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Friday, October 29, 2021

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UVA Political Science Chair Jennifer Lawless

As far as the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation bill are concernedI do think theres a general sense now that theres a framework that will pass this week. We know theres bipartisan support for the infrastructure bill it now seems for the social spending bill, everything that Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema wanted out is out and theres enough left for the progressives in the House to get on board, said Lawless.

No one likes the way the sausage is made at the end of the day, we have almost two trillion dollars in additional social spending which should make most Democrats happy. The process certainly revealed some problems in the Democratic Party," she added.

Lawless compared the infighting among the Democrats to a rift among the GOP more than a decade ago but said that the Republicans' internal dynamics then still did not come close to the Democrats issues today.

I think the closest recent example is when all the Tea Party members got elected in 2010 and they basically decided to form their own caucus in the House and made John Boehners life completely impossible. They were civil Libertarians on a lot of issues, which made it difficult renewing pieces of the Patriot Act and other privacy protections that were going up against national security concerns, she said. But certainly in recent history, this is the most egregious in terms of one party not being able to get itself on the same page.

Some of the items that were on the cutting room floor, are things quite frankly Im shocked the progressives were willing to give up I get its important to pass the bill and they have no choice, but the bill doesnt include paid family or medical leave, which was not only a centerpiece of Bidens campaign but something that the House under Democratic leadership has been pushing now for well over a decade, said Lawless.

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Lawless: Shocked at What Progressives Were Willing to Give Up - GoLocalProv