 I've said this once, I'll say it again, the Build Back Better Act is busted. But there are people like Bernie Sanders who actually genuinely care about working people in this country and he's making one last-ditch effort to try and convince his colleagues to support the one thing that lots of people really want and that is an expansion of Medicare to include dental and vision. Now Bernie Sanders knows that these corporate ghouls, they don't care about anything but delivering for their corporate overlords. But if he can get them to at least think about this in terms of their own re-election campaigns. If you deliver a policy that's extremely popular, at least out of self-interest consider supporting it. And that's what he tried to do. That's the appeal that he made. And as HuffPost reporter Igor Bobrik tweeted out, overheard on the floor Bernie Sanders showing colleagues a morning console poll on his phone of the most popular provisions falling out of Build Back Better. So we drop what's most popular. He asks referencing the Medicare expansion. Now to him, this is what he cares the most about. This has kind of been something that he views as a red line. You can't take this out. He knows that we're not going to get Medicare for all in the near future. But if we can expand Medicare, that is a really important step. Because if you don't get Medicare for all past all at once, then you just keep further expanding and expanding. You get the ball rolling. You expand benefits. The more people include more things in it. And eventually, perhaps we arrive at a situation where actually going the full distance, giving everyone health care, is a little bit easier. So this is his pet project. And he's trying to convince these imbeciles that, look, it's not about anything but you. The American people want this. So imagine taking this back to your constituents. Look how popular this is. And he's right about that. I mean, if you look at that poll from morning console, well, it's obvious. The report Democrats dropped Medicare dental and vision coverage from their social spending bill. Voters say it's their top priority. Healthcare measures are the most popular among 18 provisions that were considered for the Build Back Better plan. So let's look at this poll here. Not only is the Medicare expansion to include dental and vision popular, but it's the most popular provision. So voters said the following measures were among their top five priorities and Build Back Better. And as you can see, adding dental and vision to Medicare is one of the top priorities with 41% of voters saying that this is one of the most important issues. And then you have Medicare adding hearing as the fourth most popular with 25% of people saying this is one of their top five priorities. You also see this trend of healthcare-related policies as top priorities for Americans, funding elder care, allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drugs. I mean, this is a trend. Now, if you look at this poll, what's interesting is that even more Republicans want the Medicare expansion than Democrats. At least as it relates to dental and vision. So this whole excuse that you have to be a moderate in purple states like Arizona or red states like West Virginia, it's just not true because Republican voters want this more than Democratic Party voters according to this poll. So it's to the point where Bernie Sanders is basically begging and pleading with them. Out of your self-interest, deliver. This is popular. And it seems unlikely that they're going to budge. It just seems like the Democratic Party is a black hole that is collapsing in on itself. And it's thanks to corporate ghouls like Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, and also other corporate Democrats like Mark Warner and Joe Biden himself. Now, Bernie Sanders tweeted out the same poll that we just looked at and he said more than 41% of the American people tell us that their top priority is for us to expand Medicare to include dental and vision benefits. One of the most popular items in the Build Back Better agenda. What should we do? We should listen to the people. Let's get this done. And look, as frustrated as I am with these negotiations, I've got to give Bernie Sanders credit. He is trying really hard. And ultimately, I don't know what he's going to do. I don't know if he's going to end up caving. But at least you see that effort from him. You see him trying to do the best that he can to include as much as he possibly can with his limited amount of votes that he has. So it's, it's frustrating. Even when Democrats try to do something good, it's always a watered down half measure that's usually just intended to placate voters. So an example of that is Chuck Schumer announced that they've reached an agreement when it comes to Medicare negotiating prescription drug prices. The problem is that it is woefully inadequate, predictably. So the agreement will allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices in limited instances, prevent drug companies from raising prices faster than inflation and cap out of pocket costs for seniors on Medicare at $2,000 per year. Also, Medicare could negotiate up to 10 drugs in 2025 and up to 20 drugs in 2028 and beyond, according to the summary, which the hill obtained. That's just embarrassing. Now, the good thing is that insulin co-pays would be capped at $35 per month, and that sounds great. I mean, I'd prefer it to be $0. But $35 is preferable to $400. But what's what's the catch? Is this going to take effect in five years, 10 years? I mean, allowing Medicare to negotiate 10 drugs by 2025. That's just bad politics, because by then there may be a completely different administration or a public might be in power. And when people finally feel the effects of this policy, the Republican can then take credit for it. And it's not like there's a lot. 10 drugs out of the thousands of drugs. You're only going to allow them to negotiate 10 by 2025. It's just it's so frustrating and pathetic. And on top of that, so Medicare won't be able to negotiate drugs until they no longer have exclusivity. Got to make sure that these pharmaceutical giants can make as much money as possible. And most negotiations will be allowed for many drugs. I don't know what many means. After nine years and then more drugs will be negotiated in 12 years. So it's like they take a half measure. They water that down, cut that in half. By the time you get the actual product, it's a tenth of what it was. It's just it's laughable. And what we see here is Bernie Sanders is trying. Perhaps he's trying to appeal to their self interest, but also maybe appeal to their humanity. But the thing is that these ghouls, they have no humanity. These are soulless clowns who care about one thing. And that is appeasing their donors. So I just don't know what to say. I really am thankful that Bernie Sanders is fighting. But unfortunately, it's not enough. We don't have enough Bernie minded people in power. And as a result, the Kristen, Kirsten, Sonomas and Joe Manchin's of the world, they they get what they want. Whereas progressives get left in the dust. And sometimes these are self-imposed wounds. Like I've talked about how progressives under the leadership of Pramila Jayapal, they're so feckless, so ineffectual, so weak, even when they have victories, they end up caving. All it takes is one demand from a corporate Democrat. So it's just the situation is really it's helpless. And I can't not think about how bad it's going to be in 2022 when Democrats are absolutely obliterated. And then what? You didn't get anything meaningfully accomplished. You didn't do voting rights reform. You didn't end gerrymandering. You didn't even try to fix our democracy. The Supreme Court wasn't even touched. They have a supermajority for conservatives. How bad is it going to get before Democrats actually do what's needed to do to fix this country? And the answer is there is no bottom. It's just going to keep getting worse and worse because they just don't give a shit. And, you know, I don't know what to say about that. I wish that I could offer you some rosy takeaway from this. But the situation is just it's it's really depressing. And at least we have Bernie there fighting for us. But Bernie Sanders is in his 80s. He should be retiring by now. But he's all we have, at least in the Senate, who's fighting this hard. I mean, we have some people who from time to time do the right thing in the Senate. We have more progressives in the House. But overall, things aren't changing fast enough. And we're circling the drain as a country. And I think that most people can see that that's apparent.