President Joe Biden, 78, said all the right things in the inauguration speech about bipartisanship but five-weeks later it’s back to extreme partisanship as Democrats attempt to ram through the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill. Whatever pretence existed before, there’s no fig leaf as Democrats make their mad push to bail out cities and states from the economic fallout from the Covid-19 crisis. When the dust settled after the two historic Democrat Senate runoff wins in Georgia, elections have consequences with the Senate 50/50 with 56-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. Republicans haven’t yet adjusted, still complaining but unable to stop Democrats from railroading legislation designed to help cities and states pay their bills. “We said we’re going to do X, Y and Z, but we didn’t say were going to be magicians,” sad House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
Hoyer recognizes that the meaning of bipartisanship now that Democrats control the White House, House and Senate, is that Republicans must accept that majority rule is how the government works. “We can’t magically make the Republicans be for what the people are for,” Hoyer said, meaning what Democrats want they now get. Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), feel the urgency to get as many Democrat led bills passed as possible before the House turns to defending its slim majority in 2022. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) wants to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act on the 30th anniversary of the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles. “It’s examples like that that lead to the urgency,” Bass said, knowing they have the votes to get it passed now in the House and Senate. Republicans can only put up token resistance in the Senate with Kamala casting the tie-breaking vote.
By the time Biden gets his legislation through on voting rights, gun background checks, and immigration, Republicans will get that sinking feeling that there’s nothing that can be done to stop the inevitable. Democrats, especially Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) remember well what happened in 2009 when Democrats, with former Senate Majority Leasder Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ast the helm, railroaded Obamacare without one Republican vote. Republicans went into obstructionist mode for the duration of Obama two terms as president, despite getting Obamacare passed over 100% Republican objections. Republicans are hogtied trying to stop Biden, Pelosi and Schumer from railroading any legislation over next two years before the next Midterm elections. Losing the Senate Jan. 6 upended 78-year-old Senate Majority Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans.
Democrats have an advantage of having public opinion on their side, despite the consequences of profligate government spending. It wasn’t that long ago Dec. 27 ,2020 that former President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion Covid relief bill and $1.4 trillion government spending bill. “One of the biggest lessons that Republicans learned in the ’09 and ’10 era is they could basically obstruct everything and not suffer at the ballot box,” said Tre Easton, senior adviser at liberal Battle Born Collective. “We’ll be fighting this in every way that we can,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), knowing it’s a long shot to stop Democrats. When you consider that adding another $1.9 trillion to the national debt, it puts it at $30 trillion, a staggering sum that impacts Moodys, Standard & Poors and Fitch’s credit ratings, not to mention the value of the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies.
Democrats don’t want to hear anything from Republicans still complaining about he Nov. 3, 2020 election outcome. When the Jan. 6 riot and mob scene took place, Democrat blamed Trump for the violence. Since the Jan. 6 riot, Democrats are more determined than ever to advance a progressive agenda, especially immigration reform and Covid-19 relief bill that bails out liberal states running massive deficits like California. Democrats remember well Republicans spending the last 10 years trying to destroy Obamacare, largely because Republicans had a grudge about how the Senate passed Obamacare Nov. 9, 2009. When the late Sen. John McCain voted July. 27, 2018 to end Republican efforts to dismantle Obamcare, it was only one year before his death Aug. 25, 2018 from brain cancer. Republicans lost the Nov. 3, 2020 election because they were out of step with public opinion.
Democrats look poised to pass massive government bailout for cities and states in the $1,9 trillion Covid19 relief bill. Haggling over financial limits for direct payments or keeping a $15 minimum wage out of the bill attempts to give concessions to Republicans. Republicans’ arguments about bailing out Democrat-controlled cities and states make no sense, since no one’s base was hurt more during lockdowns and restrictions than cities and states. No matter how much Republicans complain about a lack of Democrat bipartisanship, that’s reality. “If that‘s what they’re going to do, then they’re going to have to live with it, because we’re going to serve it up,” said House Majority White James Clyburn (D-S.C.), signaling to the GOP that Democrats will proceed with their progressive legislative agenda no matter what. No matter how much Republicans object, Democrats are poised to advance their agenda.
