President Joe Biden’s signature economic legislation isn’t dead. In fact, if Democratic Party leaders could only bring themselves to make a few hard choices, Build Back Better could even get better.
Momentum for the nearly $2 trillion bill has seemingly collapsed, with talks between Senator Joe Manchin and the White House breaking down and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s self-imposed Christmas deadline looking impossible. But it’s never a good idea to take congressional deadlines seriously. And Democrats should realize that Manchin’s red lines leave them plenty of room to enact a major piece of legislation that all factions of the party can be proud of.
