Democrats must decide whether they want to govern or let Republicans hold them hostage [View all]
Let’s stipulate something at the outset: There was no circumstance under which President Biden’s American Rescue Plan would get Republican support. Not if it came in under $1 trillion. Not if it was stripped of funding for the arts or Planned Parenthood. Not if no one whispered the words “minimum wage.”
This was fated from the moment the second hand struck A-Democrat-Is-President o’clock, and Mitch McConnell dusted off his old playbook.
Like Barack Obama, Joe Biden responded to a crisis he inherited by proposing a large stimulus that polls very well, even among Republicans. But as in 2009, Republicans see no upside to working with the new president. If the economy bounces back, they figure, Biden will get credit regardless. But by withholding their votes and making the bill partisan, they can take some bloom off the rose. After all, hadn’t Biden promised to unite the country?
In 2009, this worked splendidly. Obama’s overtures to Republicans watered down the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act until it was too small and too loaded with inefficient tax cuts to quickly juice a languishing economy. Republican messaging about a convoluted process and out-of-control spending stuck, laying the groundwork for GOP gains in 2010.
You’re watching what they hope will be the sequel.
Read more: https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/democrats-must-decide-whether-they-want-to-govern-or-let-republicans-hold-them-hostage/Content?oid=28897731
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