John Halpin at The Liberal Patriot has some advice for Joe Biden:
"Whatever the outcome of the legislative wrangling over various government funding and budget bills this week, it should be crystal clear to the White House now that they need to take a much firmer hand in determining the course of Biden’s presidency.
In his inaugural address, Biden promised to work to unify the country and achieve common goals that would advance the interests of the entire nation, joining with people across the spectrum to rebuild America’s economy and put it on firmer ground for the future. Sadly, outside of the languishing infrastructure bill, there is no real success on this front.
This is not entirely his fault. Republicans clearly don’t want to participate in Biden’s agenda—a hard reality he must confront. They offered no votes on the American Rescue Plan and a slew of GOP governors are actively undermining his coronavirus mitigation and vaccination efforts amidst a surge in Delta cases. Perhaps Biden’s desire for political bipartisanship in Congress was naïve from the start. But at a minimum he could make some strong statements in defense of his bipartisan infrastructure bill as House progressives threaten to tank the entire thing if they don’t get their way....
Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan was designed and pitched as a series of nationalist steps to invest in American businesses, infrastructure, and clean energy production; increase economic security for all families; and put the U.S. in a stronger position in the economic fight against China.
Yet, this original vision is nowhere to be seen as we reach the final negotiations around the various pieces. Instead, a center-left yet still centrist view of national greatness has devolved into an ideological fight between warring factions of his own party with the left saying it’s all or nothing and some moderates inexplicably trying to remove the most popular elements of the entire agenda—things like prescription drug negotiations, tax increases on the wealthiest, and the expansion of Medicare."
Read the whole thing at The Liberal Patriot!
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