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The Fight For Fifteen, and Party Realignment
Yes, I am disappointed that the Parliamentarian ruled the increase in the minimum wage could not be included in the Senate version. I am also aware that both Democrats Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema were not going to vote for the whole package because for them, this is a poison pill. All politics are local and both West Virginia and Arizona are barely blue. Neither Senator believes this should be done, and in many resorts, neither do their citizens. You could even make the argument that Vice-President Kamala Harris is not behind this policy either, never mind that the State of California enacted the wage increase a couple of years ago.
Yes, they could fire the Parliamentarian, and just do it. Republicans have done this in the past. But Democrats barely have the votes to pass the 1.9 trillion relief package without the minimum wage. When Republicans fired the Parliamentarian and did pass their tax cut, they had the votes. It was passed with only Republicans and their comfort level was a slight majority. They could afford to lose a member of their conference or two. Democrats cannot afford to lose one.
Then there is another reality. Mitch McConnell is far better at whipping votes than Chuck Schumer. This is part of the problem. Democrats are gun shy about forcing their own people to whip one way, even when they do not want to. The party used…