keep the status quo. PROGRESSIVE- willing to make change for progress. All we have to do is look at the many of our allied democracies, Canada for one, to see that many of the things Progressives are working towards are not radical at all!

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.......we could not have arrived at this level of economic dysfunction without BOTH sides of the aisle selling average joe down the river--this game of chicken is really the internal showdown within the Dem party; they have a chance to resurrect their mission as the "party of the working man"; however, this time it is different, if they fail to deliver this time, the masses very well could demand real leadership from a third party. [simply because they can no longer afford to march, zombified with big smiles on their faces while waving the flag, all the way to the poor house while that handful at the top walks away with the nation's wealth, in trillions].

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Business and JUSTICE #Motto ~ as an owner of 50% of 30m plus direct 170m illegal contracts MASS murder MASS FRAUD SEX TRAFFICKING damages and definitely contribute 50% to real community leaders who UNDERSTAND THE TIME IS #NOW AND TESTIMONY AT THE PEOPLE'S HOUSE BEGAN #ProfessorRR

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I'm getting frustrated with the Democrats. They need to be more aggressive and start pulling McConnell moves now! We need to get these issues done.

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I would listen and follow Pelosi. If Democrats do not pass these bills then the future of America will dim to almost nothing. Dems MUST stick together on this one -- the way Republicans do on everything. I'm damn sick and tired of the Dems going off the reservation and “letting a thousand flowers bloom.”

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I feel like democracy itself is in danger if we don't get Biden's agenda passed and the spending bills through. Those are the stakes.

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Nothing substantive will ever happen until we get the money out of the game. We don't measure our candidates on their skill, experience, or intelligence, but solely on how much money they can raise. I'm sick of it.

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To understand why Republicans vote in lock step while Democrats don't, you need to look up Jonathan Haidt's "The moral differences between conservatives and liberals" on YouTube. It is an excellent video on the psychological differences and where they come from.

Conservatives value authority and structure and duty. That is why they do much better in the military. Deference to authority is in that. Conservatives will vote how they are told by an authority figure (Minority leader, etc) even if it goes against their personal preferences. They have a moral imperative to do that. As such, the Republican party almost always votes 100% in lock step.

Liberals don't place a lot of value on authority, structure, or deference to authority. They vote their conscience, not what they are told to vote. That is why getting Democrats to vote in lock step is like herding cats.

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That is exactly true. Also Democrats are much more inclusive, unlike repupublicans who are more exclusive - read white, male, christians. That’s why its so hard to reach consensus for Democrats.

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Conservatives and all Republicans lack a moral imperative that's why it's so easy for them to squelch all moves forward to help the middle and lower classes. They care about their donor's pocket books and how they could benefit from it. It's a no brainer and as we've seen from TFG, it does take brains to lead. They just tell people any ol' thing.

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Just for once, stop the in-party squabbling and get the job done.

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Democrats; Hang tough and do whatever it takes to pass the Big Bold Build Back Better legislation!!!

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Some refer to the so-called moderates as "corporate Democrats." Others call them the "sabotage squad." A major reason McConnell can get all Republicans to vote together and Democratic leaders can't do the same is that he is helped by his Big Money corporate donors. Republicans voted unanimously for the 2017 tax giveaway to the rich because the Big Money donors warned Republicans that their campaign funding would dry up (and might even be used to oppose them in the next election) if they didn't support the legislation. The Big Money donors are now doing the same with susceptible Democrats, which is why McConnell is so smug. Let's face it: Our government is permeated with corruption.

The only thing I can suggest is that Schumer and Pelosi have to come up with something that is more important to the corporate Democrats than their corporate benefactors, and hold it over their heads. I don't know what that would be. However, I would guess that if the package fails, the corporate Democrats would be more likely to lose their reelection bids than the progressives.

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Get the democrats whip to do his job old school. Break arms in the democrats party and block Republicans in their houses by protesters so they can't vote. Cut their phone lines, jam their cells and internet. Make them go dark.

Find out what McConnell has on all congressional republicans and use that against individual members. Hint, Russia and China dark money funded everyone's campaign.

Time to go old school and dirty. Our country needs us to.

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VERY Sensible-Two House Progressives - Ro Khanna and Jamaal Bowman - signaled a path forward that would allow progressives to vote for the bi-partisan infrastructure bill, before the Senate passes the reconciliation piece. “We're gonna respect and get behind our president,” Khanna said. He said, “If I- the co-chair of Bernie Sanders' campaign can get behind Joe Biden, every Democrat ought to get behind the Joe Biden and his agenda. He won, they didn't.”

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