Kyrsten Sinema just won’t stop disappointing liberal Democrats everywhere. The Arizona senator, currently at the center of a battle over Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda, reiterated her position that the filibuster isn’t going anywhere and that she will not be bankrupting the country to please Bernie Sanders.
In doing so, she made it clear that the White House is misrepresenting how forward she’s been with them. I can’t be any more here for this than I am. This is truly the best Sinema has to offer.
Sinema, to a D Senator: “I have already told the White House what I am willing to do and what I’m not willing to do. My identity is not secret. But it’s not because I don’t know what to do. It was clear that I had communicated my thoughts to them. They just don’t like what they’re hearing”https://t.co/yQAb2fWH4F
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) October 13, 2021
Her response is based on a story being promoted by both the administration as well as Democrats in general that Sinema, Joe Manchin, and others are holding up negotiations and refusing to give their wishes. The idea is that the moderate duo hasn’t actually laid out their red lines regarding policy and price, creating an unfair scenario where the far-left is ready to compromise but can’t.
Yet, as Manchin has laid out previously, that’s not true for him, and now, Sinema is making it clear it’s not true for her either. It is clear where Sinema stands. She’s been clear the filibuster will not be touched and she’s been clear she’s opposed to major parts of the climate provisions, drug pricing provisions, and tax provisions of the current reconciliation boondoggle that is being proposed. Past that, it appears she’s gone into even more detail with the White House itself, noting that she has no reason to share anything else with those in Congress.
It is even more confusing that Manchin (though they are allies and pushing for a new bill) is opposed to other points.
Politico reported that this has led to the government gnashing their teeth.
“So, like where the hell is the overlap?” the source close to Biden said of the “maddening” policy gap between the two centrists. “How do you land that?”
The answer is that you don’t land. That’s a possibility that most Democrats don’t even want to entertain, but it’s becoming more and more likely. Sinema may want a carbon and drug tax, but Manchin would rather have a drug tax. If that happens, the only logical thing is for nothing to be done.
That’s the best case for Republicans as they continue to sit on the sidelines and let the Democrat civil war play out.
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