Today is Sunday, May 28, 2023. Now that there is a tentative deal reached between President Joe Biden and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy over raising the nation’s debt ceiling, there is an understanding that not only repugnicans could be not on board with the deal since it’s not extreme enough for them, it’s Democratic progressives that could signal their refusal of the deal because they are not happy over the concessions made by Biden to the repugnicans. This development is written about in an online article for CNN on my smartphone by Jack Forrest and Sam Fossum entitled “Top House progressive says Democratic leaders should be concerned about debt deal support.”

This concern over the deal was voiced by Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who said today that White House negotiators and Democratic leaders should be worried about progressive support for the tentative deal to raise the debt ceiling for two years.

Jayapal echoed her concern to CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union this morning, referring to some of the concessions made by the White House to reach the agreement with the repugnicans.

Even though Biden talked about the deal in comments today, there remains little certainty the nation will avoid a default.

One of the areas where progressive Democrats have concerns is the expansion of work requirements for certain adults receiving food stamps that is now part of this deal. On the plus side, though, the deal would also expand exemptions for certain recipients.

The Washington Democrat did indicate that she would not make her own position clear until she can see the legislative text.

Senior White House officials have been calling House Democrats since last night to shore up support for the deal, as some in the party have said the Biden administration conceded too much.

In a positive note for the White House’s efforts to wrangle Democratic votes, New Hampshire Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, the current head of the New Democrats bloc, signaled that her 99-member group may support the plan.

In a statement, Custer said that “Our members are encouraged that the two sides have reached an agreement, and are confident that President Biden and White House negotiators have delivered a viable, bipartisan solution to end this crisis.”

On the repugnican side, Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota (I was there!), one of the GOP negotiators on the deal, maintained that there were “no wins for Democrats” in the agreement.

In a separate interview on State of the Union, Johnson said, “There is nothing after the passage of this bill that will be more liberal or more progressive than it is today. It is a remarkable conservative accomplishment.” So Mr. McCarthy should be proud of himself in this regard.

In remarks tonight from the White House, Biden urged Congress to pass the tentative debt limit deal. He hailed the agreement, saying it “prevents the worst possible crisis – a default for the first time in our nation’s history.”

As expected, then, far-right GOP members of the House didn’t waste time slamming the proposal and House Speaker McCarthy for agreeing to it. For example, GOP Rep. Bob Good of Virginia tweeted, “No one claiming to be a conservative could justify a YES vote.” So as you can see, there is grumbling directed toward this debt limit deal from both sides.

The alternative, though, to not passing this deal is far, far worse than accepting the concessions outlined in the agreement, and as Dean Obeidallah has suggested in a column that he wrote for CNN, there is an easy fix for Democrats unhappy with the provisions in the deal: Win back control of the House on 2024 – while retaining the Senate and the White House – where they can roll back any parts of the agreement they find objectionable.

The day before Memorial Day, Elliot and I paid a social visit to our still-ailing road trip companion, “Patricia,” after buying her bagels and cream cheese at a Queens Boulevard bagel emporium, and having them upstairs in her apartment, along with coffee. We had a good time recounting memorable moments from our recent trip while sitting on her terrace.

Then we rushed out of Patricia’s apartment around 2:30 to drive to Kew Gardens Cinema, where we went to see a film at 3:30. The film is a just-released comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and directed by Nicole Holofcener which takes place on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Watching it made me visualize the earlier films of Woody Allen in which his protagonists were predominantly white, upper class, and lived lives of privilege while having neurotic breakdowns nevertheless. This most recent film by the renowned director stars Dreyfus as an insecure book author by the name of Beth Mitchell who is constantly looking for validation from people around her. The person whose opinion she respects the most is that of her husband Don Mitchell (played by Tobias Menzies). He is an easygoing psychotherapist, who appears very laid back and tolerant, while Beth is uptight and judgmental.

The fulcrum of the whole movie centers on Beth and her sister Sarah who eavesdrop on Don and Sarah’s husband (an insecure actor himself played by Arian Moayed, as Mark) at a sporting goods store in which Don admits to Mark that he really didn’t like his wife’s second creative effort, a novel. This admission of Don’s shakes Beth to the core and she spends the remaining length of the film nursing resentment toward her clueless husband who didn’t see her or her sister listening in on their conversation by the sock display.

Here Elliot took umbrage at the film and its characters as he labeled the principals totally privileged and trivial outside the movie theater. The film does admit at one point that these characters seem to live in a bubble and lead very contented lives far removed from the ills of the world. This happens in the scene between Beth and Don where Don comments to his uptight wife that “The whole world is falling apart, and this is what consumes you?” Beth nimbly replies, “I know the whole world is falling apart . . . but this is my small, narcissistic world, and I’m hurt.” For those who are on the brink of bankruptcy or homelessness, the problems experienced by the Mitchells would seem to amount to just so many insignificant “hill of beans.”

Do have a reflective, peaceful Memorial Day tomorrow.

Stay safe and be well.