Senate Democrats Announce $3.5 Trillion Budget Deal that Could Potentially Rewrite the American Social Contract

Photo from KTLA

In a move that could potentially rewrite the American Social Contract, the Democrats in the United States Senate appear to have agreed on pursuing a $3.5 trillion budget package through the reconciliation process.

If all Democrats support this dollar figure, the bill contents, and the revenue sources to pay for it, Vice President Kamala Harris can break the tie in a 50-50 Senate and, what Senator Bernie Sanders called this evening "the most significant piece of legislation passed since the Great Depression" will become law.

The dollar amount deal was announced Tuesday evening by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Budget Committee Chairperson Bernie Sanders, and other members of that panel.

Senator Schumer described the deal as:

"The budget resolution with instructions will be $3.5 trillion. You add that to the $600 billion bipartisan plan, you get to $4.1 (trillion), which is very, very close to what President (Joe) Biden asked us for. Every major program that President Biden has asked us for is funded in a robust way."

Senator Sanders further stated:

"The American people have seen the very rich getting richer and government developing policies, which allowed them to pay, in some cases, not a nickel in federal income taxes, they've seen corporations make huge profits. In some cases, they're not paying a nickel in taxes. And what this legislation says, among many, many other things, is that those days are gone. The wealthy and large corporations are going to start paying their fair share of taxes so that we can protect the working families of this country."

The $3.5 trillion figure, which would be financed by tax increases on individuals making over $400,000 and on corporate rates, was arrived at after Moderate Democrats like Virginia's Senator Mark Warner advised that the centrist wing of the Senate Democratic caucus would not support the six trillion dollar figure Senator Sanders and other progressives were embracing.

If passed, this legislation will include large investments in the American Social Contract including an expansion of Medicare that would include funding for seniors to obtain dental, hearing, and vision care.

Other potential measures could include funding for:

• Extending the child tax credit expansion which will reduce child poverty over a longer period.
• Human Care for seniors and the disabled.
• Paid medical and family leave.
• Immigration Reform.
• Combatting climate change.
• Tax Reform.

Readers have to understand that this is just the first part of the budget reconciliation process.

Agreement on what areas to fund and in what amount needs to be arrived at between the Progressives and Moderate wings of the Democratic Caucus.

Ensuring every Democrat votes for the finished product is also vital to securing the legislation because no Republican will vote for it.

Finally, do not be surprised if the final dollar figure is not increased by another six hundred billion to a trillion dollars.

Why?

Because, as AZ Blue Meanie and others have reported, some Republicans, for a variety of reasons (they do not like Nancy Pelosi's negotiating stance or they worry about the viability of the agreed-upon payfors)  may be pulling back on their support for the Bipartisan Infrastructure legislation.

If that happens, Democrats will need to add what would have been in the infrastructure deal to the budget reconciliation package.

So there will be more negotiating and political drama in the weeks to come.

Eventually, the American People and the Nation will probably have one of the largest investments in the social contract since Lyndon Johnson's Great Society/War on Poverty Programs.

That would be good for lifting the American People up and moving the country forward.