With the finish line in sight (if still stubbornly out of reach) for the Democrats’ massive social-programs and economic development bill, the party now faces the challenge of focusing the attention of its key constituencies and the public on what remains in the package, not on what was cut in the exhausting legislative maneuvering.
To meet the objections primarily of Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, party leaders underwent a grueling process of shrinking the bill roughly in half—from about $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion in spending over 10 years. …
To the extent that the public has heard of the budget bill at all, the message for the past two months has been dominated by this brutal game of legislative Survivor, with sponsors and advocates of each doomed program loudly bemoaning its demise and the outsize influence of the two senators forcing the cuts. But as painful as the process has been, Democrats generally remain optimistic that they can come together soon around Biden’s framework agreement. If and when they do, they will have the opportunity to begin highlighting the key elements that survived—including universal pre-K, expanded health-care subsidies, and massive investments in green energy. …
Most polls have found majorities of Americans supporting the plan when it’s described in broad strokes. But some research studies, such as a recent project by the pollsters Joel Benenson, a Democrat, and Neil Newhouse, a Republican, have found that most voters do not see the legislative fight as particularly relevant to their immediate concerns, and that many worry that more government spending will fuel inflation. Republicans are poised to pound that message. The GOP is focusing less on debating individual components of the plan (many of which score well in polls) than on portraying the aggregate as an expensive Big Government boondoggle that is contributing to higher prices. CONTINUED
Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic
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