Exercise our power or lose it

Continuing this post, our best bet in the US is the progressive caucus for the necessary social and environmental issues and values. It is apparent in their internal fight with the Democratic Party (the neoliberal left), in that the progressives realize the urgency of the problems and advocate for faster transformation rather than incremental change.

But the establishment in the Party have the majority at present and they continue to block the necessary progressive policies. Hence we need to continue to win elections and gain that majority in order to enact the needed changes. The good news is that the progressive caucus now has 95 members, which is about 43% of House Dems, so we’re getting there. Granted we need more of them in the Senate so we continue to grow there. And to get there we’ll need a strong, consistent, progressive framing war to motivate enough voters to elect them. Polls show the progressive agenda is the most popular with the majority of voters so we just need to let them know we will support them via our values rhetoric backed by policy proposals.

However on a practical level right now the progressives have an immense tool in their voting block veto power, that is, their ‘force the vote’ power. They can and must exercise this power in Biden’s must-pass legislation. They wimped out in the pandemic Bill when they refused to do it to include the $15 minimum wage in the Bill. But they are threatening to do it again in the so-called bi-partisan infrastructure Bill. They said they’d vote it down if the rest of the infrastructure agenda, like some of the environmental items, are not included in a companion Bill. Biden had promised the same but wimped out under the slightest Republican pressure.

So we the people must get out our mightier than the sword pens (keyboards) and encouraging demand the progressives to have the courage of their convictions and follow through on their veto to force Biden to do the same. Without their votes it will not pass. We must also apply that same pressure on Biden and the Party in the Senate, with Bernie and a few of the other progressive Senators also not only threatening but following through on voting down Biden’s other must-pass legislation if they do not eliminate the filibuster, which is the key obstruction to any and all progressive policy. It must go and we must pass the For the People Act to stop the Republican voter suppression laws in their States. Our fragile democracy is at stake so we need to play hardball to get this done. If the neoliberal Dem Senators like Manchin and Sinema can hold it up, the likes of Bernie’s veto power is considerably more powerful and must be exercised. Tag, you’re it. Make him do it.