Say it ain't so, Blue Dogs.
Significant action in the Senate is obviously out of the question, since the chamber is largely paralyzed. But the House has its own problem -- panicky Democrats who are afraid to do the right thing. Politico reports that some of these hand-wringing Dems might even be afraid to help save school teachers' jobs next week.
When the House returns next week to rubber-stamp the Senate's $26 billion state-aid package, Democrats will take a political crapshoot.
Even though party leaders expect that approval will be a slam-dunk, some early responses from rank-and-file Democrats have raised red flags about the optics of returning to a special session to vote on more spending -- even if it's framed as saving teachers' jobs.
The risk for Democrats as they seek to bolster their flagging election prospects is that some of their vulnerable members will feel like they have to walk the plank, yet again, on a politically unpopular economic-stimulus agenda, while reminding voters of their failure to handle routine budget work this year.
This really is crazy. With the economy sputtering, here's a bill that will help prevent tens of thousands of layoffs, including school teachers and firefighters. It's paid for, and won't add a dime to the deficit. It enjoyed bipartisan support in the Senate, and even Ben Nelson voted for it.
But for some panicky House Dems, saving jobs means spending money, and "spending = bad." Why? Because Republicans say so.
Like Mike Pence.
On Fox News today, House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN) continued the GOP's assault, saying the aid package reflects the Democrats' philosophy of "borrowing," "bailouts," and "takeovers."
PENCE: [W]e're going to continue this process next week of more borrowing, more spending, more bailouts, and continue to sustain this policy of takeovers that's been characterized in this Congress. And we've just got to try something different. It's time for fiscal discipline in Washington, DC, and it's time to preserve the tax relief of the recent past and even talk about passing tax relief that will create jobs. But this more spending, more bailouts is not the answer.
Pence isn't known as a stickler for policy details, but this is silly even for him. The bill does not require any borrowing, as it is fully paid for and will actually reduce the deficit by $1.3 billion. Meanwhile, characterizing aid for public sector employees — such as teachers and police officers — as a "takeover" is absurd.
We're talking about jobs, hundreds of thousands of them, not bailouts. And we're talking about people, not "special interests." There's nothing politically unpopular about having 25 kids in a classroom instead of 40. There's nothing politically unpopular about having enough firefighters and cops on the job to protect us. There's nothing politically unpopular about having enough nursing home and home health care aides to take care of our loved ones.
If the Blue Dogs really want to see what's politically unpopular in their districts, they should watch what happens when thousands of more people lose their jobs because they don't pass this bill.