Progressives Are The TRUE Centrists

[Tessera]

Progressives Are The TRUE Centrists

Take a look at the following nationwide poll results...



FACT: none of those immensely popular proposals came from "moderate" Dems... all of those proposals came from progressives. Every damned one of them.

There are a lot of so-called "moderate" Democrats calling themselves centrists these days. Well, I don't know what definition they're using for the word "centrist," but it seems to me that the most logical definition would be: someone who is in agreement with the majority of Americans on most issues. Wouldn't you agree?

With that in mind, the above graphic shows that the progressive proposals, first put forth by Bernie Sanders and others, enjoy ENORMOUS support across the country. Keep in mind that those aren't just Democrats who were polled... they also polled Republicans and Independents. Almost everyone seems to agree that the proposals being offered by the progressives in Congress are... like... totally cool ideas.

So then, who are the real centrists..? Corporate cocksuckers like Manchin, Sinema... and yes, Joe Biden..? Obviously not.

Let's also remember that, in 2018 and 2020, progressive candidates (with only a couple of exceptions) won their elections by a LANDSLIDE. For example, in the 2020 election, AOC was up against not one, but two very well-funded challengers. She still easily kicked their asses. Meanwhile, the "moderate" Dems barely squeaked by in their elections. Many of them lost -- either to Republicans, or to progressive challengers.

Progressive proposals are hugely popular... progressive candidates win by a landslide... but yet somehow, the media keep portraying corporate-sponsored Democrats as being "centrists."

Well, that's just plain bullshit. It's the progressives who are the centrists in this country. Everyone else are just sniveling, servile, money-grubbing, right-wing plutocrats. We need to crush them during this decade.

[Will Never]

I 100% agree.  This raises another question: should progressives kill the infrastructure bill?

Unfortunately, every single provision you listed in the graphic is now OUT of the infrastructure bill.  Thanks to Joe Manchin, Kiersten Sinema, and their ilk, that bill is quite frankly a worthless piece of legislation at this point and -- if anything -- it is probably going to just end up being a slush fund for special interests. This was just recently predicted by David Pakman, a very intelligent progressive media host on youtube.  He makes a very good case for why this bill is no longer worth supporting.

Here is a list of all the provisions that were once in the bill and are now out:

Paid family and medical leave
Tuition free community college
Serious climate change regulations
Expanded Medicare eligibility
Medicare negotiating drug prices
Prescription drug price controls for those not on Medicare
Universal childcare and its tax credit
Taxes to target the super rich

They are all gone.

Essentially, there is nothing worthwhile left in the bill.  It has been gutted.  Pakman is right: it's passage will be considered a defeat for Democrats at this point, not a victory.  And instead, its passage will be a political win for Republicans because they will be able to tout how much they were able to remove from it!

I agree with you Tessera: the needle has moved to the left, but the politicians haven't.  Obviously we need to vote those pieces of shit out at the first possible opportunity.  In the mean time... should progressives continue supporting this bill at all?

[Tessera]

I 100% agree.  This raises another question: should progressives kill the infrastructure bill?

No, they shouldn't vote for it. Yes, they should kill it and give the wealthy a bloody nose.

All of that crap about "This bill will be transformative" and "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" and "Progressives need to come back to reality" is the exact same rhetoric that we've been hearing from corporate Dems for the past 40 years. Apparently, spending OUR tax dollars on vitally needed social programs is "unrealistic," but spending our tax dollars on a bloated military budget, endless foreign wars, corporate subsidies and bailouts, and tax cuts for the super-rich is perfectly okay.

Yes, the bill has been gutted... but look at what remains intact: provisions that will primarily benefit big business, government contractors and so forth. Pelosi was on TV today insisting that what's left in the bill will create jobs. Oh really? What kinds of jobs, Nancy? Low-paying, non-union, temporary labor jobs? Clerical jobs? Hiring some underpaid nurses to visit the elderly once or twice a month? It's all bullshit.

Do you know why the bipartisan bill is bipartisan? Simple: because it's just another massive cash grab by the wealthy... why else would the Republicans support it? Why would the Republicans help the Dems look good... unless it was a huge gift to their Big Money donors?

No way should progressives vote for this shit. The only leverage we have right now is to refuse to vote for the bipartisan bill, unless BOTH bills are voted on simultaneously. AOC has already pledged that she won't support either bill in their current form. I'm sure the rest of the Squad are in agreement with her. The other night, Bernie Sanders was SCREAMING at Joe Manchin behind closed doors. Others who were there say that obscenities were exchanged. Meanwhile little miss roses and rainbows fake progressive Jayapal has been on TV, claiming that her entire caucus are supporting the bill. What a total load of garbage. She's a liar.

If they vote for either of these bills, progressives will be handing what little power they have over to corporate America. This absolutely can not happen. We need to increase the number of true progressives in Congress, and that won't be easy to do if everyone sees the progressives surrender to the corporate Dems. We absolutely must not hand over another victory to Pelosi's Parasites.

It's time to go to war... figuratively speaking. I don't care what it does to Biden and I don't care what it does to the Democratic party. The stakes are worth it.

[Blankspace]

Things are going to get violent if this shit keeps up.