Schnorring is a particularly Jewish way of raising money with maximum chutzpah. I suggest that we here all try it out on our most pressing problem. What specific application of money would kick open the door for all of us, let us overcome, start to deliver the Prize of Liberty and Justice for All, pick the key log out of the logjam?
Well—I know and you knom know what solid majorities of the US want, and I know and you know what is necessary to provide the Best of Everything to everybody. Everybody knows where they personally want to start unraveling injustice.
But what would have the biggest effect? Where does the Critical Path start, the step that doesn’t depend on others, that opens up the most paths from there on?
Getting Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema off the dime, right? But how?
So let us first review. Where are we blocked most?
- Fearful and hateful Republican intransigence
- Voter suppression and gerrymanders
- Therefore the voting rights bills, on which all else depends in future Congresses, and in state legislatures and local government.
- Filibuster reform, to unblock hundreds of bills that have been passed in the House.
- The bipartisan infrastructure bill, and the reconciliation package, which may be among the critical factors for the midterms
- The “Moderates”, especially Manchin and Sinema, who are neither moderate Democrats nor Trumpists, but old-line pro-business, anti-tax moderate Republicans who caucus with Democrats, but cannot raise money from Progressive Democrats, which is where we schnorrers came in this morning.
Who would have thought that the entire Democratic agenda -- from climate change to children — would depend on just 2 heretofore little-known Democratic senators who are really Republicans, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin?
Manchin’s demands devolve from “Hardball” to “Calvinball”. When you’re playing political Calvinball, making up the rules as you go along, you might ultimately be dealing with a paper tiger.
The Beat with Ari Melber
Nancy Pelosi is currently calling the bluffs of the House “Moderates” and lining up their votes. There is supposed to be a major vote later today. We’ll see.
It looks at first glance like each of these depends on all of the others, creating a Gordian knot that nobody can untie. But I am here to suggest a different solution, a way to cut that Gordian knot.
