So... agree or disagree, I say what I think on here. I took flack from the left for defending CARES. The current deal might end up as better than nothing and worth passing. But Dems left billions in aid on the table that would’ve helped many facing dire straits. For example..

Let’s take the 12/2 decision by Dem leaders to endorse the 900B bipartisan frame. These kinds of negotiations are all about that baseline- you fight like hell to give an inch. Pelosi/Mnuchin had a $1.8B baseline. Securing no concessions, Dem leaders *halved* the baseline to 900B.

Some argue that Dem leaders refusing to cut a deal before the election helped Biden. Sure. Others note McConnell rejected the 1.8T deal. Yes! But: why cut the baseline in *half*, giving away ~$1T in aid, for no concessions? There’s miles of landing room between 1.8T and 900B.

At this point McConnell has watched Dems come all the way down from 3.4T (with HEROES) to 900B. Meanwhile, he started at 500B and hasn’t come up at all. Does he join Dems’ embrace of the bipartisan group? Of course not! With the baseline reset to 900B, he seeks more concessions.

McConnell pushes to sever state aid, pairing it with liability shields, supposedly his biggest priority. Having halved the 1.8 Pelosi/Mnuchin baseline to 900B Dems prepare to drop it further to 748B. Dems didn’t trade state aid (~300B) for liability, they traded away 900B for it.

All this time and for months prior, Dems have been spinning their wheels, never mounting anything resembling an aggressive pressure campaign on popular policies like $1,200 checks. Instead, they did the opposite, repeatedly signaling their eagerness to climb down on key demands.

Enter Bernie and the Progressive Caucus, whose pressure campaign forces direct checks into the package. (Pressure works!) But by now, the baseline has been lowered to 748B, so when their checks get forced back in, the total is back to 900B instead of up to around $1.1 or 1.2T.

As NYT, Politico & others reported, McConnell wants a deal to help in GA. The idea that he’ll swallow 900B but would have rejected 1.1T or 1.2T is heavy on assumption and light on evidence. Dem leaders gave away their chance to try for more when they endorsed the 900B baseline.

Note, too, that what I'm proposing here is not a fantasy. Bipartisan "gangs" often pop up in these kinds of negotiations. (I was there for many of them!) Usually, the leaders hold back. Their endorsement is one of the biggest bullets you have. Dem leaders rushed it and wasted it.

Why does this matter? This is why. The delta between the current bill and what was achievable is around $300B. That's a *lot* of aid, desperately needed by many. Dem leaders voluntarily jumping down from the $1.8 baseline to $900B made it easy for McConnell to cut off this aid. https://twitter.com/michaelslinden/status/1338933274127851520