WASHINGTON – Republicans have a goal for President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package: erode public support for the rescue plan, portraying it as too big, too bloated and too much waste of money. public spending for a pandemic that is almost over.
Senate Republicans prepared on Saturday to vote against the relief bill, taking the calculated political risk that Americans will sour with high spending on vaccination distribution, unemployment insurance, money for states and other spending as unnecessary. , once they know all the details.
Reviving the fall in 2009 of President Barack Obama’s costly recovery from the financial crisis, they expect his opposition to pay political rewards, much like the previous effort that contributed to the House Republicans’ rise to power.
It is a tried and tested strategy, but it comes at an uncertain and volatile moment for the nation. Americans are experiencing flashes 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 unstable economy could trigger another devastating cycle of infections, blockages and deaths. More than 500,000 Americans died.
So far, public support for Biden’s approach to the pandemic is high. Overall, 70% of Americans support the way the Democratic president handled the response to the virus, including 44% of Republicans, according to a new survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Biden and the Democrats warn that now is not the time to slow aid and that it is better to risk doing too much than too little. They say the costs of reducing the bailout risk stalling the economic recovery, as many believe it happened in 2009.
“When the house is on fire, you don’t discuss how much of the fire should be put out,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., During Friday’s session.
“You do whatever it takes until the crisis is over,” she said. “And you do this as quickly as you can.”
The debate in Congress reflects a fundamental divide in the country on how to contain and crush the pandemic and get the country back to normal.
Almost 10 million jobs have been lost and about 11 million families face evictions. While Democratic leaders often side with healthcare professionals who support restrictions on social distance and facilitate the reopening of schools and workplaces, Republicans in Congress are more eager to conduct business as close to normal as possible.
The United States is not alone in facing the daunting dilemma that has serious ramifications about the size and scope of the aid needed to prevent further economic catastrophes.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who leads his minority party in the direction of “no,” said Biden’s 628-page bill is a Democratic “wish list” that doesn’t fit the moment because the pandemic is passing and the economy is ready for a “resounding recovery.”
“We are already on the right path to recover from the crisis,” he said.
Republicans argue that Congress has already approved historic sums to contain the pandemic and fear that big spending will overheat the economy, heightening inflationary fears, although economists are confused about these concerns. They have an openness with voters that polls show are skeptical of how Biden is handling the economy.
McConnell expressed similar optimism last spring, when he “paused” on new spending after the initial aid round was approved. At that time, then President Donald Trump promised that Americans would be back to normal on Easter Sunday.
But as Texas announced last week that it would try to end the requirements for wearing a face mask, one of the main strategies public health officials say helps to prevent the virus from spreading, the well-known political flaws and anxieties are resurging. 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 the Obama Council of Economic Advisers who now teaches at Harvard, agrees that parts of the Biden package are too large, suggesting that the $ 350 billion for states and cities could be reduced or have protective bars. stricter against waste. But he said the biggest economic danger is not doing enough.
Vaccines alone are not enough to guarantee a healthy economy, he said. Families are struggling and companies are facing changes in spending habits and spending. The Biden package offers $ 1,400 in direct payments to individuals, phased out for those earning $ 80,000 a year.
“If you add up the families’ financial needs and the deficiencies faced by the states, the American Rescue Plan overcomes those needs,” he said by email. “But no legislation is perfect and, as I said, if the disadvantage is that families earn a little more money in a given year, that is a lot less bad than if Congress doesn’t act.”
While Biden embarked on an independent party strategy, counting on Democratic votes for approval, Republicans are in a fighting mode.
Senate Republicans forced an overnight reading of the bill on Thursday, delaying the start of the debate.
On Friday, senators launched an evening session on amendments, mostly Republicans, designed in part to change the bill, but also to highlight expensive spending and less popular provisions. By early Saturday, most were failing.
The Democrats’ own amendment to reduce extra unemployment benefits from $ 400 a week to $ 300 was dividing their ranks and causing further delays before it was accepted.
Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Who forced himself to read the bill, used graphics and props to help Americans understand the size of the $ 1.9 trillion package.
“The human mind cannot really contemplate what a trillion is,” he said, before casting on examples. He suggested that a stack of $ 1 bills would extend the distance halfway to the moon.
Republican Senator Mike Braun of Indiana said that when they were done, they hoped to change public opinion.
“We are going to expose every ugly detail of this,” he said.
The White House is well aware of the challenges to come. Many of Biden’s team members are veterans of the 2009 battles.
Press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday that at the time, they did not do enough to explain to the American people the benefits in a way “that people would be talking about at their dinner tables”.
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Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.