华盛顿-与选举鉴于美国的观点和民主党人墨守成规的国内法案，参议员伯尼·桑德斯和查克·舒默对他们议院的情况有非常不同的看法。
“我知道我们花了一周时间处理助理秘书之类的事情，这非常重要，”进步煽动者、佛蒙特州独立报的桑德斯周三冷淡地说。参议院上周确认了联邦海事委员会、法官和其他职位的15名提名人。
参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默第二天早上说:“这是繁忙、富有成效、真正两党合作的一周。这位纽约州民主党人援引了立法者几分钟后批准的性骚扰法案，以及在解决暴力侵害妇女、预算和工业竞争力方面取得的进展。
对聚会正在利用时机到来之际，民主党人已经一头栽进了参议院50-50的极限，没有多余的选票。这凸显了一场关于如何在激情和实用主义之间取得平衡的辩论，因为民主党人在11月选举前向选民示好，而共和党人真正有机会夺取众议院和参议院的控制权。
对一些民主党人来说，是时候与共和党人形成鲜明对比了，他们在帮助家庭负担得起医疗保健和应对全球变暖等优先事项上强行投票。其他人认为，宣布他们能取得的胜利，避免任何可能使与本党特立独行者就更广泛的优先事项达成协议的努力复杂化的事情，是明智之举。
民主党至少在接下来的几周内只有49票，而参议员本·雷·卢汉正在从中风中恢复。然而，即使有了新墨西哥民主党人，投票权、移民和其他问题等目标也面临着共和党人的坚决抵制，没有达到参议院批准大多数立法所需的60票。
对许多民主党人来说，最大的奖励将是重振乔·拜登总统领导的国内优先事项的一个较小版本:一个为期10年、约2万亿美元的医疗保健、家庭服务和环境倡议一揽子计划。温和派参议员乔·曼钦(Joe Manchin)在去年12月实际上否决了这项措施，当时他说这项措施成本太高，但他表示愿意接受一个更温和的替代方案。
到目前为止，民主党人对他们如何使用参议院控制权有不同的评估。
桑德斯上周告诉记者:“五个月来，除了基础设施法案之外，我们没有解决美国人民的需求，这不是什么大秘密。拜登在11月签署了两党合作的1万亿美元的道路、水和其他项目一揽子计划。
桑德斯和明尼苏达州参议员艾米·克洛布查尔(Amy Klobuchar)表示，他们希望参议院就抑制药品价格进行投票，这是该法案中受欢迎的次要因素之一。桑德斯说，他希望就该措施的几个组成部分进行投票，并让共和党对手向选民解释他们的投票。
桑德斯在参议院说，美国人对通货膨胀上升、疫情、气候变化和其他问题感到“愤怒”，“他们选出的官员根本没有回应”。
进步战略家、前参议院高级助手亚当·詹特利森(Adam Jentleson)哀叹道，民主党人“在拜登最大政治资本时期基本上只是在等待”，等待一项从未在社会和环境法案上达成的协议。总统上任后的一两年往往最有冲劲。
环保组织常青行动(Evergreen Action)上周发布了一则30秒的数字广告，强调进步人士的不耐烦，称拜登、舒默和众议院议长南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)现在必须兑现民主党控制全球变暖的承诺。现货在两个市场运行:华盛顿特区和舒默的家乡纽约布鲁克林。
温和的民主党人也希望成就得到提升。
“坦率地说，我们称之为什么对我来说并不重要，”民主党众议员阿比盖尔·斯潘伯格(Abigail Spanberger)在弗吉尼亚州中部面临竞选连任时，谈到她所在的政党称之为“重建得更好”的措施时说。“把事情做好很重要。”
曼钦是该州煤炭工业的捍卫者，但他表示愿意将税收抵免和其他应对气候变化的措施纳入一个恢复的一揽子计划，其中可能包括处方药价格限制和其他项目。
然而，他说，他希望议员们首先着手今年的预算，并修改国会在总统选举中计算选举人票的方式。他还对“多花几万亿纳税人的钱就能解决我们的问题，更不用说通货膨胀”的观点嗤之以鼻，暗示谈判不会容易。
与曼钦的任何交易，如果可以实现，预计至少需要到春季。许多民主党人认为，现在快速投票或其他可能激怒他或另一个特立独行的政党亚利桑那州参议员基尔斯顿·西内马的公众压力不会有什么好处。
曼钦在12月份否决了该法案后几分钟，白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)指责他“违背了”对拜登支持这项努力的承诺。舒默承诺在2022年“很早”就该措施进行投票，这样选民就能知道每位参议员的立场。
这种情况并没有发生，舒默也没有表现出允许就该法案的组成部分进行摊牌投票的迹象。他本月表示，“我们正在继续进行讨论，并将继续推进”立法。
舒默说，尽管与共和党的分歧“是真实的”，但当两党合作成为可能时，民主党人不能“忽视真正的进步机会”。
白宫没有继续公开批评曼钦，而是强调了这项立法将如何帮助选民。在拜登最近的活动中，宣传这一政策的标语写道，“降低家庭成本”，这是对飙升的通货膨胀的默认，这有助于提高他在民调中的支持率。
目前，民主党人希望达成一项妥协法案。在特殊的程序保护下，只要50票就能通过，这将使他们在副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯的决定性投票中获胜。
民主党参议员谢尔登·怀特豪斯(Sheldon Whitehouse)说:“我不禁认为，我们并没有无助和无能到无法利用这个机会。”
Democratic Senate debates merits of passion vs. pragmatism
WASHINGTON -- Withelections in view and Democrats' headline domestic bill in a rut, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer have very different takes on how things are going in their chamber.
“I know we're spending the week dealing with assistant secretaries of something or other, and that's terribly important," Sanders, the progressive firebrand and Vermont independent, said dryly on Wednesday. The Senate confirmed 15 nominees last week for the Federal Maritime Commission, judgeships and other posts.
“It has been a busy, productive and truly bipartisan week here,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the next morning. The New York Democrat cited a sexual harassment bill lawmakers approved minutes later and progress on addressing violence against women, the budget and industrial competitiveness.
The conflicting appraisals of how thepartyis using its time come as Democrats have run headlong into the limits of running a 50-50 Senate with no votes to spare. It underlines a debate over how to balance passion with pragmatism as Democrats court voters before the November elections, when Republicans have a real chance of capturing House and Senate control.
For some Democrats, it's time to draw contrasts with Republicans by forcing votes on priorities like helping families afford health care and combating global warming. Others see wisdom in declaring what victories they can and avoiding anything that might complicate efforts to strike deals with their own party's mavericks over broader priorities.
Democrats have just 49 votes for at least the next few weeks while Sen. Ben Ray Luján recuperates from a stroke. Yet even with the New Mexico Democrat, goals such as voting rights, immigration and other issues have faced solid Republican resistance and fallen short of the 60 Senate votes needed to approve most legislation.
For many Democrats, the big prize would be resuscitating a smaller version of President Joe Biden’s lead domestic priority: a 10-year, roughly $2 trillion package of health care, family services and environment initiatives. Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., effectively killed the measure in December when he said it was too costly, but has said he's open to a more modest alternative.
Democrats have differing assessments of how they've used Senate control so far.
“It’s no great secret that for five months, with the exception of the infrastructure bill, we have not been addressing the needs of the American people,” Sanders told reporters last week. Biden signed the bipartisan, $1 trillion package of road, water and other projects in November.
Sanders and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said they want the Senate to vote on curbing pharmaceutical prices, one of the sidelined bill's popular elements. Sanders said he would like votes on several of that measure's components, and let Republican opponents explain their votes to constituents.
Americans are “outraged” that with rising inflation, the pandemic, climate change and other problems, “their elected officials are simply not responding,” Sanders said on the Senate floor.
Democrats “spent Biden's period of maximum political capital basically just waiting around” for an agreement that never came on the social and environment bill, lamented Adam Jentleson, a progressive strategist and former top Senate aide. Presidents often have the most momentum in the first year or two after taking office.
Underscoring progressives' impatience, the environmental group Evergreen Action launched a 30-second digital ad last week saying Biden, Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., “must deliver" now on Democrats' promises to control global warming. The spot is running in two markets: Washington, D.C., and Brooklyn, New York, Schumer's home.
Moderate Democrats want accomplishments to promote, too.
“It’s frankly not important to me what we call it,” Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, facing a competitive reelection in central Virginia, said of the measure her party calls “Build Back Better.” "It’s important to get something done.”
Manchin is a defender of his state's coal industry yet has expressed openness to including tax credits and other steps to tackle climate change in a revived package that might include prescription drug price restrictions and other items.
Yet he's said he wants lawmakers to move first on this year's budget and revamping how Congress counts electoral votes in presidential elections. He's also scoffed at the belief that “spending trillions more of taxpayers’ money will cure our problems, let alone inflation," signaling negotiations won't be easy.
Any deal with Manchin, if achievable, is expected to take at least until spring. Many Democrats feel there would be nothing gained from quick votes now or other public pressure that could roil him or another party maverick, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
Minutes after Manchin's December rejection of the bill, which had passed the House, White House press secretary Jen Psaki accused him of “a breach of his commitments" to Biden about supporting the effort. Schumer promised a vote on the measure “very early” in 2022 so constituents would know every senator's position.
That's not happened, and Schumer has shown no signs of allowing showdown votes now on the bill's components, either. “We’re continuing to have discussions and we will be moving forward” on the legislation, he said this month.
Schumer said that while differences with Republicans “are real," Democrats cannot “ignore the genuine chances for progress" when bipartisanship is possible.
Instead of continuing to openly criticize Manchin, the White House has emphasized how the legislation would help voters. Signs promoting it at recent Biden events said, “Lowering costs for families," a tacit nod to soaring inflation, which has helped tank his popularity in polling.
For now, Democrats hope for a compromise bill. It could pass with just 50 votes, under special procedural protections that would let them prevail with Vice President Kamala Harris' tiebreaking vote.
“I can’t help but think that we’re not so helpless and incompetent as to be unable to take advantage of” that opportunity, said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
