Checkpoint: Biden's Stimulus Is The New Democratic Battle Line
Jeff Fusco / Stringer
Over the past two weeks, the American people have experienced a sea change in American politics. After the fever of Trumpism finally boiled over into the capitol siege, Joe Biden was inaugurated into the presidency at a toned-down pandemic-era inauguration. In the days preceding his inauguration, Joe Biden released an ambitious “first-day” plan that included, most importantly, the stimulus package designed to lessen the economic fallout experienced throughout 2020. As the stimulus package approaches the desks of lawmakers a division of strategies between both Republican and Democratic politicians has emerged. While the Republicans have continued their obstructionist march towards the destruction of the lower and middle classes, by testing how much power they have to block legislation through the minority vote, the Democrats have remained largely in line as a unanimous block. For the left-wing of the Democratic party, this stimulus package will provide an excellent litmus test to identify which Democrats should be at the top of the list for primaries from the Left. Essentially, any efforts to bargain with Republicans, reduce stimulus spending, or cater to conservative voters will have a direct dollar amount attached - the amount by which these politicians believe the stimulus should be cut. This number can be directly assumed to be the amount by which these politicians are opposed to leftist reform.
Where leftists previously were challenging Democratic leadership to identify which Democrats were most hostile towards progressive policy, such as the failed #Forcethevote movement, the stimulus bill will provide a genuine opportunity to clearly catalog which Democrats are Democrats only in name.
To start, the stimulus bill is an exceptionally strong piece of legislation. The strengths of the bill are many-fold. It would introduce $20 billion for a vaccination program that includes states, territories, and tribal governments, as well as $90 billion committed to virus testing and expanding medical infrastructure. The plan also includes a mandated 14 weeks of sick leave for caregivers and educators, $4000 of family stimulus per child up to two, an increase to 400$ of unemployment supplements extended to September rather than March, $400 billion in stimulus for small businesses, and finally a plan to increase the federal minimum wage to 15$ an hour over the next four years. In short, the plan’s only real weakness is the Democrat’s insistence on offering $1400 stimulus checks despite campaigning on $2000 checks throughout the Georgia Senate runoffs. The Biden administration has signaled the administration’s high watermark for funds available to stimulate the economy - now the Left only has to watch which factions look to negotiate towards decreasing this much-needed stimulus.
The first criticisms of the bill came from news publications such as CNBC and The Economist. CNBC published an article critical of the stimulus, with the main argument stating that, “December saw an end to seven straight months of strong job gains. But the 140,000 decline in the month would have been a 358,000 gain excluding the hospitality layoffs.” This headlining statistic is immediately recognizable as complete nonsense, claiming that the economy is actually recovering despite the unmitigated collapse of the entire hospitality industry.
The Economist widely promoted an article asking whether Biden’s stimulus would “overheat” the economy. This headline was printed despite the article’s main source, Obama-era economist Larry Summers, simultaneously tweeting in stalwart support of the legislation.
While these warning shots have been fired by conservative columnists, the arguments seem deflated and scattered, leaving the bulk of the effort to oppose the stimulus to Republicans and moderate Democrats.
Overall, the strongest resistance to the economic lifeline has come from the ever-nihilistic Republicans. First Mitch Mcconnell froze all Senate reconciliation procedures by trying to force a concession on leaving the filibuster intact. Mcconnell only capitulated after he became confident enough in moderate Democrat support in his agenda. This week a group of ten Senate Republicans proposed a “bipartisan” initiative to cut the stimulus bill by two-thirds. While only these Republican lawmakers have endorsed this initiative, with tacit support from ultra moderate Democrat Joe Manchin, it will be important to watch which, if any, Democrats cave to the calls for bipartisanship. Whether it is in solidarity with Mitch Mcconnell or the craven lure of bipartisan lawmaking, some number of Democrat politicians seem to have signaled towards Republican lawmakers that they are willing to compromise. As the stimulus bill approaches the desks of lawmakers, whether passed through reconciliation or the House, it is of the utmost importance to identify which Democratic politicians are more interested in supporting their Republican colleagues than the American people. When those names are identified, a list of Democrats will be collated for the Left to challenge through primaries.
The stimulus bill should be considered an immovable line. Any Democratic politician who seeks to weaken it should be met with immediate resistance and an abrupt change of career. As the legislation has few weaknesses that allow genuine economic criticism, any critics should be viewed more as political adversaries than sensible conservative economists. As of the 31st, the Democratic line in the Senate under Chuck Schumer has held strong. How long that will last, given Republican calls for bipartisanship and Mitch Mcconnell’s newfound confidence, remains to be seen.
