On the first anniversary of House Democrats celebrating clearing their original $3.5 trillion interpretation of President Joe Biden‘s social welfare and climate spending priorities, the party’s far Left is learning to settle.
With many of the president’s proposals dropping out of the $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act, Biden and Democrats are hoping the bill, supplemented by announcements such as Wednesday’s student loan debt forgiveness plan, will be enough to gin up their base before November’s midterms elections and prevent a Republican-controlled Congress.
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Progressive Democrats have long argued Biden’s 2020 victory doubled as a mandate for their liberal agenda. But their increasing unpopularity with centrist Democrats and independents, along with uncertain post-pandemic economic conditions, has weakened their political influence, necessitating the need to compromise.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), for instance, specifically criticized the Inflation Reduction Act’s prescription drug provisions because Medicare‘s power to negotiate prices “does not kick in until 2026 and starts with only ten drugs.”
“This reconciliation bill goes nowhere near far enough in addressing the problems facing struggling working families,” Sanders wrote after its passage. “But it is a step forward and I was happy to support it.”
Additionally, after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) were reportedly pressuring Biden as recently as this week to forgive more than $10,000 in federal student loan debt for individuals earning less than $125,000 per annum, senior administration officials were needled twice on potential dissatisfaction over the final figure during a background briefing call.
“Sixty percent of borrowers have Pell Grants, so actually, the majority of borrowers are eligible for $20K in relief, and the remainder are eligible for the $10,000 in relief,” one official said. “That’s an important clarifying point.”
The topic also dominated White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s first briefing since Aug. 9.
Organizations, including the vocal Progressive Change Campaign Committee, have alluded to future action, particularly after federal student loan repayments resume in January.
“Progressives will keep working with the Biden administration, Sen. Warren, and other leaders to reduce college costs and debt, and create a stronger economy for working families,” PCCC co-founder Adam Green said.
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Emma Vaughn cited other negative first anniversaries for Biden and Democrats aside from Build Back Better.
“One year ago, as Afghanistan was falling to the Taliban, every single vulnerable Democrat tied themselves to Biden’s disastrous agenda,” she said. “Since then, inflation skyrocketed, the economy entered into a recession, gas prices hit record highs, and Americans are worse off.”
“Democrats may duck Biden ahead of Election Day, but voters know Democrats rubberstamped Biden’s failures, which is why they’re running scared into November,” Vaughn added.
The political environment does not look as problematic for Democrats two and a half months before the election, despite Republicans and some independents being energized by 8.5% inflation in the year ending July and a range of cultural issues. Republicans have an average 0.2-percentage-point advantage over Democrats in generic congressional ballot polling, according to RealClearPolitics. And while Republicans do have a 78% chance of winning the House, Democrats have a 63% chance of holding on to the Senate.
Democrats have been amplifying an NBC News poll this week that found voters consider “threats to democracy” to be their top concern before November, above “cost of living” and “jobs and the economy,” in addition to being “enthusiastic” about the midterm elections. Pollsters have attributed the uptick in interest to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade through Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Democrats are similarly buoyed by this week’s New York 19th Congressional District special election. The Catskills and mid-Hudson Valley district backed former Presidents Barack Obama in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016 before Democratic Rep.-elect Pat Ryan defeated Republican Marc Molinaro after focusing on protecting abortion access. Ryan outperformed Biden, who carried the district in 2020, too.
Democrats have “clearly closed the enthusiasm gap,” according to former party strategist and current Aggressive Progressive podcast host Christopher Hahn. But for Hahn, that is not because of the Inflation Reduction Act, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, the $550 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the $280 billion Chips and Science Act, or the gun reform and veterans healthcare laws.
“This has less to do with legislation and more to do with Republicans adopting extreme views on choice in the wake of the ruling in Dobbs and Trump’s musing about a 2024 presidential run,” he said. “Combine that with compelling hearings held by the Jan. 6th Committee that revealed a clear threat to democracy itself, and Democrats have woken up going into the midterms.”
Middlebury College politics professor Bert Johnson disagreed. He contended the Inflation Reduction Act “has gone a long way toward repairing the damage among core Democrats,” even though it is “dramatically” narrower in scope.
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“The Build Back Better package was breathtaking in its ambition, so it’s no surprise that when it failed, it left Democrats gasping for oxygen,” he said. “If Republicans take over the House, and the safer bet is still to say that they will, Democrats will have to rely on previously enacted policies to further their agenda, since I don’t foresee much coming out of a divided Congress that the president would sign.”
