Top Dems Keep Working To Put Out Fires Sparked By Centrists Over Reconciliation

Democratic leadership continues to grapple with the mess party moderates like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) have made in their efforts to scuttle the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package containing President Joe Biden’s sweeping agenda for infrastructure.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1388441

Stop calling them ‘centrists’, they’re not. They’re corporate owned whores.

39 Likes

Beat me to it. I started to type “So TPM is demeaning the word ‘centrist’ again I see” but I like your version, too…

18 Likes

Sink it! Then bring it back for a vote when the reconciliation bill is ready.

2 Likes

Centrists
In
Name
Only

Arsonists in actuality.

17 Likes

“Arsonists”

When people ask what I do I say “I’m an artist but don’t tell mom. She still thinks I said arsonist”.

14 Likes

“By 2026, you understand, the trust fund is going to be insolvent,” the senator said.

How many times over the past 25 years have we heard crap like that which never happened?

33 Likes

Roughly the same number of times people predicted peak oil, only to have vast new fields found.

12 Likes

They need to stick with the message - the Democrats did this three times during the T**** presidency. Republicans did it X (unsure on the number) times during the Obama presidency. Their refusal to do this now should be seen for what it is - a deliberate attempt to cause the US to default on its world obligations, the stock market to crash and millions of people to lose their jobs.

And let people know “if you don’t believe, watch what happens when they refuse to do their job”

11 Likes

Sick burn…

2 Likes

“By 2026, you understand, the trust fund is going to be insolvent,” the senator said. “That means there’s going to be an awful lot of cuts to a lot of people who depend on the Medicare they’re getting today. I want to make sure that we are stabilizing what we have before we start going down this expansion.”

If by throwing a wrench you mean he’s being pragmatic and a realist, then yes, he’s throwing a wrench into Medicare expansion.
SS should be addressed also. Twelve to 13 years and SS won’t be able to pay full benefits.

3 Likes

Speaking of arsonists:
A 30year old woman was arrested for setting the Fawn Fire in Shasta county. A lot of heavy timber in the area.

7 Likes

Well I’m getting ready for the double whammy of shutdown and default thanks to Boris Manchin and Natasha Sinema refusing to kill the filibuster.

It’s always so much fun to be a Federal Civil Servant and forced to work a couple weeks without getting paid.

16 Likes

Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar field (the world’s largest oilfield) still has only tapped about 50% of it’s reserves since 1951.
Tertiary recovery, like fracking, will keep up supply as long as oil stays above about $60 bbl.
But the debate now is about keeping it in the ground.

3 Likes

Re the “debt ceiling”, there isn’t any. Every constitutional lawyer knows that. Section 4 of the 14th amendment makes explicit what was always (OK, Nino) the original understanding of the framers: “The validity of the public debt of United States, authorized by law… shall not be questioned.”

In fact, one of the principal reasons for the constitution, in the first place, was the need to have a central government capable of taking debt, because the States had taken on debt and had no ability to either pay or refinance.

So, I assume that Biden will never let the country default. He has a constitutional duty to make certain that never happens. If we should actually get close to that, I assume he will speak to the nation, teaching the constitution to the chattering class, and sign a memorandum on TV directing the Treasury Secretary to continue regular operations in selling and paying Treasury notes.

4 Likes

With all the sea water they’ve pumped into the field in order to force more oil out, I’m not going to bet on that 50% figure. The oil has to first have the sea water separated out before they can refine it. Its been a while since I read about it, but I believe what they were pumping out contained over 50% water a couple years ago.

5 Likes

Oil and water don’t mix. Water injection is a pretty basic secondary recovery method. Crude is lighter than water and rises to the top of the field.

3 Likes

“By 2026, you understand, the trust fund is going to be insolvent,”

Having insufficient current receipts to pay 100% benefits does not make Medicare or SS insolvent. The “trust fund” will not be insolvent until it liquidates all its Treasury notes and pays out the cash.

10 Likes

I do love what Biden just said in his address…‘Just tell me what you WANT! Many of those who tell me what they ‘want’ drive the price of the bill UP!’ I’m looking at YOU Manchin! You whine and snivel and block and then DEMAND that ‘this’ be in the bill…what a fraud you are.

14 Likes

That’s the ticket! We haven’t had a big economic crisis for a while. That’s the ticket…an economic crash during the Republican unvaccinated pandemic on top of Climate Change. The clowns are driving the bus. Any adults in Washington DC?

4 Likes
Comments are now Members-Only
Join the discussion Free options available