Last night progressive democrats, which is a very sizable and politically savvy caucus in the Democratic Party, decided that a bird in the hand isn’t worth “two in the bush.” Their action creates tension within the party and is a bit of a gamble for sure, but democracies if they are going to be viable and slay the dragons of white nationalist, plutocratic authoritarianism have to make a difference in people’s everyday lives.

And the Reconciliation bill, even if a compromise is struck (and that is almost a certainty) does that in significant and novel ways, while revealing at the same time the anti-democratic, class, and racist disposition of the Republican Party.