Last month on The BradCast, after Joe Biden signed his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan with emergency COVID relief and stimulus for the poor and middle class, we suggested that passage of that bill would likely be seen in history as the beginning of the end of the Reagan Era. Now, it appears, we’re hardly the only ones. [Audio link to full show is posted below.]
Since that wildly popular landmark measure was adopted (without a single Republican vote), Biden has proposed a $2.25 trillion infrastructure package called the American Jobs Plan. And, on Wednesday night, he officially introduced his $1.8 trillion American Families Plan proposal for perhaps the nation’s largest-ever investment in human infrastructure, including free access to pre-school, two years of community college, subsidies for child care, paid family leave, expanded health care subsidies and child tax credits and much more.
With Reaganesque optimism during his first address to a joint session of Congress, citing a statistic published in a report by one of our guests earlier this year (Chuck Collins of the Institute for Policy Studies) finding that just 650 billionaires in America saw their own net worth increase by a trillion dollars as 20 million Americans lost jobs during the pandemic, the President pounded what could become a final nail in the Reagan Era coffin, declaring: “My fellow Americans, trickle down economics has never worked and it’s time to grow the economy from the bottom and the middle out.”
We’re joined today, on Biden’s 100th day as President, by HEATHER DIGBY PARTON of Salon and Hullabaloo, and by ‘DRIFTGLASS’ of the The Professional Left Podcast, for analysis of his stunningly-well received remarks (even by Republicans) on Wednesday night and his pitch for an extraordinarily bold and long-overdue government investment in the American people.
Says Digby, on how we arrived at this moment: “We’ve just been reminded that we need government, because look what happened. We had this pandemic and having the freak show that had been sort of entertaining like a horror show for the last four years, it suddenly became pretty clear what the problem was with that. Because when you really need government, it wasn’t there. They were completely out to lunch. For a lot of people in this country, they’re out their floundering under this trickle-down, rugged individualism. This is what it’s like when you’re left completely on your own.”
Says Driftglass, mocking GOP rhetoric of the past forty years: “If you’re not rich, it’s your own fault, and the only thing standing in the way of being the best you is this evil government. [But] suddenly, a whole bunch of people absolutely have to have assistance from the government or their going to die, or go broke, or they’re going to go out of business. And the only thing Republicans had to offer was a sneer…So, there’s this literally once-in-a-hundred years crisis, where the actual effect of good government is so visible, right now, that you can now make the case credibly that there are other large problems that we have ignored and disinvested in for decades that we need to fix.”
Even for longtime, cynical, old-school progressive bloggers like us — none of whom had supported Biden during last year’s primaries — we are all pleasantly taken aback at his remarkably ambitious plans and expansive proposed agenda. We discuss, dissect and debate all of that, how it should or shouldn’t be “paid for”, and whether any of it can possibly be adopted into law with the exceedingly narrow majorities Democrats currently hold in Congress on today’s special coverage edition of The BradCast…
(Snail mail support to “Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028” always welcome too!)
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Hey Brad,
You really should pick up a copy of Professor Stephanie Kelton’s book “The Deficit Myth”. It’s a very good and easy to read primer on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and it has the answer to your statement that if there aren’t tax increases in Biden’s bills that Republicans will say that it’s too much money and “we can’t afford it”.
Is Joe Manchin really going to be the monkey wrench in the gears for Joe Biden’s program and legacy?
How can he get away with this crap?
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Brad,
Please dont fall for the empty Biden rhetoric. First he reneged on his $2,000 check promise, then he did the same with the $15 min wage promise, now he is doing the same with the infrastructure promise. His best bud in the Senate, Chris Coons, is proposing a $800 mil infrastructure bill. This is not a coincedence. Even the Covid reflief bill is not a permanent fix. What about the looming housing crisis once the moratoriums end? what about police reform? What is he really doing to push Manchin/Sinema to pass the PRO act? MORE EMPTY OBAMA/BIDEN-speak. Makes a great speech…..not so much on policy!
Brian Tettelbaum @1 said:
Thanks, Brian. We’ve had Kelton on the show (she’s great!) and I’m familiar with MMT. My statement had to do with what the GOP would say, not what I believe. In fact, I tried to underscore the fact that some Dems were correctly pointing out that we don’t need to “pay for” the bulk of these bills. Not only will they pay for themselves, but (as Kelton would point out), the deficit is not a concern at this time, given low interest rates, etc. etc.
Adam Gladstone @3 said:
There is plenty to be critical of Biden for — or, more constructively, to push him to do better on. (Eg. Not restoring/raising the refugee quota as he had promised, and only reluctantly, after Dems pushed back, agreed to do so, but not until May; Or his calling for Medicare to negotiate drug prices, but not including it in his American Families Plan, etc. etc.) But the stuff you point out is not (yet) “empty rhetoric” or even particular fair.
For example…
That’s just a silly critique. He promised $2,000 checks BEFORE last December’s GOP sponsored bill that only ended up giving $600. He kept the promise by adding another $1,400 in the American Rescue Plan. Could he have given $2000? Sure. That would have been great! But to describe that as a reneged promise is just silly and a sorta cheap shot.
Not actually true. He included it in the American Rescue Plan, and the Senate Parliamentarian said it couldn’t be included in a bill passed via Reconciliation Rules. Now, Veep Harris could have overruled the Parliamentarian, but that likely would have come at the cost of Manchin’s votes (and, perhaps, others). And that would have prevented the most progressive stimulus bill in modern history (perhaps in all of US history) from passing at all. Instead, he unilaterally raised the min wage to $15 for both Federal worker and contractors by two separate Executive Orders, and has continued to call for $15 for all. But that can only be done if 10 Republicans agree, OR if the filibuster is killed (which they do not have the votes to do at this time.)
Again. It’s a weak critique.
He has repeatedly said he’d prefer bipartisan buy-in. If that’s what it takes to get passage via regular order (with Repubs — and I don’t think they’ll actually go along with it), then the rest of the stuff that didn’t get included in that bill can be passed via reconciliation.
While you fear this represents “empty rhetoric” (and I have no prob with you or anybody else pushing him), it is not yet that, by a long shot. Unless you’d like to criticize him for something he hasn’t actually done. Meanwhile, there actually is stuff he hasn’t done that is fair to criticize him for.
It was never supposed to be a “permanent fix” for anything. It’s a short term rescue plan.
He has since argued to make the expanded ACA premiums permanent in his American Families Plan, and for the Child Tax Credit to be extended to 2025. (A critique that he should have proposed making THAT permanent would be perfectly fair!)
What about it? Is he supposed to have solved everything in his first 100 days? What would you like him to do? Feel free to mention it, push for it. But did he promise some solution for this “looming crisis”, but reneg on it?
He has been pushing quite hard for the George Floyd Policing Reform Act, and has called for it to be passed in one month (before the anniversary of Floyd’s murder). His DoJ has already taken action to reform police departments in MN and KY. What is it you’d like him to have done already?
Well, for one, he stunned labor unions with his video statement calling for the passage of the PRO Act (something Obama never did). And he has continued to push for its passage. What more are you saying he should have done by now? (I’m not saying there is nothing more he could do — I’m simply asking you to specify what you think he should have done, because I’d love to learn!)
There may come a time that I agree with you. But with three of the most progressive policy proposals since FDR (in the ARP, AJP and AFP), that seems like a silly charge. AOC and Jayapal, etc., are right to push him further, as they are on the AJP for example. I support their efforts. But to offer the sort of knee-jerk critiques you put forward here is neither accurate nor particularly constructive.
At least IMO.