It’s always amusing to watch Democrats selectively pick out which problems they “inherited” and which successes they take unfair credit for. President Joe Biden’s administration is already playing that game.
According to Newsmax, on Friday, the president indicated that the American economy is “still in trouble” while adding that Congressional Republicans are mostly at fault for the current state of the economy — which any reasonable person would agree that Democrat governors and lawmakers shutting down businesses and commerce across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic is the actual reason.
Biden, who claims to be in touch with everyday Americans (hint: he’s not), says he sees “a lot of folks reaching the breaking point,” while adding “I am going to act and I am going to act fast” with regard to passing the massive, $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that Democrats are aggressively pushing.
But have no fear, Mr. Biden said “we can fix it,” which really means “we can keep handing out billions and trillions that we’ll never be able to pay back,” in layman’s terms.
Democrats backed his play on Friday, showing that they have the ability and power to cram through most money-related bills.
Reuters has the story:
President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress forged ahead with their $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package on Friday as lawmakers approved a budget outline that will allow them to muscle Biden’s plan through in the coming weeks without Republican support.
By a party line vote of 219-209, the House of Representatives passed the budget plan, after the Senate approved it in a pre-dawn vote. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate for the first time.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted the final COVID-19 relief legislation could pass Congress before March 15, when special unemployment benefits that were added during the pandemic expire.
Meeting at the White House, Biden and top Democrats said they wanted to enact the massive aid package as quickly as possible to beat back a pandemic that has killed more than 450,000 Americans and left millions of jobless.
Biden said he was open to compromise with Republicans as long as they did not slow things down.
“If I have to choose between getting help right now to Americans who are hurting so badly and getting bogged down in a lengthy negotiation … that’s an easy choice. I’m going to help the American people hurting now,” he said.
Continued weakness in the job market, underscored by data released on Friday, proved the need for aggressive action, Biden said.
Republicans have floated a $600 billion aid package, less than a third the size of the Democratic plan. Even some Democrats, like Larry Summers, an economic adviser to former President Barack Obama, have warned that Biden might be spending too much.
Republican Representative Michael Burgess said Congress should wait until all of the previous $4 trillion in pandemic relief has been spent. He said $1 trillion has yet to go out the door.
“Why is it suddenly so urgent that we pass another $2 trillion bill?” Burgess demanded.
The budget resolution enables Democrats to pass Biden’s plan by a simple majority in the 100-member Senate instead of the 60 votes required for most legislation. That means Democrats, who control 50 seats in the 100-seat chamber, might not need Republican votes. Democrats have a 10-seat majority in the House.
It looks like we’re in for a long year, as Democrats freely pass whatever legislation they want, no matter the cost (literally.) This is just another reason why it’s so crucially important that Republicans band together to take back at least one chamber of Congress in 2022.
ARTICLE SOURCE: thefederalistpapers.org
