Why Democrats Must Break Pandemic Relief Stalemate

Jonathan Bernstein: “Some policy decisions are difficult. Economists disagreed on the best size of last spring’s relief bill. I don’t think anyone has a good idea of what President Joe Biden could have done to prevent the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In some cases, it’s hard to know what electoral effects a policy might have; there are often tradeoffs that are difficult to calculate. Sometimes, elected officials have to balance what they think are popular ideas with their impact on the nation. And then there are times when elected officials are stuck between intense demands of party actors who are lined up against public opinion among the bulk of voters.”

“Pandemic funding presents none of these problems. The need for vaccines, testing, treatment and more, all detailed by the White House some time ago, is obvious. This kind of spending is surely popular among most voters and among Democratic party actors. There’s no long-term drawback; to the contrary, some of the spending the White House is requesting can be even more important in the long run than it is right now. And it is critical to Democratic hopes in 2022 and 2024.”