Thread by @kazweida

In today's thread we're tackling a complicated question. Why are Dems even trying to negotiate with Republicans at this point?

My answer is simple. Why are you pretending they don't have to? Bi-partisan solutions aren't a political luxury right now. They're a necessity.
(THREAD)

(2) There's a push by the media to frame every effort at passing legislation as Democrats too weak to play hard ball and Biden as niave.

This is disingenous because it entirely discounts the political reality of a split Senate. We don't have the votes.

politico.com/news/2021/01/2…

(3) We can't even corral our current caucus into ditching the fillibuster to supporting voting rights, nevermind garnering Republican votes.

The Senate is designed to support minority rule. And that's a problem we can't fix right now.

cnn.com/2021/05/20/pol…

(4) We've got to work with the reality we have not the reality we wish we had. It's wrong. It's frustrating. You should be mad as hell about it.

But blaming Dems like Manchin and Sinema or even Biden won't solve the problem. Elections will.

msnbc.com/opinion/democr…

(5) So why do Dems bother to engage in bi-partisan negotiations with obstructionists?
Well. They have to. It's the only way to get stuff passed right now.

Take the infrastructure bill as an example.
On the surface a bipartisan deal seems like a godsend.

cnbc.com/2021/06/11/bip…

(6) But this deal has a little poison pill in it. The funding Republicans have agreed to would undermine Biden's promise not raise taxes on people making less than 400K.

Democrats could put it through reconciliation but there are problems with that.

axios.com/democrats-infr…

(7) Even some moderate Dems are balking at the pricetag and there are no guarantees that Dems would be able to pass it on their own in July.

So Biden is working both processes right now. Bi-partisan processin in the front, hardball behind closed doors.

rollcall.com/2021/06/15/hug…

(8) This is how Biden and Dems have approached getting most of their extraordinarily progressive agenda passed. They inist on reaching over the aisle. They bend over backwards.

So when neogitations ultimately fail it's clear where the fault lies.

thehill.com/blogs/congress…

(9) This is NOT evidence of weakness unless you have no understanding of the political process. This is smart. It allows Dems to lay blame where it belongs ahead of a critically important election cycle.

The GOP is the problem.
They always have been.

cnn.com/2021/06/07/pol…

(10) If you're frustrated right now, get busy giving Dems the tools to fight back. What they have is a split Senate, a conservative judicial, a GOP majority in most state legislatures & the propsect of losing the House in 2022.

VOTE. ORGANIZE. RUN.
This is up to you. Get it done

(END) Thanks to @jpbergl for the thread suggestion. Come back Thursday and we'll do this again.

Like threads like this and wantto keep them coming? You can support my work here:

patreon.com/kazweida
paypal.me/kazweida