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Congressional Democrats believe that fiscal aid to states is one of the most effective forms of economic stimulus, and many economists agree. But Democrats have not insisted on a major aid program for states. Instead, they may be on the verge of passing a fourth coronavirus bill without such a program.
Congressional Democrats also believe that the 2020 elections could be a chaotic mess, in which many people are forced to choose between voting and protecting their health. Election experts agree. Yet Democrats have not insisted on the money and new rules necessary to hold elections safely during a pandemic.
And many Democrats believe that the United States badly needs an aggressive national program of virus testing. The first three coronavirus bills passed by Congress and signed by President Trump didn’t include a national testing program.
Yesterday, congressional Democrats began to show more backbone and said they would not pass a new coronavirus bill — organized around the expansion of a small-business loan program — unless it included a national testing program.
We’ll see if they stick to it.
Democrats don’t control the Senate or the White House, so obviously they can’t dictate every aspect of the coronavirus response. Given this reality, they have won some important concessions in recent weeks, including much more help for unemployed workers. But Democrats have more political leverage than they’ve been willing to use so far.
When Barack Obama was president, congressional Republicans recognized that the president’s party would take much of the blame for problems in the country. As a result, they often adopted a tough (and sometimes cynical) negotiating stance.
During the Trump presidency, Democrats have not been willing to be so tough, even in the service of policies many nonpartisan observers believe would help the country. Democrats insist that they will have more chances — that the scale of the virus crisis means that Trump and congressional Republicans will be desperate to pass yet another bill in coming weeks and that state aid and election protection can be added to those bills.
Perhaps. At some point, though, Democrats will have to decide when they’re going to stop accepting bills that they know fall short of what the country needs.
For more:
Jonathan Chait, New York magazine: Trump “is hurling all responsibility to state governments, leaving it to them to devise effective tests and to decide when to relax social distancing. At the same time, he is starving them of the resources to handle the job … Trump’s seemingly paradoxical stance is an attempt to hoard credit and shirk risk, straddling the demands of his business allies with the pleas of his public-health advisers.”
Paul Waldman, The Washington Post: “State and local budgets are suddenly facing all kinds of new costs related to the pandemic, while at the same time tax revenues have fallen off a cliff. If they don’t get help, they’ll have to start laying people off and slashing state services, which will only make the recession deeper and longer.”
Linette Lopez, Business Insider: “While the federal government may have some guidelines for how states open up, it is not doing anything to ease that transition.”
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
