For Immediate Release
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Contact: Sam Quigley
sam@patrioticmillionaires.org
Patriotic Millionaires Urge Progressive Caucus to Hold The Line
“This is getting ridiculous.”
Washington, DC – Yesterday, Rep. Pramila Jayapal and other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus expressed their willingness to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill as soon as this week.
House Progressives had previously demanded either a vote on budget reconciliation in the Senate or at least a firm commitment to voting for the bill from Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin in exchange for their votes on the infrastructure bill.
Neither of those has occurred, yet progressives have signaled that they would back down and vote for the infrastructure bill anyway. This would be a terrible mistake.
In response to this development, the Patriotic Millionaires sent a letter to members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus this afternoon urging them to hold the line and refuse to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill until reconciliation has passed.
See below for the full text of the letter, or click HERE to read it as a PDF.
A few excerpts from the letter include:
“This is getting ridiculous. We are sure you agree.”
“The two conservative Democrats holding the nation hostage with unreasonable and ever-shifting demands have proven themselves to be unreliable negotiating partners and there is no reason to believe they will do the right thing. You have one bit of leverage. Use it.”
“Please do not let a manufactured sense of urgency sway you from the fact that, from the beginning, these two bills were intended to pass together. That is what was promised, that is what must happen.”
“From the perspective of the Patriotic Millionaires, the Build Back Better plan is the only bill of the two that takes any steps toward unwinding the decades of preferential treatment the uber wealthy have received in the tax code.”
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Dear Rep. Jayapal and Members of the Progressive Caucus:
This is getting ridiculous. We are sure you agree.
We are writing today to urge you and your colleagues to hold the line and to refuse to vote on the physical infrastructure bill until there is a commitment from the full Senate Caucus to pass the Build Back Better bill. We are deeply concerned about reports that progressives are considering allowing the vote on the physical infrastructure to go forward.
This would be a terrible mistake.
The two conservative Democrats holding the nation hostage with unreasonable and ever-shifting demands have proven themselves to be unreliable negotiating partners and there is no reason to believe they will do the right thing.
You have one bit of leverage. Use it. The infrastructure bill must not be passed in the House until there is clear, public, and unequivocal support for a reconciliation package from the full Senate caucus.
Please do not let a manufactured sense of urgency sway you from the fact that, from the beginning, these two bills were intended to pass together. That is what was promised, that is what must happen.
To be clear, both packages enjoy the support of the bi-partisan majority of Americans.
But from the perspective of the Patriotic Millionaires, the Build Back Better plan is the only bill of the two that takes any steps toward unwinding the decades of preferential treatment the uber wealthy have received in the tax code. It is not perfect, but it is a step in the right direction towards shrinking the destabilizing levels of inequality in our country.
You know as well as we do that the Build Back Better package, not the infrastructure bill, is the legislation that this country needs. You must make it clear that you will settle for no less than what your constituents deserve, and refuse to pass BIF without support for the full Build Back Better Agenda.
Warmly,
Erica Payne, President and Founder of the Patriotic Millionaires
Morris Pearl, Chair of the Board of the Patriotic Millionaires
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For more information please contact Sam Quigley via email at sam@patrioticmillionaires.org.