Budgets are a tricky thing for our politicians, and our way of government as a whole. They are just so wide in scope that it’s almost impossible to pull the bipartisan hordes back together to agree on something so grand.
Yet it must be done. In many ways, our elected officials are more beholden to the budget than to their constituents, which is both a sad reflection on the state of our democracy and a powerful piece of knowledge that can be used to our advantage.
It appears, however, that we may have just avoided a serious bit of bipartisan bickering here in 2021 – which itself is a rarity, despite the budget being involved.
President Joe Biden is set to meet with the Senate Democratic caucus Wednesday to shore up support for his sweeping infrastructure and economic investment goals, hours after the lawmakers announced they had reached an agreement on a multitrillion-dollar budget resolution.
That budget accord, which would spend $3.5 trillion over the next decade, will be added to the roughly $600 billion in new spending contained in a bipartisan infrastructure plan, Democrats said Tuesday night.
They said the budget plan is fully paid for, and that it would expand Medicare coverage for dental, vision and hearing benefits — two features that could help sway moderate and progressive Democrats to back it.
The move would allow the Democrats to pass the budget without Republican votes, but just barely.
It will also open up new complaints from those on the right side of the aisle.
“We know we have a long road to go,” Schumer said.
“I make no illusions how challenging this is going to be,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chair of the caucus.
One sticking point could be Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who has already expressed concerns about how and when some of these programs could be paid for.
