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As nut House Democrats rush to pass rescue bill, a deep tension surfaces

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/15/house-democrats-rush-
pass-rescue-bill-deep-tension-surfaces/

House Democrats are rushing to try to pass their next rescue package 
today. It’s their biggest one yet — but it’s a bill that’s simultaneously 
sweeping and restrained.

In that sense, the $3 trillion bill captures a core tension about 
Democratic Party politics right now. Should Democrats primarily focus on a 
narrow conception of what it will take to protect their most moderate 
members in swing districts, to hold the House this fall?

Or should they seize this opportunity to make a big statement about how 
the Democratic Party sees the task of governing amid a public health 
emergency and a massive economic collapse?

One might argue that doing the latter might also have electoral benefits, 
since it would telegraph to the public what full Democratic control would 
look like next year, should Democrats win the White House and both 
chambers of Congress.

Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic

In some ways, the bill represents an effort to do both at the same time. 
In certain areas, the more narrow conception is prevailing, since 
protecting moderates is always at the top of mind for House Speaker Nancy 
Pelosi (D-Calif). In others, the party is sending a big message about 
Democratic values.

The bill would direct nearly a trillion dollars to states, localities, 
territories and tribal governments. It would give direct payments of 
$1,200 per person to every household, establish a $200 billion “Heroes 
Fund” for essential workers, and add money for food stamps and other 
safety net programs.

It would also direct $100 billion to hospitals and put $75 billion into 
testing and tracing for the coronavirus. And it would provide funds to 
rescue the Postal Service and enable voting by mail for November’s 
election.

But the bill is being condemned by moderates as too big, and by 
progressives as not bold enough:

The sweeping legislation, dubbed the “Heroes Act,” also faces opposition 
within the House Democratic caucus, with some moderate lawmakers objecting 
to voting on a bill that they all know will not become law. Some liberals, 
meanwhile, have complained that the package does not go far enough to aid 
the public in the midst of an unprecedented economic meltdown.
It’s unclear what will happen — some very progressive members and some 
moderates are now opposed — though it will probably pass.

Despite GOP efforts to paint the bill as a liberal fantasy, it doesn’t 
contain much that’s extraneous to the crisis. The direct payments to 
families, the money for hospitals and front-line workers, and the 
provisions to help the Postal Service and enable vote by mail all respond 
to massive needs created by the pandemic.

All those things are quite substantial.

But other items didn’t get in, like a program to have the government cover 
payrolls (to replace the clunky Paycheck Protection Program) and automatic 
stabilizers to ensure that assistance keeps flowing until the economy has 
recovered.

This captures the core tension: Democrats mostly agree that both the 
former and latter provisions are crucial over the longer term, given the 
scale of the crisis. The big infusions of aid obviously are, but so are 
the stabilizers — Democrats surely know that if they take power, 
Republicans will try to sabotage the recovery, and such stabilizers would 
guard against that.

Yet the latter isn’t getting in. Why? As Rep. Don Beyer told the 
Democratic caucus, Pelosi concluded the stabilizers would add “an enormous 
price tag” to the bill, and, “It just became really difficult for her to 
go to the public and say, ‘Here’s a bill for $4 or $5 trillion.’”

But the idea that the public would be fine with a $3 trillion bill but 
would recoil at a $4 or $5 trillion bill is questionable. Democrats have a 
long history of fearing large budget numbers — and Republican attacks over 
them — but Republicans will never accept these levels of spending anyway, 
so why not signal ambition to the country?

Making this tension stranger, in some areas, it appears Democrats are 
willing to make a statement of priorities even if it does risk Republican 
attacks.

On immigration, the bill does good things that were left out of previous 
packages. It makes stimulus checks available to undocumented immigrants 
and their families, shields undocumented immigrants who are essential 
workers from deportation, and extends health benefits to some categories 
of them as well.

Immigration advocates working Capitol Hill tell us moderate Democrats are 
balking at some of these provisions, because it’s all but certain that 
they will be featured in millions of dollars of attack ads.

One advocate tells us vulnerable Democrats see these provisions as a 
problem precisely because Trump is so obsessed with this issue. “Stephen 
Miller’s obsession with immigrants will influence their political 
playbook,” this advocate says, adding that “moderates are nervous.”

As another advocate noted, here’s an issue on which Democratic leaders 
have put their moderates in a tough position in order to signal that the 
Democratic Party sees inclusiveness toward immigrants as a necessary 
component of a big crisis response. That’s a corrective of previous 
failures.

The Opinions section is looking for stories of how the coronavirus has 
affected people of all walks of life. Write to us.

What’s puzzling about this tension, at bottom, is that the details don’t 
really matter since the bill will never become law over GOP objections. 
It’s really an opening bid for the next round of negotiations, and a 
message to the electorate about what the Democratic blueprint amid total 
collapse looks like.

What’s important is a simple, broad contrast: Democrats want to do much, 
much more to help suffering people and revive the economy than Republicans 
do. Why let fear of GOP attacks muddle that message?

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As nut House Democrats rush to pass rescue bill, a deep tension surfaces The Nut Party <queers@cnn.com> - 2020-05-16 06:58 +0000

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