'Republicans Are Very, Very Close to Driving Democracy Into a Ditch'

Matter of Opinion

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Ross Douthat, News, New York Times, Journalism

4.2 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2021

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The clock is ticking for President Biden. He’s got a choice to make: compromise with Republicans or forgo them to push his agenda through with fellow Democrats. He has emphasized bipartisanship, but we’re now just days away from his self-imposed deadline of Memorial Day to strike a deal with Republicans on his infrastructure package. While negotiations continue, the parties are deadlocked on the size of the bill. It’s perhaps not surprising, given that this month the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, said that “100 percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration.” This week, host Jane Coaston is joined by two people who disagree on whether Biden’s push for bipartisanship is the right move. Jason Grumet is the founder and president of the Bipartisan Policy Center, and Aaron Belkin is the director of Take Back the Court, which advocates expanding the Supreme Court.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today on the argument, it's bipartisanship total bullsh**.
0:10.0	I want to get a bipartisan deal on as much as we can get a bipartisan deal on.
0:16.2	You know, just a couple of months ago, we were hearing from President Biden that he was
0:19.6	going to unify the country and then we were going to work together and have bipartisanship.
0:24.8	I'm still waiting, Mr. President.
0:26.8	Yeah, 100% of my focus is on stopping this new administration.
0:37.6	Mitch McConnell has made it pretty clear what Senate Republican's goal is over the next
0:41.2	four years.
0:42.4	Block everything.
0:44.8	Whether it's the new infrastructure bill Biden has proposed, immigration reform, or universal
0:49.4	healthcare.
0:50.4	But Biden and his administration continue to meet with Republicans to try and hash out
0:55.0	deals.
0:56.4	With his Memorial Day deadline looming, Biden has already knocked off $550 billion from
1:01.8	his initial infrastructure bill.
1:03.8	To many, he seems to be trying to make the kind of compromises that most Americans say
1:08.8	they want to see in Congress and their bills.
1:11.8	But do they?
1:16.0	I'm Jane Coaston.
1:17.8	And I think bipartisanship sounds nice in theory.
1:21.2	But it's increasingly impossible.
1:23.5	I think the entire ethos of unity and working together relies on a very specific type of
	...

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