As nut House Democrats rush to pass rescue bill, a deep tension surfaces

[The Nut Party]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/15/house-democrats-rush-
pass-rescue-bill-deep-tension-surfaces/

House Democrats are rushing to try to pass their next rescue package
today. It’s their biggest one yet — but it’s a bill that’s simultaneously
sweeping and restrained.

In that sense, the $3 trillion bill captures a core tension about
Democratic Party politics right now. Should Democrats primarily focus on a
narrow conception of what it will take to protect their most moderate
members in swing districts, to hold the House this fall?

Or should they seize this opportunity to make a big statement about how
the Democratic Party sees the task of governing amid a public health
emergency and a massive economic collapse?

One might argue that doing the latter might also have electoral benefits,
since it would telegraph to the public what full Democratic control would
look like next year, should Democrats win the White House and both
chambers of Congress.

Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic

In some ways, the bill represents an effort to do both at the same time.
In certain areas, the more narrow conception is prevailing, since
protecting moderates is always at the top of mind for House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi (D-Calif). In others, the party is sending a big message about
Democratic values.

The bill would direct nearly a trillion dollars to states, localities,
territories and tribal governments. It would give direct payments of
$1,200 per person to every household, establish a $200 billion “Heroes
Fund” for essential workers, and add money for food stamps and other
safety net programs.

It would also direct $100 billion to hospitals and put $75 billion into
testing and tracing for the coronavirus. And it would provide funds to
rescue the Postal Service and enable voting by mail for November’s
election.

But the bill is being condemned by moderates as too big, and by
progressives as not bold enough:

The sweeping legislation, dubbed the “Heroes Act,” also faces opposition
within the House Democratic caucus, with some moderate lawmakers objecting
to voting on a bill that they all know will not become law. Some liberals,
meanwhile, have complained that the package does not go far enough to aid
the public in the midst of an unprecedented economic meltdown.
It’s unclear what will happen — some very progressive members and some
moderates are now opposed — though it will probably pass.

Despite GOP efforts to paint the bill as a liberal fantasy, it doesn’t
contain much that’s extraneous to the crisis. The direct payments to
families, the money for hospitals and front-line workers, and the
provisions to help the Postal Service and enable vote by mail all respond
to massive needs created by the pandemic.

All those things are quite substantial.

But other items didn’t get in, like a program to have the government cover
payrolls (to replace the clunky Paycheck Protection Program) and automatic
stabilizers to ensure that assistance keeps flowing until the economy has
recovered.

This captures the core tension: Democrats mostly agree that both the
former and latter provisions are crucial over the longer term, given the
scale of the crisis. The big infusions of aid obviously are, but so are
the stabilizers — Democrats surely know that if they take power,
Republicans will try to sabotage the recovery, and such stabilizers would
guard against that.

Yet the latter isn’t getting in. Why? As Rep. Don Beyer told the
Democratic caucus, Pelosi concluded the stabilizers would add “an enormous
price tag” to the bill, and, “It just became really difficult for her to
go to the public and say, ‘Here’s a bill for $4 or $5 trillion.’”

But the idea that the public would be fine with a $3 trillion bill but
would recoil at a $4 or $5 trillion bill is questionable. Democrats have a
long history of fearing large budget numbers — and Republican attacks over
them — but Republicans will never accept these levels of spending anyway,
so why not signal ambition to the country?

Making this tension stranger, in some areas, it appears Democrats are
willing to make a statement of priorities even if it does risk Republican
attacks.

On immigration, the bill does good things that were left out of previous
packages. It makes stimulus checks available to undocumented immigrants
and their families, shields undocumented immigrants who are essential
workers from deportation, and extends health benefits to some categories
of them as well.

Immigration advocates working Capitol Hill tell us moderate Democrats are
balking at some of these provisions, because it’s all but certain that
they will be featured in millions of dollars of attack ads.

One advocate tells us vulnerable Democrats see these provisions as a
problem precisely because Trump is so obsessed with this issue. “Stephen
Miller’s obsession with immigrants will influence their political
playbook,” this advocate says, adding that “moderates are nervous.”

As another advocate noted, here’s an issue on which Democratic leaders
have put their moderates in a tough position in order to signal that the
Democratic Party sees inclusiveness toward immigrants as a necessary
component of a big crisis response. That’s a corrective of previous
failures.

The Opinions section is looking for stories of how the coronavirus has
affected people of all walks of life. Write to us.

What’s puzzling about this tension, at bottom, is that the details don’t
really matter since the bill will never become law over GOP objections.
It’s really an opening bid for the next round of negotiations, and a
message to the electorate about what the Democratic blueprint amid total
collapse looks like.

What’s important is a simple, broad contrast: Democrats want to do much,
much more to help suffering people and revive the economy than Republicans
do. Why let fear of GOP attacks muddle that message?