Should Progressives Be Willing To Kill A Watered Down Infrastructure And Reconciliation?

The $3.5 trillion reconcilation bill is taking a beating and not from Republicans. Conservative Democrats are taking chunks out of the bill that would do a lot of good, like limiting prescription drug prices. Should progressives revolt and kill the whole bill?

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Sam: All right let's talk about the majorities as we're watching this infrastructure bill essentially being dismantled in front of our eyes. Stephanie murphy who are the other two on this committee that basically crushed the prescription drug bill? In committee!

Emma: Yeah I mean well it came out in a tie-in the vote, right? Is that correct?

Sam: Is that what it was?

Emma: Yeah and so it's temporarily nix but it's not dead and especially because I think it would be 700 billion dollars in the pay for that this kind of democrat is exactly primed to accept and think is very very excellent.

Sam: Kurt Schrader of Oregon. Scott Peters of California. Kathleen Rice.

Emma: That's Kathleen Rice is the one who narrowly defeated Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for this very committee seat. And that was because leadership interfered. Or tipped the scales or made their preference known etc. And so like you know sometimes we'll have these conversations with other people on the left about oh committee seats who gives a crap right. That's not that doesn't matter. No this is why that matters like that kind of voice versus Kathleen Rice would have made an enormous difference here. Where am I mean like where is Nancy Pelosi? Oh I know what she is she's in England. She's got the sheep I’m sorry she's at the Chatham house talking about how she has republican friends. I mean why isn't she back in Washington essentially saying Kathleen right now in new york democrats are deciding what seats are not going to exist. well, I don't know if it's possible for your seat not to exist but it's possible. or at the very least we can make your seat in such a way that like you know you're going to have better you're going to have a primary candidate a challenger. like where is this hardball for these people like this is and if she you know like look there's two answers. one is like she's feckless which I find hard to believe. the other is that she doesn't really care about this stuff and I guess you know the point is is like I am now in a position where I am rooting for the progressives to sink all of it. like no bipartisan infrastructure bill like it really sync me you know like like that's where this seems to be headed it seems to me. and this has got to be on Pelosi and the conservative corporate wing of the party.

Digby: Well I’m not quite there with you yet. I feel as if we're watching you know some you know they always call it sausage making. or whatever and I don't actually feel like don't have a firm grasp on where this is or where it's going. my suspicion is and I think I told you this before I think we talked about this last time I was on. my suspicion is that the 3.5 and part of this is because I sort of trust Bernie sanders on this. and he seems to be a little bit more sanguine than I might expect him to be. I mean this is always a kabuki dance going on when they're doing these big negotiations. I mean remember in Obamacare it went on for months and months I mean it was unbelievable. in a big package like this it's a hugely that's so hugely consequential they everybody plays these different roles and you just don't know how much of it is kabuki and how much of it is real. other than people like Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema and Kathleen rice. those people I think are playing roles very very sincerely trying to you know destroy the good parts of the bill. I mean that's obvious to me. the rest of it I’m not so sure of about Pelosi and the rest. but one thing I do think is that you know Bernie sanders we know for a fact that this 3.5 trillion number isn't real. that number is the cost.