Give Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema some credit. She has the courage to stand up for her convictions in the face of overwhelming pressure.
But send us an email if you can figure out what her convictions are. Nobody else can figure it out and she’s not telling. This could scuttle President Joe Biden ‘s entire legislative agenda. He’ll be asked how to get things done in a 50-50 Senate when he can’t marshal his own party during a CNN town hall Thursday night. What does Sinema NOT want to happen? There’s a long list that’s seeped out into the ether: Don’t tax the wealthy. She doesn’t want to increase the marginal income tax rate on the wealthiest individuals or roll back President Trump’s permanent tax cuts for corporations — two Democratic priorities that share wide public appeal. That means Democrats don’t have enough money to fund their promises for a more generous society. They’re scrambling to find new options to pay for their plans. RELATED: Liberal backlash against Sinema grows on Capitol Hill as potential Arizona challenger emerges Don’t end the filibuster. She opposes ending the filibuster, but Republicans refuse to work on Biden’s priorities, which means the Democratic agenda is stuck unless she comes around. Don’t necessarily expand the social safety net. Democrats’ dreams of universal pre-K, subsidized community college, a poverty-erasing child tax credit and a climate change-fighting requirement for electricity providers now rest on her shoulders. She’s said she won’t vote for anything until a smaller, bipartisan infrastructure bill passes, too. It’s stuck in the House, where leaders say they won’t allow a vote on the smaller bill until the large one passes the Senate. Sinema’s list of dislikes, without a constructive and public list of alternatives, is turning even some supporters off. Advisers resign in protest. When veterans who had been voluntarily advising her wrote a scathing letter accusing her of obstruction, she thanked them for their service, but didn’t answer their gripe.
