Defeat from jaws of victory

Regarding “Big, messy, complicated: Biden’s plan churns in Congress,” (Oct.

28): Two names I hope never to hear again: Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. To be clear, I remain glad that Joe Biden is the president of the United States and continue to believe he is the right person to heal our nation.

I fully support Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda and all the good it will do to improve the lives of Americans. However, once again the Democrats have become experts at doing themselves in, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

As someone who studies political communication, I find this is the case both from a messaging and action perspective. The daily bickering among Democrats and repeated misleading claims that a deal is close provide an ongoing soap opera capable of alienating people of all political persuasions. How embarrassing that Biden headed to Europe on Thursday with a “framework” agreement, something far less than the one thing he needed most to regain the trust of our allies.

I am sad and worried, fearing the impact of this disaster on the 2022 elections, as well as upcoming gubernatorial elections. I wonder if Democrats ever will ever learn from their past rhetorical mistakes.

Richard Cherwitz, Austin Regarding “Deal on budget measure remains elusive,” (Oct. 28): From my perspective, Sen. Joe Manchin is a roadblock in the Democratic Party. He says he has not considered moving to the Republican Party, is no liberal and would at best become an independent, if anything, but still caucus with the Democrats. The phraseology that comes to mind when I hear that is: There is no “I” in team.

He is imposing his will on the rest of the Democrats with no regard for the impact on Democrats as a whole. If he does not at least relent on his opposition to creating a “carveout” to the filibuster, he possibly relegates Democrats to a losing hand because they will not be able to stop Republican voter suppression in states like Texas.

Ron Curtis, Houston Regarding “Harris County promise to complete all flood bond projects in jeopardy,” (Oct. 27): The article mentions that Commissioner Adrian Garcia proposed taking funding for seven projects in the Cedar Bayou watershed and reallocating it elsewhere. Doing what the Democrats do so well. Social Security is a prime example of “reallocation.” Good luck getting people to vote for another flooding project.