Senate Democrats Have Officially Abandoned the Reconciliation Bill.
They’re going to lose in 2022, and they’ll absolutely deserve it.
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Almost from the moment the Democrats revealed their $3.5 trillion reconciliation package otherwise known as the build back better agenda, many of us on the left remained skeptical of just how serious the party was about passing it. While there were a few fleeting moments of hope along the way, at this point I’ve never been more genuinely embarrassed that I even allowed myself to consider that it even had a chance of passing, and for good reason.
MSNBC’s Jesse Rodriguez took to Twitter to write:
“NBC News: Senate expected to shelve Build Back Better bill, moving forward aggressively now on voting rights.”
He then linked to an NBC News article discussing how the agenda was shelved until at least the new year, where Leigh Ann Caldwell and Julie Tsirkin wrote:
“Democrats in the Senate are preparing to miss their self-imposed deadline to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.7 trillion social safety net bill before the end of the year, according to four sources familiar with planning by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office.
The decision to try again next year is based on simple math — Schumer doesn’t have the 50 votes needed to pass the legislation thanks to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who remains a hold out.
Talks between Manchin and Biden are going “very poorly,” according to a source familiar with the talks.”
The bill is dead.
There is absolutely no chance — even as watered down as it already is — that the reconciliation bill stands any chance of passing, at least not as it stands today. Frankly, I’m currently finding it more insulting that they’re even trying to convince us otherwise.
Oh, they’re moving “aggressively now on voting rights”? Are they really? Interesting, considering the fact that Kyrsten Sinema has now publicly come out to say she would not even amend the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation.
