Good read on the dismantling of Bidens agenda

The official cause of death for the Democrats’ domestic ambitions was a decision by Joe Manchin to back away from measures he had previously supported, citing rising prices.

This explanation makes no sense. He is now saying that high inflation requires him to abandon plans to fight inflation.

Biden’s plan did include one measure that Democrats intended to seed permanent reform: an enhanced child tax credit. Social scientists have unequivocally shown the payments reduced child poverty Yet Manchin opposed extending the payments anyway — reportedly muttering in private that his constituents were squandering the money on drugs

A key faction of Democrats in the House, along with Senator Kyrsten Sinema, blanched at the tax hikes. Moderates have been privately coordinating their opposition, and it seems very likely that Manchin’s sudden opposition to raising taxes on the rich comes not from him, but from them — he sometimes takes the heat for fellow Democratic moderates. In this case, he is likely channeling their concerns and passing them off as his own.

The persistence of Democratic opposition to raising taxes on plutocrats remains the party’s most damaging political liability.

As a political matter, taxing the rich is highly popular. In theory, this method can only work for so long, until you run out of efficient and productive ways to raise taxes on the affluent. In practice, the American tax system is nowhere near that point. It is shot through with loopholes and giveaways that sober, moderate economists believe can be closed without creating economic drag. This is free money on the sidewalk that a handful of Democrats refuse to let their party pick up. And the reason is simply that they listen to rich people rather than economists.

The wealthy hold a disproportionate influence on both the elite in parties, pulling Democrats to the left of their voters on social issues, and Republicans to the right of their voters on economic issues.

Democrats such as Sinema and House moderate Josh Gottheimer pose as enemies of their party’s socially liberal identity, but they have more responsibility than anybody else for its persistence. Without their popular economic message of taxing the rich and helping the working class, there is little left for the Democrats but social issues.The Democratic Party, like any successful party, needs to accommodate a broad range of viewpoints. Refusal to accept pragmatic and efficient tax hikes on the rich is one position Democrats simply cannot tolerate. Here is one place where sacrificing a few recalcitrant candidates for office would bear long-term fruit.

In the meantime, Democrats are staring at a political abyss whose bottom cannot be seen. The short-term political dynamics of an economy suffering from global inflation are punishing. The long-term prognosis of the party’s alienation from its multiracial working-class voters is grim. And the specter of the Republican Party’s descent into authoritarianism looms over everything.

AvgMSUJoe wrote:

kingstonlake wrote:I agree that a lot of non college educated whites have defected because they’re caught up in culture wars and irrational fears of a bogey man that doesn’t exist. 

It’s almost as if they could use an affordable college education to enlighten them to what are substantive issues that directly affect them……

And the death of the labor union.

DWags wrote:Joe Manchin is a MAGA republican. Please prove that statement differently. Women’s freedom to choose? Build back better? Democrats attempt to fight inflation?

He is a part of the Mitch McConnell, sworn old, to block anything any attempt anytime a Democrat is president. They are the obstructionist party. And the Republicans have seats that add up to 52, while the Democrats are currently at 48. Please prove me wrong.

PennSpartan wrote:

DWags wrote:Joe Manchin is a MAGA republican. Please prove that statement differently. Women’s freedom to choose? Build back better? Democrats attempt to fight inflation?

He is a part of the Mitch McConnell, sworn old, to block anything any attempt anytime a Democrat is president. They are the obstructionist party. And the Republicans have seats that add up to 52, while the Democrats are currently at 48. Please prove me wrong.

He is a conservative Democrat, in the style of the old Dixiecrats.  But if he was a Republican, Kevin McCarthy would be Speaker of the House. Pick your poison.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
He is a conservative Democrat, in the style of the old Dixiecrats.  But if he was a Republican, Kevin McCarthy would be Speaker of the House. Pick your poison.

No he wouldn’t be.

PennSpartan wrote:This caught my eye.  It’s pretty much what I have been saying with regard to the student loan forgiveness issue:

“The party’s long-term political crisis is rooted in the defections of its non-college-educated voters: The white working class has fled, and now the non-white working class is beginning to drift away, too. The party is being trapped in a worldview shaped by the cultural priorities of its college-educated elite.”

Trapper Gus wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:This caught my eye.  It’s pretty much what I have been saying with regard to the student loan forgiveness issue:

“The party’s long-term political crisis is rooted in the defections of its non-college-educated voters: The white working class has fled, and now the non-white working class is beginning to drift away, too. The party is being trapped in a worldview shaped by the cultural priorities of its college-educated elite.”

That issue is not it, Penn ...

The neoliberalism which for the Dems started with Carter is the issue.

When the Democratic Party abandoned the FDR Progressive agenda they were fucked.

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2022/07/21/free-markets-besieged-citizens-gerstle-kuttner/

PennSpartan wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

That issue is not it, Penn ...

The neoliberalism which for the Dems started with Carter is the issue.

When the Democratic Party abandoned the FDR Progressive agenda they were fucked.

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2022/07/21/free-markets-besieged-citizens-gerstle-kuttner/

The Democratic Party was conservative until the last 20 years. FDR was not a Progressive. LOL.

Trapper Gus wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
The Democratic Party was conservative until the last 20 years. FDR was not a Progressive. LOL.

Oh sure, health care for everyone, a socialist market economy, not at all progressive ....

PennSpartan wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

Oh sure, health care for everyone, a socialist market economy, not at all progressive ....

Took us into WWII. Supported development of the Atomic Bomb. Big on industrial development. Bernie Sanders gets cold chills thinking about it. LOL.

GRR Spartan wrote:Mitch McConnell is a brilliant parliamentary tactician. He knows the Rules of The Senate and his control over GOP campaign purse strings keeps his caucus in line.

His relationships with major lobbyist helps secure votes from barely Democrats like Manchin and Sinnema.

Trapper Gus wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
Took us into WWII. Supported development of the Atomic Bomb. Big on industrial development. Bernie Sanders gets cold chills thinking about it. LOL.

Seriously Dude, you do not understand Senator Sanders.

PennSpartan wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

Seriously Dude, you do not understand Senator Sanders.

Perhaps. What I do know is he’s not a Democrat. The vast majority of the history of the Democratic Party is relatively conservative. It was the party of blue collar industrial workers and unions. It’s becoming the party of coastal elites.

Trapper Gus wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
Perhaps. What I do know is he’s not a Democrat. The vast majority of the history of the Democratic Party is relatively conservative. It was the party of blue collar industrial workers and unions. It’s becoming the party of coastal elites.

President Carter started it down that path.

Neoliberalism.

Carter deregulated the airlines.

Biden is the first post Neoliberalist ...

Teddy & Frank had the right instincts.

LBJ was the last, and he pushed through JKF's tax cuts, a big mistake.

Penn lacks in his knowledge of history.

PennSpartan wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

President Carter started it down that path.

Neoliberalism.

Carter deregulated the airlines.

Biden is the first post Neoliberalist ...

Teddy & Frank had the right instincts.

LBJ was the last, and he pushed through JKF's tax cuts, a big mistake.

Penn lacks in his knowledge of history.

Every single President you mentioned is far right of Bernie and Liz. Democrats were the party of slavery, remember? The Democrats are losing voters because they are moving left. Republicans are registering voters at a 2 to 1 rate over Democrats in Pennsylvania.

Trapper Gus wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
Every single President you mentioned is far right of Bernie and Liz. Democrats were the party of slavery, remember? The Democrats are losing voters because they are moving left. Republicans are registering voters at a 2 to 1 rate over Democrats in Pennsylvania.

The Roosevelts were not.

Neither was Truman nor LBJ.

The Democratic Party fucked itself, and you apparently went along, starting with Carter.

Obama fucked up with all the Wall Street people in his economic team, who bailed out the banks but not the little people.

Biden, because Warren put her people in key appointments, is doing better.

But I do not see a Warren follower who would be President.

PennSpartan wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

The Roosevelts were not.

Neither was Truman nor LBJ.

The Democratic Party fucked itself, and you apparently went along, starting with Carter.

Obama fucked up with all the Wall Street people in his economic team, who bailed out the banks but not the little people.

Biden, because Warren put her people in key appointments, is doing better.

But I do not see a Warren follower who would be President.

Seems you are in the wrong Party. I’ve supported every Dem President. They’ve been great.

Trapper Gus wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
Seems you are in the wrong Party. I’ve supported every Dem President. They’ve been great.

When Carter, then Clinton, decided that the Democratic Party should be the left wing of the then Republican Party, yes, they left the working man behind.

That you are celebrating that error suggests you are really a Republican, which you are not.

PennSpartan wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

When Carter, then Clinton, decided that the Democratic Party should be the left wing of the then Republican Party, yes, they left the working man behind.

That you are celebrating that error suggests you are really a Republican, which you are not.

The beauty of this is the people will decide in November. If Progressives take over the House and Senate I will be the first to congratulate you and admit I was wrong.

Trapper Gus wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
The beauty of this is the people will decide in November. If Progressives take over the House and Senate I will be the first to congratulate you and admit I was wrong.

The hope is that the Dems keep control of the House & Senate.

A majority of the people support Progressive policies, however, the wealthy own all of the Republicans and too many of the Democratics.

PennSpartan wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

The hope is that the Dems keep control of the House & Senate.

A majority of the people support Progressive policies, however, the wealthy own all of the Republicans and too many of the Democratics.

I’ve told you a hundred times. You have to play with the cards you’re dealt.

Trapper Gus wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
I’ve told you a hundred times. You have to play with the cards you’re dealt.

No Dude, you have taunted the Progressives because you want to screw everyone who wants the United States to be better than it was when your grandfather was born.

PennSpartan wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

That issue is not it, Penn ...

The neoliberalism which for the Dems started with Carter is the issue.

When the Democratic Party abandoned the FDR Progressive agenda they were fucked.

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2022/07/21/free-markets-besieged-citizens-gerstle-kuttner/

The Democratic Party was conservative until the last 20 years.  FDR was not a Progressive.  LOL.

sεяεηιτλ wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
The Democratic Party was conservative until the last 20 years.  FDR was not a Progressive.  LOL.

errr what.  That dude was very progressive.  Look at all his main interests and then look at it through the lens of the time.  
Progressive for his time and place.
On the conservative aspects, he did what he had to do. He was an example of a good populist that many many people could support.

PennSpartan wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

No Dude, you have taunted the Progressives because you want to screw everyone who wants the United States to be better than it was when your grandfather was born.

And you have such a defeatist attitude. All is lost. The rich control us. The people have been squashed.

PennSpartan wrote:

sεяεηιτλ wrote:

errr what.  That dude was very progressive.  Look at all his main interests and then look at it through the lens of the time.  
Progressive for his time and place.
On the conservative aspects, he did what he had to do. He was an example of a good populist that many many people could support.

Most of the social programs he pushed were out of necessity due to the depression. And his programs were designed to benefit the poor (WPA) or everyone (social security).

Trapper Gus wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
Most of the social programs he pushed were out of necessity due to the depression. And his programs were designed to benefit the poor (WPA) or everyone (social security).

Those same programs are necessary today due to almost 50 years of neoliberal economics supported by the "moderates"

PennSpartan wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

Those same programs are necessary today due to almost 50 years of neoliberal economics supported by the "moderates"

Supported by the majority of Americans.  That’s why Biden won and why BBB lost.  

Trapper Gus wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
Supported by the majority of Americans.  That’s why Biden won and why BBB lost.  

Oh please ... the Democratic Party has two Senators who are trashing Biden's agenda.  It has nothing to do with being moderate on their part, they have egos the size of the universe.

As often noted on here, the policies in the BBB are supported by well over 60% of the population, but the 1% is buying off the two Senators with cash and ego gratification.

PennSpartan wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

Oh please ... the Democratic Party has two Senators who are trashing Biden's agenda.  It has nothing to do with being moderate on their part, they have egos the size of the universe.

As often noted on here, the policies in the BBB are supported by well over 60% of the population, but the 1% is buying off the two Senators with cash and ego gratification.

Biden’s agenda?  Progressives tried to stuff every idea Bernie had into BBB.  He originally wanted something on the order of $5 trillion.  Read the article at the top of this thread.  This was a cluster*$#@.

Trapper Gus wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:
Biden’s agenda?  Progressives tried to stuff every idea Bernie had into BBB.  He originally wanted something on the order of $5 trillion.  Read the article at the top of this thread.  This was a cluster*$#@.

Promising to do those things is what got Biden elected, and it was Biden who was pushing the tantrum two to vote for it.

So, get out of here with your projection of what Biden ran on in the general election.

Please, get two or more Democratic Senators added to the Senate and hold the House for the Democratic Party in 2022.

PennSpartan wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

Promising to do those things is what got Biden elected, and it was Biden who was pushing the tantrum two to vote for it.

So, get out of here with your projection of what Biden ran on in the general election.

Please, get two or more Democratic Senators added to the Senate and hold the House for the Democratic Party in 2022.

Nonsense.  Things like 12 weeks of paid family leave are straight out of Bernie’s playbook.  Hopefully Congress learned their lesson with this failure.