As Democrats’ “coronavirus rescue plan” works its way through the House, criticism of the effort quite deservedly remains, and it is even picking up steam in some surprising places.
The Washington Post took Biden up on the challenge he offered on Friday. “What would they have me cut?” Biden asked of critics in a speech. “What would they have me leave out?”
In an editorial, the paper puts forward the analyses of some Democrat-aligned economists, indicating agreement with their assessment that Biden’s relief package is “bigger than necessary to restore pre-pandemic growth, thus diverting resources needed for other goals.”
In all its wisdom, the paper’s editorial board accepts that there is, in fact, a limit to monies, a constraint whose existence congressional Democrats are simply choosing to deny.
And so the paper suggests lawmakers narrow eligibility for recovery rebates, or “stimulus checks,” in order to avoid showering money on the nonpoor. That some states are doing well financially — California has a budget surplus, and the governor of New Hampshire is proposing tax cuts — means that Congress doesn’t need to spend a few hundred billion dollars on them, the editorial also argues.
These are not really Republican or conservative ideas. They are just sensible. Don’t spend money where it isn’t needed. But the Democrats are set on passing a profligate bill, and it is a profligate bill.
“Only about 1 percent of the entire package goes toward COVID vaccines, and 5 percent is truly focused on public health needs surrounding the pandemic,” according to Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Biden also insisted in his weekend speech, “We need Congress to pass my American Rescue Plan that deals with the immediate crisis — the urgency. Now, critics say my plan is too big, that it costs $1.9 trillion,” continuing, “Should we not invest $20 billion to vaccinate the nation?”
The initial Republican counteroffer would have done just that — $20 billion.
“Should we not invest $290 [billion] to extend unemployment insurance for the 11 million Americans who are unemployed so they can get by while they get back to work?” he asked.
The initial Republican offer recommended $130 billion, cheaper in part because Biden insisted on $400 per week compared to the Republicans’ $300 per week recommendation, but also because Republicans didn’t think it sensible to commit to funding enhanced unemployment beyond mid-summer, and it isn’t. It very well may not be needed on the same scale in September, through which Biden proposed to extend it.
If it weren’t obvious already, the Democrats are determined to build this package without bipartisan input, something every other coronavirus relief package had, so they could make it into a vehicle for their policy aims. The slow trickle of the $130 billion for schools makes that evident enough.
“What would they have me cut? What would they have me leave out?” Biden asked rhetorically. People are giving him an answer, but he will not hear it.
