House passes Budget Resolution but...

As noted previously, 9 corporate Dems said they would not vote to pass the Resolution unless and until the so-called bi-partisan infrastructure Bill was passed first. Meanwhile the progressive caucus was threatening the reverse. So today the Resolution passed the House but the corporatists got Pelosi to commit to a vote on the infrastructure bill by Sep. 27. The original progressive deal was that the finished budget Bill, not resolution, must be passed in tandem with the infrastructure bill.

So the current situation now allows the Dem corporatists to fight all of the provisions in the resolution they don't like as they hash out the actual legislative details. And we know that they will whittle away at it at the behest of their corporate donors, including the fossil fuel and health insurance industries. Both Manchin and Sinema have already said they don't like the price tag. And of course the original 9 who held up the resolution vote are also bribed by their corporate masters. You can also guarantee they will stall the final legislation, hacked up as it may be, until after the Sep. 27 vote on the infrastructure bill.

So now the question continues to be: Will the progressives hold to their commitment and continue to threaten to vote against the infrastructure bill until the actual Senate budget bill is passed first? In a statement released today they claim they will: "As our members have made clear for three months, the two are integrally tied together, and we will only vote for the infrastructure bill after passing the reconciliation bill." I can only hope that they will remain firm on that promise.