Joe Biden wants us to believe he was given a mandate to enact sweeping reforms throughout American institutions when he was elected*.  But if he and the progressives really believed that, then why are they acting so desperate to pass this Build Back Better Boondoggle now?  It must be NOW they scream.  Why?  Why does it have to be passed now if it’s as popular as they keep telling us it is?  Elvis Presly’s song “Suspicious Minds” popped into my head the moment I saw Politico’s headline “Dems on the verge of a trial separation.”  The moderates and the progresses don’t trust each other not to renege on the other’s spending bill agreements.  When your party is full of vipers, it’s hard not to have suspicious minds.

According to Politico, the union of centrists and liberals to enact Biden’s agenda goals can be likened to an arranged marriage:

“Centrists and liberals ‘need each other,’ Chuck Schumer told our reporters back in August. ‘The moderates couldn’t pass a bipartisan bill without the more progressive wing of our caucus,’ Schumer said, referring to the $550 billion infrastructure bill that’s idling in the House after its Senate passage.  ‘And the progressives couldn’t get a big, bold bill without the moderates.’

Occasionally shorthanded as the “two-track strategy,” what Schumer described was the bet that Democratic leaders have repeatedly raised in order to advance their and the president’s agenda: Get progressives to back an infrastructure bill shaped with GOP input (i.e. not as liberal as they’d like) and, in exchange, get centrists to back a party-line social spending bill shaped with no GOP input (i.e. too liberal for their tastes).  

But the nuptials may have finally been called off, as Democratic confidence that weeks of delay on infrastructure would help pass the social spending framework looks increasingly misplaced. Manchin referred to the bipartisan Senate-passed measure as a ‘hostage’ today.”

Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema aren’t the only moderates balking at the idea of sticking their necks out for Joe Biden, who’s political capital seems to be shrinking as fast as my take home pay.  But they are the ones who are taking the brunt of the media flak.  

Neither are fools.  They know where their bread is buttered, and it isn’t from a bunch of ideological social justice warriors.  Joe Manchin represents a solidly red state that depends on coal mines, Social Security and Welfare.  His constituents are as blue collar as they come.  He needs to show his voters that he isn’t going to blow up their literal or figurative paychecks by signing off on Green New Deals or expanded Medicare that can’t be funded.

Krysten Sinema, on the other hand, must walk a tight rope of conservatives and California refugees desperate to escape excess taxation.  She might believe in universal pre-K in theory, but not if it means her donation dollars dry up.  Timing is everything.  Tea leaves indicate this is NOT the time to Build Back Better. 

But the infighting is brutal, it is public, and it threatens the entire Biden agenda. The interparty feud is so bitter, that if I didn’t know better, I could be reading the cover of People Magazine and any number of Hollywood marriages imploding.   The suspicious minds of Cori Bush, Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar and AOC are summed up neatly below:

Full text:
"Joe Manchin does not get to dictate the future of our country.

I do not trust his assessment of what our communities need the most. I trust the parents in my district who can’t get to their shift without childcare…

— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@RepCori) November 1, 2021

Here’s the thing though, Build Back Better isn’t popular.  They know it; we know it.  They know we know it.  And after Tuesday, they are suspicious that EVERYONE will know it. 

Including Virginia, there are eight hotly contested political races around the country Tuesday.  They will all be seen as referendums on Biden and his agenda.  How these races shake out will tell the world just how much capital Biden and Co. can spend on their agenda.  And right now, it doesn’t look good. Joe Manchin knows this and counter’s the progressive’s distrust with his own.  He is quite clear, as evidenced below, that he isn’t budging:

According to a different Politico article about the lack of trust within the democrat party,

“Some Senate Democrats conceded that Manchin had only complicated things even as he tried to offer clarity.

‘At this moment in time trust is a hard thing. And we don’t want to give people excuses to vote against the [infrastructure bill] or against reconciliation,’ said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).”

To get either of these bills to passage, you need an actual leader, and the democrat party just doesn’t have one.   Instead, you have a multiheaded hydra sniping at itself.  As conservatives, we need to keep pushing them to continue. 

As of this writing, there are at least 4 “Let’s Go Brandon” songs in the top 10 iTunes spots. As many commenters pointed out, Biden has fulfilled his goal in unifying us after all. I wonder what Elvis might think about that?

This is HISTORIC: the top 5 songs on the iTunes hip hop charts are ALL “Let’s Go Brandon” songs. This has NEVER happened before In HISTORY. Let’s keep it going. pic.twitter.com/HrVrIEcLvB

— CCG BRYSON (@RealBrysonGray) October 28, 2021

Featured Image: “Elvis Sings Suspicious Minds” by Thomas Hawk is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0