View this email in your browser

**NOVEMBER 17, 2021**

Kuttner on TAP

Time to Salute Pramila Jayapal

Her strategy of hanging tough, then cutting a deal with House centrists
to let Biden's legislation proceed, has been vindicated.

Not long ago, a lot of people were angry at Pramila Jayapal, the shrewd
and personable chair of the House Progressive Caucus.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi was annoyed that Jayapal would not cave in and
support the much-reduced bipartisan infrastructure bill until it was
firmly tied to a deal for united Democratic caucus support of Build Back
Better. Then, when Jayapal delivered just such a deal with the bloc of
centrists and led most of her Progressive Caucus to vote for the bill,
some on the left accused her of selling out.

Last Friday, when Congressional Budget Director Phil Swagel said that
his budget score was likely to reduce the anticipated revenue from
increased IRS enforcement by nearly $300 billion, it looked as if the
deal might fall apart. The centrists had tied their final willingness to
support Build Back Better to the CBO score, as wiggle room.

But then, they kept their word to Jayapal on the larger agreement to
support BBB, and to discount CBO's flawed arithmetic.

Rep. Kurt Schrader, one of the centrist holdouts who made the deal to
support BBB, said he thought the CBO estimates understated the money to
be raised from increased IRS enforcement. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, leader
of the gang of centrist obstructionists, declared that the Treasury
revenue estimate was more accurate

than CBO's, and if anything Treasury's was too low.

Why the sudden outbreak of center-left goodwill? Part of it is the fact
that a hanging concentrates the mind-and on Election Day, the voters
hung the feckless Democrats out to dry. But a big part of the story is
Jayapal's astute leadership.

The fact is that House progressives were fully loyal to Biden's
expansive program. The problem was always a tiny splinter of corporate
House Democrats who got far more sympathy in the media than they
deserved.

It now appears that the House is primed to pass Build Back Better in the
$1.75 trillion range Thursday or Friday. But of course, it ain't over
till it's over. There is still the final hurdle of the always fickle
Joe Manchin. Even so, this week's news is a lot better than last
week's.

~ ROBERT KUTTNER

Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter

Robert Kuttner's latest book is
The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy
.

[link removed]

The Astroworld Tragedy Is a Story of Corporate Power

Live Nation is the dominant event promoter in the United States, with a
dangerous record on public safety. These two things are connected.
BY DAVID DAYEN

Rooted in Exclusion, California Towns Fight for Safe Drinking Water

What's happening among underserved and unincorporated communities
like Lanare, Matheny Tract, and Tooleville may portend darker days
ahead. BY DAVID BACON

Our Global Accords: The Good, the Bad, the Meh, and the Huh?

The global corporate minimum tax was a real achievement. The Glasgow
accord was mainly a 'Huh?' BY HAROLD MEYERSON

[link removed]

To receive this newsletter directly in your inbox, click here to
subscribe. 

 

Click to Share this Newsletter

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

YOUR TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION SUPPORTS INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM

DID YOU KNOW?
Per the Cares Act extension

for 2021 charitable donations, you can deduct up to $600 from your taxes
even if you don't itemize.

The American Prospect, Inc.
1225 I Street NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC xxxxxx
United States
Copyright (C) 2021 The American Prospect. All rights reserved.

To opt out of American Prospect membership messaging, click here
.

To manage your newsletter preferences, click here
.

To unsubscribe from all American Prospect emails, including newsletters,
click here .
_________________

Sent to [email protected]

Unsubscribe:
[link removed]

The American Prospect, Inc., 1225 I Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC xxxxxx, United States