President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with 10 Republican senators, led by Mitch McConnell's most reliable water carrier Susan Collins, on Monday evening. The 10 were bringing their Trojan horse COVID-19 plan, a laughably underfunded counter to Biden's own plan. The senators undoubtedly thought they could play on Biden's nostalgia for his time in the Senate and mutual appeals for "unity" and "bipartisanship." But it turns out the Republicans were the ones getting played.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement following the long meeting, that while "there were areas of agreement, the President also reiterated his view that Congress must respond boldly and urgently, and noted many areas with the Republican senators' proposal does not address." He also "reiterated that while he is hopeful that the Rescue Plan can pass with bipartisan support, a reconciliation package is a path to achieve that end." Republicans are certainly allowed to vote for that. Just because it can pass without Republican votes, it doesn't have to happen that way. What's more, Biden told them "he will not slow down on work on this urgent crisis response, and will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment." But he let the Republicans know they were certainly invited to "continue to discuss ways to strengthen" the package and "find areas of common ground."
Campaign Action
By spending a few hours with Republicans, he got a good quote from Collins. "It was a very good exchange of views. I wouldn't say we came together on a package tonight. No one expected that in a two-hour meeting," Collins said. "But what we did agree to do is follow up and talk further." About how Republicans can come around to supporting his plan. Biden did the outreach to the Republicans that The Village Media has been clamoring for, making a show of bipartisanship, their top fetish. Not bad for a late afternoon's work.
Meanwhile, work continues in the House and Senate to get the package passed by reconciliation. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed the joint budget resolution Monday to provide the legislative tool necessary to bring the reconciliation bill. "Congress has a responsibility to quickly deliver immediate comprehensive relief to the American people hurting from COVID-19," Schumer and Pelosi said in a joint statement. "The cost of inaction is high and growing, and the time for decisive action is now. With this budget resolution, the Democratic Congress is paving the way for the landmark Biden-Harris coronavirus package that will crush the virus and deliver real relief to families and communities in need. We are hopeful that Republicans will work in a bipartisan manner to support assistance for their communities, but the American people cannot afford any more delays and the Congress must act to prevent more needless suffering."
A comparison of Biden's and the Republicans' packages show just how far short the McConnell feint delivered by Collins truly is. Biden calls for a total of $1.9 trillion. The Republicans think less than a third of that is necessary, $600 billion. Biden wants $1,400 survival checks for people earning less than $75,000 in 2018, the Republicans $1,000 for people earning less than $50,000, but phasing out starting at $40,000. This is the weakest part of Biden's plan. The checks should be $2,000 and they should go to everyone. Because a lot of people who made $75,000 in 2019 probably did not see that level of income in 2020.
Biden has $350 billion for state and local governments to save public-sector jobs. The Republicans have none. Biden has $170 billion for education, Republican have $20 billion. Biden has a minimum wage increase to $15/hour. Republicans have nothing. Biden has $40 billion for childcare assistance divided up among emergency funding across the board and to a longstanding block grant program. The Republicans have $20 billion for the block grant. Biden increases the weekly unemployment insurance benefits by $400 through September, and ties the phaseout to economic improvement in states. Republicans give $300 extra a week in UI with a hard deadline of June 30.
Biden truly did learn the lesson of 2009, when the Obama administration he was a part of did not respond adequately to the Great Recession, the last mess Republicans left for Democrats to clean up. He's not going to make that mistake again. He's also not going to make the mistake of accepting convention wisdom in D.C. that "bipartisanship" and "unity" means Democrats spending months wooing supposedly moderate Republicans, and then ultimately capitulating to them.
