The most encouraging news I read while sojourning in Seattle — which was wonderful, by the way — was that Democrats are finally strategizing a breakup of the Build Back Better plan. Some Democrats, that is. But with President Biden's endorsement of the idea in his press conference yesterday, which I listened to on my way back from the airport, momentum would seem to be on the side of severing the bill.
The push is coming from House moderates, who, understandably, are the members most worried about reelection. They're known as "front-liners" since their seats are the ones which determine which party is in control. Their plan for busting up BBB is, therefore, a logical midterm strategy: It would take portions of BBB and attempt to pass them individually throughout an election year — each portion of which is popular with the public, such as universal pre-K and the childcare tax credit.
"We have to do something," said one front-liner aide to the Washington Post: "something to run on." Insert here, "Well, duh."
Which is what makes resistance to the plan from House leadership, so far, so baffling — or, perhaps I should say instead, frustrating. Reported the Post: "The tension [over the moderates' plan] was surfaced in a meeting early this month with House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer.... Members pushed back when Hoyer, reflecting the continued view of House leadership, argued that breaking up the spending bill would mean abandoning the potentially transformative giant package, which he said still has a chance of passage."
Was that a joke? In a way it was, for what Hoyer's position reflected was, undoubtedly, immense, internal resistance from the progressive caucus, which simply dislikes any plan to which the words "giant" and "transformative" are unattached — though there ain't a chance in hell that anything close to the original or even modified BBB "still has a chance of passage." But they've an image to maintain before their own voters. Even Speaker Pelosi has been captive to such majority-destructive thinking: "[Front-line] aides described Pelosi as 'receptive' to their concerns but did not make any promises on what the House will focus on in the coming months."
That, however, may be old news by the time of this writing. As noted, Biden, in yesterday's press conference, seemed to accept the inevitability of a BBB breakup. (The White House may also regret having rejected Sen. Manchin's $1.8t counterproposal — rejected for its lack of a child tax credit — and now just wants to move on with something, anything.)
Granted, if House moderates get their way, we'll still be looking at Republican filibusters — the Death Star of all legislative progress, and, possibly, American democracy itself. But, bill after labored bill, Democrats will at least be trying, which is something to show voters.