While guest hosting Stephanie Ruhle Reports on Tuesday Yasmin Vossoughian worried that Democrats will not be able to squeeze every single left-wing priority into their massive reconciliation spending bill and that it might be decades before they get another chance.
Vossoughian was speaking with Congressional correspondent Ali Vitali when she read from a New York Times article, "'A wide range of Americans who have put their faith in his promises to reshape their jobs and lives are left to hope that the programs they are banking on will survive the cut. Otherwise, they face the prospect of waiting years or perhaps decades for another window of opportunity in Washington.'"
Vitali reported that is is not just Americans who, for some reason, decided to put their faith in Biden and the Democrats, but Democrats themselves are also stressing about the bill
Many of them campaigned on these issues, now they see a chance with majorities in both the House and Senate, albeit very slim majorities, they see a chance to move forward with that agenda, but what we've seen in the course of the last few days, and frankly even overnight, is the reality setting in here on The Hill that you'll have to cut programs. Lawmakers have likened this to us as having to choose your favorite child.
Vitali concluded by warning that disagreements between Senators Sanders and Manchin are making things even more difficult, "Medicare expansion, if that falls off that could be something that upsets Senator Bernie Sanders who is up unhappy with the price tag on this. And you see the price tag on your screen between 1.9 and 2.2 trillion. One of the other difficulties here is that Joe Manchin said last week, very unequivocally, he's at 1.5. We know he's been a very important negotiating piece in this."
No word yet from MSNBC about how all the left-wing goodies will negatively harm all of us in the form of the ever-ballooning national debt.
This segment was sponsored by Liberty Mutual.
Here is a transcript for the October 12 show:
MSNBC
Stephanie Ruhle Reports
9:30 AM ET
YASMIN VOSSOUGHIAN: Ali, I want to quickly talk about the infrastructure before I move on to the White House. The New York Times describing this moment for President Biden, let me read it for you, “A wide range of Americans who have put their faith in his promises to reshape their jobs and lives are left to hope that the programs they are banking on will survive the cut. Otherwise, they face the prospect of waiting years or perhaps decades for another window of opportunity in Washington.” Put this in context for us, Ali. What's on the chopping block here? And how are Democrats trying to navigate it?
ALI VITALI: Well Yasmin, you know who else is feeling that once-in-a-lifetime pressure. A lot of the Democrats here on Capitol Hill, many of them campaigned on these issues, now they see a chance with majorities in both the House and Senate, albeit very slim majorities, they see a chance to move forward with that agenda. But what we've seen in the course of the last few days, and frankly even overnight, is the reality setting in here on the Hill that you'll have to cut programs. Lawmakers have likened this to us as having to choose your favorite child. That is probably what they’re going to have to do because look at this letter that Speaker Pelosi put out to her colleagues last night.
One part of it really caught my attention where she says, “overwhelmingly, the guidance I'm receiving from members is to do fewer things well so that we have a transformative impact on families in the workplace and responsibly address the climate crisis. “ It's important she says that because there were two schools of thought here. The first that you could do fewer things well, cut down the number of programs that you’re actually trying to tackle in this bill and instead make sure they can last the full duration of the ten years that we’re projecting here. The other school of thought, though, which was espoused by many progressive was that you could do more things potentially for a shorter period of time, thusly bringing down the cost but giving more people the policy items that they want. If you pull up what's actually in the bill and I know our viewers have seen this graphic a few times. There are so many things that are in here. It ranges from comprehensive immigration reform, which especially when you’re looking at that pathway for undocumented immigrants, the Senate parliamentarian has actually said that probably can't go through the reconciliation process. Democrats are trying to work on that but that one, for example, could be something that easily falls off.
Medicare expansion, if that falls off that could be something that upsets Senator Bernie Sanders who is up unhappy with the price tag on this. And you see the price tag on your screen between 1.9 and 2.2 trillion.
VOSSOUGHIAN: Yeah
VITALI: One of the other difficulties here is that Joe Manchin said last week, very unequivocally, he's at 1.5. We know he's been a very important negotiating piece in this. So, all of these not quite yet match to paint a full picture yet, but if you look at the calendar, the House has 26 voting days left for this year. Nancy Pelosi has already said she wants to get this done by Halloween. Most people already have their Halloween costumes but we're certainly not close to what's in the bill yet. So a lot of work to be done on Capitol Hill.
