Republicans Are Lying About the Just Past Covid Relief Bill

The signature accomplishments of the Trump/Pence regime - if one can call them that - were the fraying of America's global alliances, children in cages at the nation's southern border, a coarsening of the political culture, the emboldening of white supremacists and domestic terrorists that culminated in the January 6th insurrection, and a massive tax cut for the very wealthy and large corporations.  While Republicans touted the latter as benefiting all Americans, the reality was very different and largely a lie.  Now the Biden administration and the Democrat majority in Congress has passed a economic relief/stimulus package that actually helps large numbers of Americans and which, to the horror of Republicans is wildly popular even among Republicans. What do congressional Republicans and those who support vulture capitalism - think Texas governor Greg Abbott - do?  They lie about the benefits of the bill and are desperately trying to change the subject.  If Democrats are smart, they will continue to push their advantage and continue to deliver relief and benefits to average Americans.  A column in the Washington Post looks at where we are.  Here are excerpts:

The just-passed stimulus package is a rarity in today’s Washington: a major new law that’s a win in terms of both politics and policy. Poll after poll shows overwhelming support. As my colleague Greg Sargent notes, the bill is even popular with both lower-income Republicans and non-college Whites, two key components of the Trump-era GOP coalition. Millions of Americans are already receiving desperately needed payments to help the country get back on its feet from a once-in-a-century pandemic.

Or, to hear Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) tell it on ABC’s “This Week”: “This is a Nancy Pelosi payoff to the liberal left.” Interviews with Barrasso and his colleague Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on the Sunday talk shows aptly illustrated how Democrats, with a straightforward, tangible relief package, have rather easily neutered Republicans politically. The best way for Democrats to maintain that momentum is more of the same.

In the face of those strong polls for the president, the New York Times reports that “Republicans’ approach is to label the measure wasteful, unnecessary and packed with goodies for political allies of the Democrats.” But those attacks wilt next to the bill’s obvious benefits, as Barrasso found Sunday. After he complained that the bill “is not supposed to be a bailout,” host George Stephanopoulos showed Barrasso the front page of his home-state paper the Casper Star-Tribune, which “shows $1 billion going to your state of Wyoming.” Barrasso conceded that, but complained that “the formula they used to send this out was biased and unfair.” He might sincerely believe so, but it is doubtful that Wyomingites who are putting food on their tables thanks to this new bill care whether its formulas were fair or not.

Those flimsy complaints aside, Cassidy and Barrasso fell back on exploitative talking points: “This coronavirus relief bill was not supposed to be about $1,400 checks to illegal immigrants or $1,400 checks to felons who are behind bars,” Barrasso complained. Cassidy also warned of “$1.9 billion to give stimulus checks to inmates.” Setting aside the fact that the money will provide crucial assistance for the families of the incarcerated, the two senators left out that previous stimulus packages from last March and December both included checks for prisoners. Republicans, including Cassidy and Barrasso, backed both.

But it seems not even conservatives really expect these attacks to work. Right-wing media has largely eschewed the stimulus bill, turning instead to the border crisis and painting it as the first big scandal of the Biden presidency. . . . . But the fact that Bartiromo and her ilk have largely ceded the stimulus fight says all anyone needs to know about which party has the upper hand.

But Democrats can’t rest on their laurels. Whether the stimulus ends up helping Biden and the Democrats in next fall’s midterms remains an open question. Twenty months is an eon in politics.

The best way to keep Democrats’ assistance top of mind with voters is to keep passing more needed assistance. The Biden White House, fortunately, seems to recognize this, with infrastructure aid and a $15 minimum wage still on the agenda. Already some moderate Democrats — especially Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) — are wavering. They must understand that the more voters see Democrats working for them, the better the party’s fortunes. As for the inevitable question of how to pay for it, Democrats can raise trillions in revenue from politically popular proposals such as a wealth tax, a higher top income-tax rate and increased funding for IRS crackdowns on tax-dodging. The bigger the avalanche of aid, the more Republicans will be forced to rely on voter suppression and other counter-majoritarian tactics . . . .

It’s a simple equation in the end: The more straightforward, tangible policies Democrats pass, the more Americans helped and the greater the political rewards. The relief package has gotten the Biden presidency off to a strong start. Now, Democrats must press their advantage.