OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Democrats have a major party fracture ahead of the midterm elections and it is about to show itself.
President Joe Biden is about to give his State of the Union address on March 11 and there will, as usual, be a response from the opposing party, the Republicans.
But this time there will also be a response from the radical fringe of the president’s own party that will be given by Squad member and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib who is set to complain about “moderate” Democrats.
But vulnerable Democrats in Republican districts and circulating their own agenda, designed to separate themselves from the radical fringe of the party,” The New York Times reported.
A cluster of House Democrats from conservative-leaning districts is circulating a reworked legislative agenda for the coming election season that would embrace some of President Biden’s most popular initiatives and tackle rising prices while distancing lawmakers from the left’s most divisive ideas.
The plan, obtained by The New York Times, seeks to inoculate the most vulnerable Democrats from the culture wars pursued by Republicans trying to win back the congressional majority. Its existence underscores how successful Republicans have been at weaponizing issues like pandemic-related school closures and “defund the police” efforts against Democrats in politically competitive districts.
The draft agenda was written by Representatives Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, Steven Horsford of Nevada, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Dean Phillips of Minnesota and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. It includes almost 75 bipartisan bills already drafted and broader bullet points such as “Combat Rising Costs for Food, Gas, Housing and Utilities,” “Reduce Prescription Drug Prices, Co-Pays and Deductibles” and “Fight Crime & Invest in Law Enforcement.”
Rather than proposing cuts to funding for police departments, for example, it suggests financing the hiring of additional officers, especially in rural and small-town departments — though it would also fund body cameras and training, demands from liberal critics of law enforcement. Taking on Republican efforts to end mask mandates and school closures, the agenda includes legislation to “re-establish faith in America’s public health system and ensure preparedness for future pandemics, so that our economy and schools can remain open.
The plan will not talk about some items that are popular with progressives, like the $15 minimum wage or Medicare for all.
What it will talk about are more of the center popular healthcare initiatives in the now dead Build Back Better plan.
But it could be Rep. Tlaib’s response to the State of the Union that gets the most attention.
“No one fought harder for Build Back Better and a pro-democracy agenda than progressives,” the representative said to Politico. “The work is unfinished and we’re not giving up on what our communities deserve. We need to get as much done for the people as we can this year, and elect a majority that can deliver for working families in 2023.”
Comedian and HBO host of “Real Time,” Bill Maher, who is a Democrat, shredded Rep. Tlaib for giving a response to the Biden speech.
“Now, I’ve always seen the opposition party give a rebuttal. This is from the same party. This is like sacking your own quarterback,” he said on Friday. “I don’t know, maybe she’s gonna say some nice things about Joe, but basically it’s to present- … bad idea for the Democrats?”
Chloé Vandary, the founder of Theory of Enchantment, defend the representative for giving her own take of the State of the Union.
“I don’t know if it’s a bad idea,” she said, arguing that it’s good to “hold their party’s feet to the fire.”
“I remember she’s very us versus them,” he said. “I remember because she’s one of the Squad members. And I remember we talked about on this show one night BDS, which is the boycott that some people want to do against Israel, because Israel somehow got to be the Nazis. … And I said no- that BDS is a bunch of bulls—.”
