 So Democrats are currently in a really weird position largely due to their own making because just two members of their party Have killed their entire legislative agenda both Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema They killed voting rights because they don't support voting rights any media outlet who claims that they support voting rights But they just don't agree with the filibuster carve out. They're giving Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema plausible deniability They're giving them cover don't believe them They didn't support the carve out for the filibuster even though they've supported filibuster carve outs in the past because they don't support voting rights So don't believe them, but either way they killed voting rights and they also killed build back better predictably. So so now what are Democrats supposed to do? the midterms are this year and There's pressure to deliver anything. So what do you even do going forward build back better? Is that coming back? Well, not according to Joe Manchin because CNN reporter Manu Raju asked him about build back better And this was his smug response. What build back better bill? I don't know what you guys are talking about I asked him if he's had any talks on the matter since December. No, no, no, no It's dead. So he's laughing in your face. Yes, it's dead and guess what I killed it And he's happy about that. So Democrats don't know what to do They're in this weird position to where they desperately want to deliver something so that way they can brag to their constituents I mean what they were previously bragging about the child tax credit has expired So so what are you going to say you did the bipartisan infrastructure deal? Which was basically a corporate giveaway people aren't going to feel the effects of that right away I just I don't know what they think they're going to Say to get elected. It's just gonna be a bloodbath. So, you know, there's this idea Maybe we should I don't know do something but yet They're still very afraid to do anything because another failure handed to them by Joe Manchin in Kyrsten Sinema would look really terrible But exerting pressure on Joe Manchin in Kyrsten Sinema is just an impossibility because they would never do something like that So, you know when it comes to build back better, what do we do? Because Democrats said that they were putting build back better on pause so they can pursue voting rights They failed voting rights did not get passed. Unfortunately, and they're kind of just done with that So are you gonna circle back around to build back better as you promised? Well, no because the problem is that would require you to exert at least a minimal amount of pressure on Joe Manchin Kyrsten Sinema to at least Negotiate and that's out of the question and I'm not just being hyperbolic here I'm not misstating what Democrats think they're vocalizing this in an article written by Politico So as Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine, right? So after a trying and very public 48 to 2 split on the Senate floor earlier this month Many of Sinema and Manchin's colleagues say it's time to put the past few weeks behind them Senator John Tester said simply that the party needs to move on He's saying this after voting rights died by the way quote Everybody needs to focus on the election right before us right now said Senator Gary Peters of Michigan Who chairs the party's campaign arm? I just continually tell our friends. We need to stay focused on the next few months There's so much at stake going forward with the Biden administration and things we care deeply about So what they're saying essentially what Gary Peters is saying essentially is that Let's not do any legislating. Let's just give up on legislating. And what is it? It's uh, February This article was published yesterday, but it's February 1st now. Let's just call it here And let's just focus on The election that's in November. Let's do nothing between now and then but let's just let's not ruffle any feathers They've essentially given up. It's comical. They are so fucking weak and let's be very clear John Tester The reason why he's saying we need to put this behind us Is because he agrees with Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema I don't believe That if Manchin or Sinema did support the carve out to the filibuster to get voting rights passed Uh, John Tester would would do that. He just doesn't want to take the heat So he would then step up to be another no vote on the carve out to the filibuster because I don't think he supports voting rights I mean, this is speculation on my part to be sure But he loves being a corporate democrat who's kind of shielded from the backlash from the base Because Manchin and Sinema are right there to provide him with ample cover So this is where we're at with respect to senate democrats They're just going to give up on legislating and focus on the midterms. Okay. Well, apparently that's supposed to help them with the bloodbath But thankfully there are people in a house of representatives who aren't giving up On legislation and they still want to do something ahead of the midterms The problem is that they already gave up all of their leverage and now trying to get Manchin to do anything Isn't really going to be a viable strategy So they're left with kissing his ass in an attempt to get him to maybe do anything So take a look at this interview, uh, that Ro Khanna gave in msnbc's morning joe This is truly just It's demoralizing to say the least What is your view of where the focus should be of democrats in this midterm year? You've sort of had interesting takes on senator Manchin, for example Where you said I understand what he's dealing with he's he's running in west virginia a state that voted for donald trump Overwhelmingly some of your progressive colleagues have suggested he'd be primaried What do you think that the your party should be looking at on the the hopes of holding on to a house? You've had retirements. It doesn't look good at this moment from the outside Well, I'm still cautiously hopeful, but we ought to respect senator Manchin We ought to understand where he's coming from we ought to give him the deference of coming up with what He wants and he's going to propose climate Investments he's going to say let's have preschool for every three year old and four year old Is going to be for medicaid expansion. Let's pass that that will be historic. It'll show we can get something done I think we ought to get it to the president's desk So I have a lot of respect for him and I think we can come to a compromise What a great idea row Let's trust the modern-day coal baron to unilaterally come up with climate change legislation because he's so unreasonable He won't accept any input from anyone else because he doesn't want to hurt the industry that makes him Hundreds of thousands of dollars every single year. Let's just let's trust the process. Let's trust him Look, let me just preface this conversation by saying that I think that real conom Has the best of intentions. He genuinely cares about progressive policies I've had him on the show a couple of times in the past But this is embarrassing. This is peak kuck energy and this is what happens when you give away your leverage If you want to get anything accomplished You're forced to basically Gravel at the feet of joe manchin and beg and plead with him by kissing his ass To let anything pass. Just look. I don't even care what just write the legislation and we'll vote on something I mean, if only somebody had warned you to not vote on the bipartisan infrastructure deal Because you'd be giving away your leverage and in the likely event that joe manchin wants to get billed back better Then you'd have no say you'd be in this very predicament now if only somebody Had warned you about that manchin could Eviscerate the bill back better bill and go well, I didn't tell you I wasn't going to eviscerate it And you knew I was going to eviscerate it. So I did I took out every popular provision there is Because my donors didn't want it I I don't believe he will do that because he would then have made a commitment to the president that was false Now you're saying theoretically is it possible that he could eviscerate it? Yes I don't I believe it would stay around the 1.75 number Where I'm most concerned is is there going to be a dilution on the methane fee? Is there going to be a dilution on some of the climate provisions? and You know how much is the revenue going to tax the the wealthy? Yes, we have to be vigilant. We have to continue to push but I think we have to push through the white house and the president has a Huge interest in getting billed back better because it's popular because he knows that he needs this For the midterms and for 2024 and if if it's diluted it's going to depress the base in 2022 and 2024 He doesn't care about that. He's not even a he's barely a democrat. So represent kind of look This is an important news point In the question here because you're saying that biden has some sort of implicit promise from mansion And presumably cinema that they're going to vote for this version of the bill with 1.75 The framework whatever that means And and mansion is saying no, I'm not giving any promises So What's actually happening here? Does biden have mansion and cinema's promise or doesn't he? I think publicly mansion doesn't want to make those commitments But our belief is that the president has a private Commitment from 50 senators that he could pass this and that he Didn't come to us for many many months and he only came to the progressives once he had that commitment I personally believe that he will pass the bill back better agenda than mansion ultimately will be a yes vote Yeah, fast forward to today and um, let's look at that tweet again from joe mansion What build back better bill? I don't know what you guys are talking about. No, no, no, it's dead And rocona still hasn't learned his lesson. He still wants to give joe mansion deference And thinks that joe mansion ought to be respected. Well, guess what rocona? He doesn't respect you Respect should be a two-way street, but it's not mutual. He's laughing at you He's spitting in your face right now and yet you are saying that we should respect him I mean, do you have any dignity at all? so I don't want to be too hard on Everyone who's an elected democrat because there are a select few who are actually doing what they should be doing And that is pressuring joe mansion And anyone else who is going to just let him slide So aoc who saw through joe mansion and voted against the bipartisan infrastructure deal because she didn't want to give away her leverage Said this in response to joe mansion basically laughing in the faces of any democrat who was pushing for build back better She says seniors kids and people with disabilities in my community have been sleeping with bubble jackets on in 18 degree nights Despite paying rent because the nych a funding to fix their heating and capital needs is in build back better Where should I direct them to wait out the cold mansions yacht exactly? bernie sanders also chimed in quote bernie sanders suggests mansion is siding with corporate america After he said build back better is dead quote when you have a proposal that has the overwhelming support of the american people And it's addressing the long neglected crises facing working people We cannot allow that to die exactly now I want to go back to the politico article that we referenced earlier because there's a really interesting tidbit in there Where they juxtapose what bernie sanders says with what elizabeth warren says and the implication is that bernie sanders is incredibly unreasonable Because while other senate democrats are trying to do what's best for the party well bernie sanders I mean he's so unreasonable because he's still till this day Open to the idea of supporting primary challenges to joe mansion and kirsten cinema So notice what they do here They'll show you uh elizabeth warren's tweet and then bernie sanders tweet and they'll end this particular section With a quote from a senate democrat brian schatz who says what bernie sanders is doing is unreasonable This isn't what he says he doesn't address bernie sanders directly But the idea of challenging joe mansion and kirsten cinema to brian schatz another corporate democrat is just absurd to them Quote we need to get work done right now. We've got build back better still hanging in the balance I want to work with all 50 democrats and get something passed now Said senator elizabeth warren yet sanders said on monday He's not backing down despite the crucial role cinema and mansion will play in near future on democrat's agenda He downplayed the possibility that backing primary challenges to the duo would alienate them at crucial moments on the senate floor They're big boys and big girls. It's not my job to tell arizona or west virginia what to do But if the people in those states want new leadership, I'd be prepared to support them sanders added Asked about sanders primary threats senator brian schatz replied. It's a free country. I wouldn't recommend it Yeah, and that's because brian schatz is a coward and he should be primaried as well Now i'm actually consistent and I believe in democracy So I think that every single sitting member of congress should be primaried Every single time there's an election. That means bernie sanders aOC richard is lee people I like as well because when we live in a democracy people have to have options So I believe in primary challenges But to senate democrats the corporate democrats that idea is absurd Because they like being in congress and they don't want to be primaried So they just think oh well, I don't want to primary anyone else and Politico is so conspicuous here. They're not even subtle about it They're essentially implying that bernie sanders is the unreasonable one here and anyone who isn't cow-towing To joe manchin and kirsten cinema. They're the ones who are being unreasonable if you want to put pressure on them You're unreasonable It's truly I don't even know what to say. It's depressing to say the least So essentially the strategy seemingly is Democrats will do fuck all between now and november and then when they inevitably get wiped out Do you think they're gonna blame manchin and cinema? For blocking everything. No, they're gonna blame the left. They're gonna point to bernie sanders and aOC Who's scared away manchin cinema who just weren't reasonable? Save this video come back to it. Look, I don't have a crystal ball But the democratic party is so incredibly predictable. They're gonna do the same exact thing change nothing Expect a different strategy and then when that fails, they'll blame the left. It's inevitable. It's a certainty at this point