Things always appear larger in the rear view mirror, particularly popular support. That’s what the editors of the Wall Street Journal remind President Biden about in their editorial today:
What appears to be driving Mr. Biden is his memory of 2009, as a telling quote from two weeks ago showed. Musing on the $800 billion stimulus that Congress passed amid the financial crisis, Mr. Biden lamented Barack Obama’s mistake: He was too humble.
“He didn’t want to take, as he said, a ‘victory lap,’†Mr. Biden recalled. “And we paid a price for it, ironically, for that humility.â€
Doesn’t every job candidate say excessive humility is his greatest weakness? Jokes aside, Mr. Biden must be misremembering. The 2009 stimulus was initially popular. The week it passed, Gallup showed 59% of the public as supportive. Around the same time, CNN put it at 54% favorable to 45% opposed. The law’s reputation sank later, as the money was ladled out.
By early 2010, the figures had flipped. “Nearly three-quarters believe that at least half the stimulus money spent so far has been wasted,†CNN’s polling director said. “Six in 10 believe that the projects in the stimulus bill were included for purely political reasons.â€
As Abraham Lincoln famously observed you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. There’s a reason that the American people thought the ARRA was politically motivated: because it was. That’s what happens when the president delegates as much of the detail to the Congress as President Obama did with the ARRA and the bill is pass along straight party lines. We’re about to learn whether history repeats itself or merely rhymes.
Humble Obama to Eric Cantor: “Elections have consequences and Eric, I won.”
The big flip here is that Democrats were convinced of the ineffectiveness of stimulus checks, ridiculing them as ineffective, politically-motivated payments to voters. This stuck them with the difficulty of finding enough shovel-ready spending.
“The big flip here is that Democrats were convinced of the ineffectiveness of stimulus checks”
Which Democrats were saying that? Those I read thought it was good. Were they irritated because Trump had to make sure his signature was on it? Yes. Irritated because Republicans supported it when they didnt support stimulus when Obama was POTUS? Yes. Lets not forget that the GOP opposing stimulus when Obama wanted it was also purely political. They were perfectly willing to support it for Trump. Plus, as I recall nearly every Democrat voted to support the Covid bills when Trump was POTUS. They did end up disagreeing over the $2 trillion bill but it did pass when the Democrats could have stopped it.
So it looks like the GOP will always vote based upon politics. The Democrats will often, but not always vote based upon politics. (Misremembering is quite apt since what the GOP has done is totally forgotten.)
Steve