{"id":73889,"date":"2021-03-11T17:02:33","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T17:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacobinmag.com\/2021\/03\/biden-administration-covid-relief-bill\/"},"modified":"2021-03-11T17:07:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T17:07:45","slug":"joe-bidens-covid-relief-bill-is-rightfully-bringing-back-government-handouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/03\/11\/joe-bidens-covid-relief-bill-is-rightfully-bringing-back-government-handouts\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Biden\u2019s COVID Relief Bill is Rightfully Bringing Back Government Handouts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n\n\n\n

The newly passed COVID-19 relief bill will not solve every aspect of the crisis, and it won\u2019t fundamentally reverse our massive wealth inequality. But the bill will make a substantial difference in people\u2019s lives \u2014 and in the process create fertile terrain for the Left to organize.<\/h3>\n\n\n
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\n President Joe Biden signs the American Rescue Plan in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. (Mandel Ngan \/ AFP via Getty Images)\n <\/figcaption> \n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n \n

The passage of Joe Biden\u2019s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill was met by euphoria from the liberal media, along with requisite nay-saying from some on the Left. Undoubtedly, there are, as usual, good reasons to be frustrated with the Democratic Party leadership\u2019s refusal to fight harder for the inclusion of a desperately needed minimum wage increase, and their unnecessary concessions on the size and scope of direct payments and unemployment benefits.<\/p>\n

Yet the bill will substantially alleviate the suffering of many, while also signaling a political and economic shift toward the provision of public welfare.<\/p>\n

Between the direct payments, the extension of enhanced unemployment, money allotted to states, child tax credits, and other benefits, many poor and working-class people will receive a far-reaching<\/a> amount of governmental support \u2014 and potentially cut child poverty in half<\/a>. And unlike last year\u2019s relief packages<\/a>, the bill\u2019s payout will go almost exclusively to the public<\/a>, not corporations.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that the almost nonexistent social safety net in the United States is a low bar to clear. Nevertheless, it has not been cleared for decades. The occasion of the pandemic, and the deep roots of pre-pandemic inequality that exacerbated its impact, have reopened a door that has been slammed shut: An expectation that the government is responsible for society\u2019s ills, and that substantial amounts of money can and should be handed out.<\/p>\n

As former Democratic congressman Barney Frank put it to the Washington Post<\/i><\/a>:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a major shift. People have gone from being anti-government, to beyond being even neutral on it, to thinking: “We need the government; it has to help us,” You have a new consensus in America \u2014 that the government has an important role, and that Ronald Reagan was wrong. For the first time in my lifetime, people are saying that the government has done too little rather than doing too much.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Frank is right about the shift, and he\u2019s right that Ronald Reagan was dead wrong. But his party played the decisive role in providing the death knell to \u201cwelfare as we know it,\u201d in Bill Clinton\u2019s words<\/a>. Some of the very liberal publications that are celebrating this victory had also, as Matt Bruenig put it<\/a>, \u201cegged on the brutal welfare cuts in the 1990s.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Left should grapple with how we take advantage of this moment, highlighting the ways government programs help working people, and working to build the confidence and organizing capacity to demand more from the Democrats.<\/p>\n\n \n\n \n \n \n

Crossing the Rubicon<\/h2>\n \n

Of the bill\u2019s provisions, the $1,400 direct payments (or \u201cstimulus checks,\u201d as they\u2019re popularly known) have received the most attention because of their immediate impact and broad appeal. The payment amount was quietly scaled back from the initial promise of $2,000<\/a>, and capped off more quickly<\/a> as a concession to the conservative wing of the party. Nevertheless, the checks remain incredibly popular and will provide a quick financial boost.<\/p>\n