Dems Will Lose Any Chance of Holding Congress if They Fail on $3.5T Spending Bill, Former Democratic Congresswoman Says
“If you look across the broad spectrum of the policies that are in place, not only do a majority of Americans support them, but among Democrats the numbers are actually off the chart,” Edwards says
Republican intransigence has left congressional Democrats scrambling this week on multiple fronts as key votes and deadlines begin to bear down upon them.
However, one former member of their number warns that Democrats should prepare, as a certainty, to lose their current majorities in the House and Senate if they fail to pass the sprawling $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act.
Democrats are evaluating their options — and trying to come to satisfying conclusions — after Senate Republicans Tuesday blocked all Democratic attempts to pass measures aimed at keeping the federal government funded and open beyond Thursday as well as to raise the federal debt ceiling.
Republicans are doing so in anger over the Democrats' $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act, which would fund much of Biden and the Democrats' domestic agenda — including the largest-ever federal investment in the fight against global climate change. That bill was to move through the Senate under a process known as “reconciliation,” which is immune to Republican filibustering.
Unless Democrats find some new way to prevail, the federal government will shut down at 12:59 pm Thursday in the midst of both a global pandemic and a struggling economy. Moreover, without action on the debt ceiling, the government for the first time will default, creating unprecedented economic instability.
This is leaving Democrats in disarray trying to find a way forward, and leaving some to consider passing only the scaled-back bipartisan infrastructure bill without the $3.5 trillion package along with it.
It's an idea that is making some progressives apoplectic, but it would also be a sure-fire way to hand Republicans new majorities in both the House and Senate, according to former Democratic congresswoman Donna Edwards, of Maryland.
“If you look across the broad spectrum of the policies that are in place, not only do a majority of Americans support them, but among Democrats the numbers are actually off the chart,” Edwards said Monday. “And so I think it’s really important to talk about what’s in them. I mean, people want — families want — child care. They want relief for health care and prescription drug prices. They want to deal with the pressing issue of the climate crisis. And all of this and more are in these -- in these packages.
“And frankly, one doesn’t stand unless the other one stands,” Edwards said of the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the larger Build Back Better Act. “And this is why I think it’s really important for Democrats to nail down their agenda and to just get the job done, because if the president fails, they fail, they lose any chance of holding the House and the Senate.”
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If curbing pollution by limiting fossil fuels is stopping $3.5 trillion package from passing then remove the issue of fossil fuels from the package and push for green technology. Eventually fossil fuels will diminish all by itself. If that does not work then expect a return of the Great Depression. People learn the hard way. If it is so impossible to pass this package then learning the hard way will force the U.S. to come together and make a huge change for the future. The only other outcome is Civil War.