democrats but for the country, but when you think about the consequences of not investing in the child care system, and we have thousands of families here in new mexico, we have to address the climate crisis. this is a situation in which we can t give up. from my perspective, yes, people are frustrated but we have to get manchin back to the table and resume negotiations because we have to pass this bill. do you think you can get him back to the table at this point, saying he s on fox news saying it s an n-o. i listened to the statement, and i am a former senate staffer before i ran for congress, and i think we were all shocked and blind-sided by this statement, but i do believe that senator manchin will come back to the
can we afford it? you know, chris, we are the only major country on earth that doesn t have it. there are women who give birth today who have to go back to work a week from now. child care system is dysfunctional. elderly people walking the streets with no teeth in their mouths, not to mention the needs of climate. but when it comes to working families, oh, my god. we can t afford it. when it comes to tax space for military spending, no problem. yes, and just on that note, i want to remind people, back in 2017, around this time, when the big corporate tax cut was being pushed through, the cbo estimate had it estimating, adding $1.7 trillion to the deficit. enormous amount to the deficit. it turned out that was an underestimate. it now looks like it s closer to $2.5. the cbo didn t even get it right there. it s turned out to be more expensive than initial projections. and that s what it is. i mean, what we are fighting for now is not only the programs,
paid family leave. that s things people need this this moment, but they needed it before the pandemic. so now the democrats, it s not just the urgency of the timetable of the midterm elections, but the fact that the american people need this stuff and they voted for it. so i think that joe manchin, every night he goes to bed, he needs to think about that mom that s at home that s not able to go back to work because they can t afford child care or that s worried about their elderly parent catching covid, and i think that those are the issues that i think all democrats should care about, but joe manchin should remember every single time he tries to operate and try to create leverage. i mean, how much more leverage does he need? zerlina, i m so glad you mentioned the pandemic in relation to child care. i don t think i ve ever mentioned it as we ve discussed the child care provision this year, but it s worth noting that, yes, the paid for child care system in this country broke down comp
every single time he tries to operate and create leverage. how much more leverage does he need? zerlina, i m so glad you mentioned the pandemic in relation to childcare, because i don t think i ve ever mentioned it as we ve discussed the childcare provision this year. but it s worth noting that yes, the paid for child care system in this country broke down completely under the weight of covid-19 and the shutdowns, and the way people had to isolate. angus king invoked you in the last hour talking about what needs to be done in the senate, but i want to first of all, in terms of that, that 60 vote threshold which i want to get to in a moment, i want to get to david s reporting on joe manchin. you ve seen all these parties which is, and you ve seen that momentum over decades now, and it s basically a been a one-way straight except for change efforts, from the northern canadian border state. but all the rest of those switches that happened in the southern states, it remains something of
deteriorating bridges, that s important. but when you think about the child care system where huge segments of the providers have simply disappeared, mothers can t go back to work. we have to address the entire picture in order to have a prosperous, successful country. we need both bills. so let s talk about, then, the second one, the $3.5 trillion one as it stands now. moderates say they will only support the spending bill if the price tag is reduced. progress sives have said that s non-starter, but nancy pelosi said it is evident that the smaller bill would be 3.5 trillion. would you vote for a smaller reconciliation bill? obviously i would need to know what would be in it. but, again, this is a matter of compromise. what elements do so-called conservative dems want to take out of it?