Of course, but reading a 600-page bill aloud? Pure foot-dragging obstruction. IOW more of what you expect from Mitch & the Gang.
So you get a Rabbi who reads the Esther scroll at Purim. They do it as quickly as they can so everyone can begin drinking.
I wonder what John Moschitta is up to these days.
700 words per minute?
I don’t always agree with AOC and Sanders but I think they’re right about the stimulus: there was no need to capitulate to moderates on this bill. If we learned anything from the 2009 recovery act, you want the money to go into bank accounts, not “focusing” on other “investments.” I fear we’re having another Max Baucus moment…to the detriment of Democrats.
I can see more flexibility with the $15/hr minimum wage – that’s something that can be dealt with on another bill. But giving into conservatives here is stupid.
It’s not particularly surprising that congressional Republicans—desperate for something to paper over their Trump-inspired rifts—would rally around blocking key pieces of President Biden’s agenda.
What is notable, however, is them falling in line against Biden’s concerted efforts to get a handle on the pandemic, get Americans back to work, get schools reopened, and restore a sense of normalcy to everyday life. Those efforts are now winning Biden a similar level of support among the American public as his wildly popular COVID-19 rescue plan is.
A new Associated Press-NORC poll released Friday found that 70% of Americans back Biden’s handling of the response to the pandemic, including 44% of Republicans—a very similar level of support to what most surveys have found for Biden’s COVID-19 relief package.
…Bottom line, in numerous polls, the American public likes both Biden’s show of initiative and his specific initiatives on the pandemic.
Republicans, not so much. And this is the hill they have apparently chosen to die on.
I’m good with that. 
They can’t take a chance on making Daddy mad.
They had a vote today on including the $15 minimum wage in the bill (it would have taken 60 votes to do so over the Chair/Parliamentarian’s ruling), and EIGHT Senate Democrats voted against it. Manchin may take the focus of liberal ire, but a lot of times his opposition gives other centrist Democrats cover to either vote for something knowing it won’t pass or to avoid having to vote altogether.
I don’t believe Chuck Schumer is up to being Majority Leader. I would rather Klobuchar take over. She’s much more forthright and while Schumer comes across a really nice guy I don’t have confidence he can control his caucus.
Schumer is having a rough day. If the GOP actually succeeds in leveraging Manchin to make a last-minute reduction in unemployment that’s a major failing on the part of Democratic leadership. Not only is there now a risk of reduced unemployment benefits, there’s even a risk that the senate neuters the bill so badly that the house doesn’t agree to it and they have to conference. I thought about making a longer post about this situation because it’s extremely frustrating.
As we learned in 2009 the Dems can barely pass a weak middle ground with 59 or 60 Senators and a huge mandate.
A bloc of moderate Democrats sought significant, last-minute changes to a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill Friday, as centrist lawmakers flexed their new political muscle to shape President Biden’s economic agenda on Capitol Hill.
What began as an early show of power in a narrowly divided chamber quickly devolved into a major roadblock when perhaps the most prominent moderate, Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, didn’t immediately accept a deal over the duration of and amount of unemployment benefits. Negotiations stalled Senate action for hours and threatened to tear open lasting political rifts among Democrats.
Ultimately, Manchin and leadership struck a deal to move forward, but that came after moderates had narrowed federal stimulus payments and halted a renewed effort to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
But the changes marked a break from the relief bill approved in the House, where lawmakers fought vigorously for their version of the stimulus out of a belief that the 2020 election had given them a mandate to deliver sweeping reforms that had flagged under President Donald Trump.
…
STOP SHOWING OFF AND PASS THE FUCKING BILL!! You can “flex your muscles” later. 
We have met the enemy and they are us.
Why are they calling them “moderates”? Is the Overton window that badly broken?
It ain’t about how has charisma or who can be nice or whatever; it’s about who has the ability to coordinate senators, PACs, state, and fed agenda. I guess Chucky can do that. Harry Reid definitely could. He was McConnell’s equal in that regard. We shall see if Chucky is.
My bold. There’s a first for everything, and now it’s my fury at PBS Newshour for NOT ONCE mentioning those eight other dems. There were at least three occasions - with Judy Woodruff, Lisa Desjardins, and Jonathan Kaepart - where only JM was mentioned. Yeah, a little pissed about that.
ETA - was hoping conservative Brooksy would maybe mention them - not even him.
In case you did not see the list,
- Joe Manchin (W.Va. )
- Jon Tester (Mt.)
- Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.)
- Angus King (Maine – independent)
- Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.)
- Tom Carper (Del.)
- Chris Coons (Del.)
- Maggie Hassan (N.H.)
Yeah I found out earlier (but thanks, though) and was expecting PBS to be all over that - wrong I was. I don’t expect them to be perfect automatons, but that their first quite noticeable (to me) boob had to be such an egregious one is a bit of a letdown, reminding me of one of Faux’s playbook ploys of lieing (ACK lying?) through omission.
/eor
Sinema and Tester don’t surprise me, and I spose King.
^ On the other hand, noticaeable boobs can be ok 
at other times.
Yes.
And characters.
Modnote: Inappropriate comment in context of the thread and pretty much a threadshit. Please refrain from boob jokes in P&E in general.
This is just a guidance, not a warning. Nothing on your permanent record.
Acknowledged.