This is No Compromise

Republicans in the Senate tried to compromise with the Biden Administration on a bipartisan infrastructure deal. President Biden and Speaker Pelosi have now made it clear they want an all-or-nothing approach.

Republicans will give the Democrats the veneer of a bipartisan spending package, but Biden and Pelosi will only accept it if the Democrats take the rest of what they want, put it in a reconciliation package, and pass it as well thereby bypassing the filibuster. In other words — all the stuff the Democrats agreed to give up in order to get a bipartisan deal will still pass and must pass for Biden to agree to sign on to the parts the GOP agreed to.

That’s not really a compromise.

In the press conference at the White House yesterday, Joe Biden said he didn’t get everything he wanted. The GOP didn’t get everything they wanted. That was a compromise and they took each other’s word.

Afterward, Pelosi said she would not pass that compromise plan unless the Senate Democrats then passed everything else — including the parts Biden gave up in the compromise — Biden echoed her saying he would not sign the compromise unless the rest of the spending was passed too.

That is not really a compromise.

The GOP needs to walk away from this. They are giving the veneer of compromise to Democrats who do not want to compromise. The Democrats are giving up nothing.

Might as well force the Democrats to pass their whole grab bag in a reconciliation package and use it against the Democrats on the campaign trail. At this point, it seems less about a compromise for the Democrats and more about the Democrats trying to embarrass Manchin and Sinema for working across the aisle.

The Republicans gave an inch. Democrats demanded a mile and intend to take it. It’s time to stop trying to show good faith to people who have none in return.