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My 3rd #DemsDoGood thread is on the American Rescue Plan. The 1.9 Trillion dollar effort to rescue the economy and deliver the vaccine. It is Rosie As Hell, so Let's put on the Rose-Colored's a take a peak. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/legislation/2021/01/20/president-biden-announces-american-rescue-plan/
The ARP has 3 main points, first FINALLY a national vaccine response program, including community vaccine sites, scaled up delivery and testing, better treatment and PAID SICK LEAVE for people struggling.
Second, deliver CASH TO THE PEOPLE, expand childcare and healthcare, INCREASE THE MINIMUM WAGE, and extend unemployment insurance.
Third, support targeted at the hardest hit and essential workers.
This is #DemsDoGood shit - delivering money where it's needed in direct contrast to the exhausting, sickening Republican efforts to let the very richest raid the treasury and hoard it all.
The rest of this thread is an explainer on WHY these kinds of targeted expenditures are LEAD PIPE LOCK TO HELP. It talks economic policy and a little taxes. If that bores you STOP. Now reevaluate your life choices. Now START.
For this thread you need to know two names: John Maynard Keynes and Ronald Reagan. This really gives Reagan too much credit, because he just did what the assholes wanted him to, but he is the father figure of TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS which is the opposite of KEYNSIAN ECONOMICS.
Trickle Down economics assumes that if give money into the richest, they will make jobs or some shit and it will "trickle down" to everyone else (and not hoard it offshore and refuse to pay taxes and buy politicians like they always do every time). It doesn't work.
Keynsian Economics assumes that if you put money into the economy in places where it will be spent in the economy (and not offshored and hoarded), then the spending will boost the economy, create jobs, etc.
The US has experimented with the ideas of Keynes in two crisis: The New Deal and the Obama Years. Let's look at the Obama/Biden years, because that shows Biden's commitment.
In 2009, as Obama took office, he put forward an 819 Billion recovery plan based on Keynsian bottom-up theories. (Hence the "shovel-ready" Keynsian language). Republicans cut it and still voted against it
Despite lower-than-needed spending, the Obama years were almost a decade of economic rebound.
By contrast, even before COVID, the massive trickle-down tax cut passed under Trump in 2017 didn't produce notable results. (Unless you make over $400,000 per year, and especially if you make over 2.5 million per year).
So fast forward to today. Biden was there when the 2009 stimulus was offered, whittled down and he was there when republicans in congress fought to slow the recovery by reducing further spending. He KNOWS how to deliver funds into the parts of the economy that matter
And even conservatives (not in Congress) are now on board. Here's Forbes quoting the US Chamber of Commerce stating the plan will double economic growth.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rhettbuttle/2021/01/31/business-and-economic-leaders-say-more-relief-needed-the-american-rescue-plan-could-help-americas-small-businesses/?sh=2d42807d65e2
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rhettbuttle/2021/01/31/business-and-economic-leaders-say-more-relief-needed-the-american-rescue-plan-could-help-americas-small-businesses/?sh=2d42807d65e2
And Biden has learned the lesson that Rs don't negotiate in good faith. He, Pelosi and Schumer will push this through under reconciliation. If Rs want a say, they better get on board in a hurry. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/01/democrats-stimulus-coronavirus-reconciliation-464533
And Biden - because he cares about American people that don't have a million dollars to give to his Super PAC - sees an opportunity to make poor children's lives better. AND CUT CHILD POVERTY IN HALF. That's some #DemsDoGood shit https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/16/opinion/sunday/biden-america-plan-poverty.html
I have absolutely no doubt that the bill is chock full of other bits of goodness as well, since @neeratanden is the Biden pick for OMB and she KNOWS the budget and she KNOWS about Congressional Republicans
If you dig this kind of thing, I always appreciate a follow. I promise I won't always lecture about economics.
