Without lingering on the gory particulars, our neck of the world is beginning to feel like Act 1 of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014). We have a climate going haywire and while we know what to do about it, we can’t seem muster the collective will to do it. We have people denying science and rewriting history not because they are obsessed with feeding themselves or with not raising false hopes, as in the film, but with retaining political and cultural dominance.
What saved mankind in the film was drastic action. Visionary, drastic action, not dress-up soldier antics.
This week’s events in Congress and in the Supreme Court bode ill for the immediate future. Perhaps the saving grace is seeing the hammer come down on the Oath Keepers. But the jury is not only literally out on them, it hasn’t been selected yet.
Jim Newell at Slate has nothing optimistic to offer:
This week’s spectacle from Democratic leaders is just that, an effort from party leaders to show it exhausted every effort on voting rights. The anxiety of the moment is compounded by the fact that this might be the end of the line not just on voting rights, but on the Democratic agenda as well—and for a long time.
As with Cooper’s planet, time is running out.
So what the hell, thinks Jordan Weissmann. Might as well get crazy. How about Democrats give the deficit-obsessed Sen. Joe Manchin what he wants: deficit reduction. His arguments about BBB fueling inflation, like Kyrsten Sinema’s “arguments” about the filibuster, make no sense. “But reality isn’t what matters here. Joe Manchin’s perception of it does.”
Could that entice Manchin into supporting Joe Biden’s economic agenda before the planet sears?
Weissmann writes at Slate:
Why might deficit reduction bring Manchin to the table? First, it’s something he actually wants, unlike much of what’s contained in BBB. One of the odd dynamics of this entire negotiation is that Democrats have consistently ignored Manchin’s explicit demands when it came to how the bill should be structured, and then acted surprised when he turned down their offers. They also haven’t tried to lure him with something big he truly desires.
The man has said he’s open to spending on pre-k, and open to a lot of the climate agenda, but they don’t appear to be must-haves in his mind. By all accounts, however, Manchin really, truly does care about the deficit. This is a man who reportedly asks his aides to text him every morning with how much the national debt grew overnight. Democratic aides have semi-jokingly told me that Manchin would probably be happiest with a bill that just raised taxes, and put the money toward debt reduction. Nobody thinks he’s kidding on this issue (even if the infrastructure bill he helped negotiate was funded in large part with gimmicks; nobody’s accusing him of total consistency). Making deficit reduction at least a part of Build Back Better might actually give him something to be excited about.
Second, including deficit reduction in BBB would address some of Manchin’s concerns about inflation, at least on a cosmetic level. After all, in theory, tightening fiscal policy and reducing demand is a straightforward way to take pressure off prices, not to mention one which is perpetually popular with American political moderates. In reality, eliminating $200 billion or $300 billion from the deficit over 10 years probably isn’t going to have any significant impact on near term inflationary pressures. But it would at least let Democrats make a more convincing surface-level argument that their bill is a sincere response to rising consumer costs — both to voters, and to Manchin. Keep in mind, the Biden administration has already tried to frame BBB as a response to inflation, by arguing that it will reduce the cost of major family expenses like daycare and health care. But polling from Data for Progress has shown that voters only find that argument mildly compelling, and Manchin doesn’t seem to be buying it at all. If Biden wants to look like he’s trying to respond decisively to inflation, he probably needs a new approach.
Finally, as I mentioned earlier, the Washington Post reports that Manchin wants Democrats to “fundamentally rethink their approach” on Build Back Better. Turning it into an oh-so virtuous deficit reduction bill, instead of a mere spending bill, would fulfill that demand.
I’m no policy wonk. (Does it show?) And I have no time just now to back-check Weissmann’s figures for how a re-crafted BBB might work. Because in the end pulling the country and the planet out of its Covid-fueled, climate-threatened, antidemocratic funk is what matters. Manchin does not seem to be negotiating in good faith anyway, especially on addressing the climate.
Jordan concludes, “It at least seems plausible that the promise of deficit reduction might lure Manchin back to the table for a deal. Even if the gamble fails, is not as if Biden and the Dems have much else left to lose.”
A country? planet? And what do you do with people who want to rewrite history to support their myopic agenda?
“We’ve always defined ourselves by the ability to overcome the impossible. And we count these moments. These moments when we dare to aim higher, to break barriers, to reach for the stars, to make the unknown known. We count these moments as our proudest achievements.” — Cooper, Interstellar