Biden's problem is "moderate" Democrats, not progressives

Letters to the Editor: Biden’s problem isn’t progressives. It’s the GOP and two ‘moderate’ Democrats

A woman, left, in a red print dress and a man in a suit, both masked, ride an elevator

Feb. 16, 2022 3 AM PT

To the editor: A climate catastrophe that threatens life on our planet is bearing down on us. Red states’ anti-voting rights legislation threatens democracy in America. Pharmaceutical companies are gouging consumers. (“With Biden’s agenda hanging by a thread, Democrats question their leaders’ strategy,” Feb. 12)

Although President Biden has championed legislation to address these and other dire crises facing us, the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate can’t seem to pass it. Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) is more concerned with his corporate donors from the fossil fuel industry, and Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is beholden to Big Pharma.

And yet, The Times suggests the problem is that Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain kept channels open with the only faction of the Democratic Party that is wholeheartedly fighting for the president’s agenda — the progressives — rather than the corporate Democrats who seek to undermine it at every turn.

Since none of the 20 Democrats interviewed for the story would go on record, we can assume that this article was part of a push by corporate Democrats to blame progressives for their own intransigence.

How about an article that examines the voting records of legislators who receive huge corporate donations? How about one that examines the proposed legislation so readers can understand just how much is on the line when our elected officials continue to fail us?

Clifford J. Tasner, North Hollywood

To the editor: I am dismayed to see The Times refer to the Biden administration’s belated focus on passing voting rights protections — the first piece of legislation taken up by the House during a year in which more than 440 bills restricting voting access were introduced in 49 states — as a “quixotic showdown.”

It’s fine to discuss the pros and cons of party strategy, but this formulation makes voting rights sound like some frivolous notion, when in fact it is the very core of our democracy that is being threatened.

Susan Schwartz, Altadena

To the editor: I was very pleased to read The Times’ objective article on the parties responsible for the demise of the overly ambitious Biden agenda. This was a welcome respite from The Times’ default posture of far-left cheerleading.

The only obvious omission was the extent of culpability of Biden himself; after all, he is the man in charge.

Jim Stryker, Laguna Hills