It begins (U.S. News & World Report):
The House voted 218-212 Wednesday in favor of a budget reconciliation bill – basically a blueprint that sets spending priorities and directs 12 congressional committees to hammer out the details. The measure includes Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan, a package Republicans have criticized as being too expensive.
The vote does not remove the possibility of passing a COVID-19 relief plan as a separate bill, with bipartisan input and amendments. But it paves the way for the Senate to pass a similar budget reconciliation bill, one of the few items that is not subject to a filibuster.
President Biden told GOP senators he has “an open door and an open mind” regarding their views on his $1.9 trillion coronavirus plan. That doesn’t mean he is open to sacrificing his priorities on the burning altar of bipartisanship.
Axios reports that “longtime Biden confidant” Steve Ricchetti believes Biden has “reaffirmed and deepened his explanation and commitment on the numbers and the substance” of his coronavirus package. Biden may welcome ” fine-tuning or amendments or recommendations,” but….
What we’re watching: Ricchetti said the president wants to have “a bipartisan and unifying dialogue in the country,” including conversations he’s already had with mayors and local elected officials, “so that this isn’t just about a dialogue with senators and members of Congress. It is a dialogue with the country.”
● Ricchetti said Biden treated a GOP counterproposal “with an open mind and with respect. He was also honest … in underscoring why he proposed what he did — that he was committed to every one of the elements in his package.”
Coronavirus cases falling and economic recovery are key to Biden’s first-term success and to Democrats holding the House and Senate in 2022, both unlikely but vital nonetheless.
The Washington Post has a few details:
Individuals with incomes up to $50,000 would get the full $1,400 payment. Heads of household earning up to $75,000 would also qualify, and married couples with earnings up to $100,000 would get a $2,800 payment. (Past stimulus checks were based off of “adjusted gross income,” and that is likely to be the same again).
Similar to the prior rounds of stimulus checks, people who earn slightly above those thresholds would still qualify for a partial payment.
Parents of children would receive an additional $1,400 per child.
Timing on receiving checks is unclear. First, the bill has to pass, and second, the understaffed IRS will be in the middle of tax filing season when checks need to go out. But the White House is committed to passage before unemployment extended benefits expire in March. The Post story has more.
Biden’s plan will face Republican opposition, especially whatever roadblocks Mitch McConnell can erect in the Senate. But Biden has the public on his side.
Axios again:
Nearly 7 in 10 Americans in a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday said they support President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan.
Why it matters: 37% of Republicans polled said they backed Biden’s plan — which comes after GOP attempts to negotiate the price tag of the relief bill down to just over $600 billion and lower direct payments to Americans.
● 64% of Republicans polled by Quinnipiac said they support Biden’s $1,400 direct stimulus payments, which is more than the GOP wants to spend.
Where it stands: Biden rejected the $618 billion proposal after meeting with 10 Senate Republicans on Monday, AP reports. During a meeting with Senate Democrats at the White House on Wednesday, Biden told reporters he believes the $1.9 trillion package would get some Republican support.
● Democrats are prepared to push Biden’s proposal through the Senate with a simple majority vote, as they hold a 50-50 split with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking vote.
Those of us who remember the Obama years will wait to celebrate until the bill(s) is passed and signed ungutted. Republicans have demonstrated their desire to rule even when in the minority, no matter how out of step they are with public opinion. They need neither a T-party nor an insurgent mob to persuade them to obstruct everything a Democrat in the White House proposes.
Millions are unemployed, hungry, and behind on rent, especially people of color.
Republicans ignored their own 2012 postmortem that warned that to remain viable the party needed to soften its opposition and increase outreach to nonwhites. If they hope not to die a slow, electoral death, they still need to heed their own advice. But it may be too late.