Your cart is currently empty!
WITH THE $1.9 TRILLION RELIEF PACKAGE, DEMOCRATS EXPANDED THE WELFARE STATE BEYOND BELIEF
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…
|
Congress – Covid-19 Relief- Senate- Jose Biden
March 8, 2021
TrueNewsBlog- TNB
TRUENEWSBLOG – Congress is about to pass and President JOE BIDEN is about to sign into law the greatest expansion of the welfare state since LBJ.
The bill extends far beyond stimulus payments and unemployment benefits that have received most of the attention: It would expand the child tax credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, provide more generous support for child-care expenses and bolster Obamacare to the tune of tens of billions of dollars.
The government expansion is so broad that WaPo, reflecting the sensibility of most liberals, says it augurs โseismic shifts in U.S. politicsโ because the pandemic made Americans more pro-big government and more anti-austerity โ perhaps permanently.
Meanwhile, the WSJ editorial page, a little late to the fight, decries โthe Covid Welfare State,โ and warns that the โ$1.9 trillion Democratic bill provides a guaranteed income unlinked to work.โ
As the bill moves through the House for a final vote this week, two big questions are on our minds: 1) How did Democrats win this fight over welfare while barely firing a shot? 2) Can they do it again?
On the first question, the conventional wisdom is sound: The twin crises of disease and recession boosted support for government intervention well beyond what has been tolerated for decades; DONALD TRUMP and the GOPโs own support for the last two bills depolarized the fight over this one; Bidenโs opposition was distracted by internal divisions (Jan. 6, impeachment, McCarthy vs. Cheney, Trump vs. McConnell); and the conservative media was distracted by juicier fare than tax policy.
If youโve watched Fox News every night during the Biden presidency (we have), itโs that last point thatโs the most notable. Weโve learned a couple of things: 1) The MyPillow guy has really expanded beyond pillows, and 2) Foxโs most-watched hosts care a lot more about cancel culture, Dr. Seuss and antifaโs alleged (but, according to the FBI, nonexistent) role on Jan. 6 than they do about Bidenโs American Rescue Plan.
NYTโs Ezra Klein recently described this dynamic: โIf you can dial down the conflict, you can dial up the policy.โ
That seems wrong because it suggests that Biden can control the conflict knob. When faced with an economic crisis in 2009, BARACK OBAMA did not dial up the conflict. Itโs just that he faced a united GOP that closely coordinated with a powerful media echo chamber that helped create a massive backlash to federal policies.
Can the White House replicate the successful Covid relief strategy with its coming jobs bill, which may have a similar price tag and even more ambitious policy goals? Given the role that conservative media plays in American politics, a lot depends on whether Fox and similar outlets start to realize that whatโs being pushed through Congress is a lot more consequential than whether you can still buy โIf I Ran the Zoo.โ–