Thread by @TheValuesVoter

Personally, I think one of the worst things to happen to the Democrats in 2021 was when the Senate Parliamentarian said that they could pass more than one bill through the reconciliation process.

Why?

Because at that moment, they seem to have become obsessed with stuffing everything (including some very good and very popular ideas such as Universal Pre-K) into one mammoth piece of legislation. The kind that never gets passed by one party with no margin for internal dissent.

If you look at the massive pieces of legislation that have been passed over the last century, almost never is it done by one party working without any cooperation from the other party, in a situation in which even one "NO" vote is one too many.

18 Senate Democrats did not vote for the Social Security Act of 1935. Which was okay because there were 68 of them and 16 Republicans also voted for it.

13 Senate Democrats did not vote for the Social Security Amendments Act of 1965 (Medicare). Which was okay because there were also 68 of them and 13 Republicans also voted for it.

39 House Democrats voted against the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) in 2009. But they had enough of a majority that they could afford to lose 40 votes. Today they can't afford to lose 4 votes.

See the difference between every other gigantic piece of legislation and this?

I'm not even talking about WHAT's in the bill, which includes many individually popular proposals. I'm simply talking about trying to get something this big done in a scenario in which it can't happen unless every single person agrees with it.

That doesn't usually happen.

And when the Senate Parliamentarian ruled that the majority party could pass another bill with just 50 votes, trying to make this giant bill including every priority under the sun became an obsession. Even at the expense of other top priorities. Like voting rights.