With both the House and the Senate controlled this upcoming stimulus should be a cakewalk for Democrats to pass in the Senate.... right? The answer to that depends on your definition of a cakewalk, but mine doesn't involve 12 hour debates between moderate and progressive democrats alike over a 100 dollar increase in weekly unemployment. This is the unfortunate reality of this weeks Senate session, which began on a ridiculous note in itself when Senator Ron Johnson requested the entire Covid relief bill (628 pages) be read aloud so that Americans could know what was in the bill. In a time where swift action is desirable, actions like this that only waste time and benefit weren't taken well by Democrats and Republicans alike. However when it came time to vote the Republicans maintained unwavering solidarity in their vote against the Covid Relief Bill, something it took Democrats who were so eager to gain control of the senate 12 hours to gain.
In her article on the historic senate vote, Emily states:
Still, the Senate fell into a period of paralysis on Friday, with a vote on an unrelated proposal to advance a minimum-wage increase to the stimulus measure languishing for nearly 12 hours as Democrats stalled for time to iron out the agreement on the unemployment payments. At 9:12 p.m., it appeared to become the longest open vote in modern Senate history and closed at 10:53 p.m.
In what should have been a victory for Democrats showing solidarity and organized party movement, shows us that many Dems acknowledge the power they have within their own party to attempt to modify bills that rely on all 50 Democrat votes. Bernie attempted a much larger leap in the session today with a proposal to change the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, which was ultimately rejected in a vote of 58-42 showing that more progressive Democrat stances are going to have slightly more trouble making their way into policy.
I think it's still respectable to think of the alternative scenario where Warnock or Ossof lost, and this Senate bill would likely be much smaller if not proposed at all. I am definitely not trying to say that this bill wont help people, I just think that they should do more. The divided Senate showed us once again that we are partisanship runs heavily in our politics and the people are often not the driving force in many decisions. Of course we have money to fund a supposed failure of an F35 program that cost us nearly 1 trillion dollars, yes trillion, but we can't afford another hundred billion to help United States Citizens?
It's also saddening to know Biden's more aggressive Immigration bills will likely face difficulties passing now, as we have seen how moderate Democrats are going to play. DACA recipients were sold false dreams, and used as posters for a campaign promise list that I'm not sure we can count on being achieved. Hopefully I'm wrong but given Biden's celebration of the compromise in the Senate today, he's as content as ever with how things are unfolding apparently. Not the greatest start to the weekend but....
Why was this bill 638 pages? The simplest answer, I suppose, is that these bills cover a wide variety of issues and are extremely complex. Maybe if the proposed bills were simplified and shortened, they would have an easier time passing. Also, why is the topic of a federal minimum wage increase being brought up during a stimulus vote? I understand the wide appeal of the idea, but simple economic theory states that price floors, which is what a minimum wage law is, create surpluses; in this case a surplus of labor. With about 28% of Americans making less than $15 an hour, such a bill would lead to a huge spike in unemployment in a time when Americans are…