A crisis is a terrible thing to waste – and President-elect Joe Biden, encouraged by the Democratic Senate’s victories in Georgia, signaled in his speech on Thursday night that he has no intention of wasting it.
Why it matters: The president-elect launched a $ 1.9 trillion package aimed at alleviating the coronavirus, but including billions in spending on cybersecurity, traffic, wages, health and other progressive programs.
What they are saying: Trumpian economist Stephen Moore calls this “a $ 2 trillion wish list for social programs that the left has been trying to promote for 30 years.”
- He is correct in this, although Moore is wrong when he adds that “almost none of this has anything to do with the health emergency”.
Public health is a centerpiece of the plan, with $ 160 billion earmarked for a wide range of programs, including coronavirus vaccination, testing, therapy, contact tracking, personal protective equipment and more.
The overview: This bill is predominantly about spending, not taxes, although there are extensions to the child care tax credit, Earned Income Tax Credit and some healthcare-related credits.
Notably, it does not include “payments”. Biden is not trying to raise anyone’s taxes to pay for it.
- The wages, however, are there: The proposal includes a federal minimum wage of US $ 15 and extinguishes the lowest minimum wage for those who receive tips. It also includes 14 weeks of sick leave, family leave and paid medical leave.
- Schools and traffic systems get $ 170 billion and $ 20 billion, respectively, after being largely excluded from President Trump’s stimulus projects.
- Cyber health spending is included, with $ 9 billion going to strengthen the Cyber Security and Information Agency after the devastating Russian hack.
- All told, the package is an implicit rebuke Trump administration and its idle attitude towards the response to the pandemic.
The big picture: The coronavirus pandemic has created a K-shaped economic recovery. This proposal seeks to reach Americans hardest hit by the crisis, including $ 400 a week in unemployment benefits extended through September. Eviction and foreclosure moratoriums will also be extended up to this point.
- Racial justice appears prominently. Billions of dollars are reserved for underserved populations, including health services on tribal lands.
- Billions more will go to helping long-term workers who have endured the impact of the disease and who are disproportionately women of color.
The final result: This proposal is more than completing the $ 600 stimulus checks that Americans have already received with $ 1,400 more. It represents a blatantly progressive agenda, centered on a strong and growing federal government.
- If Biden gets it approved, there is much more where these ideas came from. A second part, which could be even bigger, will try to carry out its “Build Better” agenda to retrofit the US economy for an environmentally sustainable future.