WASHINGTON – Republicans have one goal for President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package: to erode public support for the bailout by portraying it as too big, too bloated, and too wasteful government spending for a pandemic which is almost over.
Senate Republicans on Saturday prepared to vote against the emergency relief bill, taking the calculated political risk that Americans will view the large expenditures on vaccine distribution, unemployment benefits, state money and other expenditures as unnecessary, once they know all the details. .
They revive a page of their 2009 destruction of President Barack Obama’s costly recovery from the financial crisis, and expect their opposition to pay political rewards, much like the previous efforts that helped drive the House Republicans’ rise to power. .
It’s a proven strategy, but it comes at an uncertain, fleeting time for the nation. Americans are experiencing flickering of optimism on the one-year anniversary of the deadly outbreak as more people are vaccinated. But new strains of the virus and a still-shaky economy can unleash another devastating cycle of infections, lockdowns, and deaths. More than 500,000 Americans have died.
So far, public support for Biden’s response to the pandemic has been strong. Overall, 70% of Americans support the Democratic president’s handling of the virus response, including 44% of Republicans, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Biden and Democrats warn that now is not the time to cease aid and that it is better to do too much than too little. They say the cost of mitigating the risk of rescue is slowing economic recovery, as many believe it happened in 2009.
“When the house is on fire, you don’t argue about how much of the fire to put out,” said Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., During Friday’s session.
“You do whatever it takes until the crisis is over,” she said. “And you do it as soon as you can.”
The debate in Congress reflects a fundamental rift in the country on how to contain and combat the pandemic and bring the nation back to normal.
Nearly 10 million jobs have been lost and about 11 million households are being evicted. While Democratic leaders generally side with health workers who support social distance restrictions and facilitate the reopening of schools and workplaces, Congressional Republicans are more likely to do business as close to custom as possible.
The US is not alone in the daunting dilemma that has serious implications for the scale and scope of aid needed to prevent further economic disasters.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who leads his minority party to the “no” vote, said Biden’s 628-page law is a democratic “wish list” that is not up to standard as the pandemic is on the rise and the economy is poised for a “roaring recovery.”
“We are already on the way to coming back from the crisis,” he said.
Republicans argue that Congress has already approved historic amounts to counter the pandemic and that they are concerned that the large spending will overheat the economy and fuel fears of inflation, although economists are divided over those concerns. They have an opening with voters who from the polls are skeptical of Biden’s dealings with the economy.
McConnell expressed similar optimism last spring when, after approving the first round of support, he stopped new spending. Around that time, then President Donald Trump promised that the Americans would be as good as back to normal by Easter Sunday.
But as Texas announced last week that it would try to end requirements for wearing face masks, one of the key strategies that public health officials say will help stop the spread of the virus, well-known political fractures and fears are resurfacing. Texas was one of the first states to reopen in May, easing restrictions at the start of the second wave of the summer pandemic.
Jason Furman, the former Chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers who now teaches at Harvard, agrees that parts of Biden’s package are too big, suggesting that the $ 350 billion in states and cities could be reduced or tougher crash barriers against could have waste. But he said the greater economic danger is not doing enough.
Vaccines alone are not enough to ensure a healthy economy, he said. Households are struggling and businesses are facing changing consumer habits and spending. The Biden package offers $ 1,400 direct payments to individuals, tapered for those making $ 80,000 per year.
“If you add together the financial needs of households and the deficits facing states, the US bailout fulfills them too much,” he said by email. “But no legislation is perfect and, as I said, if the downside is that families get a little more money in a given year, it’s much less bad than if Congress fails to act.”
While Biden embarked on a go-it-alone partisan strategy, relying on Democratic votes for passage, the Republicans are in fighting mode.
Senate Republicans forced to read the bill all night Thursday, delaying the start of the debate.
On Friday, senators launched a nightly session on amendments, most of them Republicans, which were intended in part to change the bill, but also to spotlight expensive spending and less popular amenities. Most failed at the beginning of Saturday.
The Democrats’ amendment to cut additional unemployment benefits from $ 400 a week to $ 300 divided their ranks and caused further delays before it was finally accepted.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Who forced the reading of the bill, used charts and props to help Americans understand the size of the $ 1.9 trillion package.
“The human mind can’t really think about what a trillion is,” he said, before starting with examples. He suggested that a stack of $ 1 bills would extend the mid-moon distance.
GOP Senator Mike Braun from Indiana said that by the time they are done, they hope to change public opinion.
“We’re going to expose every ugly detail of it,” he said.
The White House is well aware of the challenges ahead. Many of Biden’s staff are veterans of the 2009 battles.
Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday that at the time they were not doing enough to explain the benefits to the American people in ways “that people would talk about at their dinner table.”
Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.