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IT’S NOT ‘COVID RELIEF’ IF THEY WANT TO MAKE IT PERMANENT. Back in the campaign for Georgia’s two Senate seats — the fight for control of the Senate — Democratic Leader Charles Schumer famously vowed, “Now we take Georgia, and then we change America!” Republicans pointed out, correctly, that Schumer and his Democratic colleagues planned to enact far-reaching changes in American government if they won even the barest control of Congress.
Democrats won Georgia, and now they’re trying to change America. And the first, and perhaps most effective, vehicle for changing America is the $1.9 trillion, so-called “COVID relief” bill just passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden.
Only about nine percent of the spending — about $265 billion — goes to expenses that directly aid in the fight against COVID. That includes things like vaccine distribution and virus testing. Huge amounts of money — about $760 billion — go to individuals and state and local governments that may or may not have suffered economically during the pandemic. For example, a couple of weeks ago, the New York Times published a story headlined, “Virus Did Not Bring Financial Rout That Many States Feared; Grim forecasts held up for a few states, but many took in about as much tax revenue as before the pandemic — sometimes a lot more.” The same was true for individuals; the COVID crisis was devastating economically for those who lost jobs or businesses. For others, it wasn’t.
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But the Democratic bill “showers money on Americans,” as the Washington Post put it, regardless of whether there is a true need or not. Just look at the $86 billion it gives to failing union pension funds. The money is not a loan. It doesn’t require the pension funds to improve the management practices that led to their failures. It just gives them money.
And then there is the welfare portion of the new law. It enormously increases the child tax credit, expands the earned income tax credit, creates new programs for child care, and increases long-term unemployment benefits and food assistance. The welfare provisions, which would remove the work requirement for federal aid that was a key part of the 1990s Clinton welfare reform, reflect Democrats’ changing ambitions for the bill. “At first, Democrats described their $1.9 trillion stimulus as a response to a once-in-a-century economic and health emergency,” the Washington Post wrote. “But then the language began to shift to something much different: an anti-poverty measure with few precedents in U.S. history.”
Indeed, instead of talking about COVID, some Democrats now tout the new law as a way to “cut child poverty in half.” Of course, there is nothing wrong with Congress debating a measure designed to cut child poverty; it has done so many times. There is also nothing wrong with Congress debating a measure to remove the work requirement for federal aid. It’s just not “COVID relief.”
The fact that much of the bill is not “COVID relief” is highlighted by Democrats’ intention to make those welfare components of the law permanent. As it is, they only last for a year. If Democrats have their way, they will last forever. All Americans hope the COVID pandemic passes soon, and there are encouraging indications that life will return to normal this year. But Democrats want “COVID relief” to be a permanent part of American government.
“Democratic lawmakers are exploring ways to ensure that generous tax credits and other key aspects of the legislation will last well beyond the pandemic itself, either through additional rounds of extensions or more permanent measures,” Politico reported over the weekend. “Democratic leaders are banking on some of the aid provisions being so popular that letting them expire would be a political nightmare.”
In short, the Democratic idea is: Take these long-time Democratic agenda items, sell them as temporary “COVID relief,” and then dare Republicans to challenge them in an election year. And if Republicans do run on a pledge to let “COVID relief” expire, portray them as heartless.
Go back to Senator Schumer. Last year, he pledged to “change America” if Democrats won the Senate. On Sunday, he appeared on MSNBC to argue for “COVID relief” forever. “Are you going to push to make [the tax credits and other benefits] permanent?” Schumer was asked. “Absolutely,” he said. “That’s one of the most important things we can do. We can change America if we make them permanent.”
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