Pondering the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news media and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.
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Paul Krugman: Will Stagnation Follow the Biden Boom?
The relief bill is done; infrastructure may be harder.
It’s morning in America! People are getting vaccinated at the rate of two million a day and rising, suggesting that the pandemic may be largely behind us in a few months (unless premature reopening or variants mostly immune to the current vaccines set off another wave). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already declared that vaccinated adults can safely mingle with one another, their children and their grandchildren.
On the economic front, the Senate has passed a relief bill that should help Americans get through the remaining difficult months, leaving them ready to work and spend again, and the bill will almost surely become law in a few days.
Economists have noticed the good news. Forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg predict 5.5 percent growth this year, the highest rate since the 1990s. I think they’re being conservative; so does Goldman Sachs, which expects 7.7 percent growth, something we haven’t seen since 1984.
But then what? I’m very optimistic about economic prospects for the next year or two. Beyond that, however, we’re going to need another big policy initiative to keep the good times rolling.
Michele Cottle: Don’t Let QAnon Bully Congress
Allowing the U.S. government to be held hostage by political extremists is unacceptable.
While this won’t surprise most people, it likely came as a shock to many QAnon followers. According to that movement’s expediently evolving lore, March 4 — the date on which U.S. presidents were inaugurated until the mid-1930s — was when Mr. Trump was to reclaim the presidency and resume his epic battle against Satan-worshiping, baby-eating Democrats and deep-state monsters.
This drivel is absurd. It is also alarming. Violent extremists, obsessed with the symbolism of March 4, were for weeks nattering about a possible attack on Congress, according to law enforcement officials. [..]
Although March 4 came and went without a bloody coup attempt — that is, without another bloody coup attempt — damage was still done. Lawmakers abandoned their workplace out of fear of politically motivated violence. This not only disrupted the people’s business. It also sent a dangerous signal that Congress can be intimidated — that the state of American government is fragile.
Of course the safety of lawmakers and other Capitol Hill workers must be a priority. But allowing the government to be held hostage by political extremists is unacceptable.
Eugene Robinson: Democrats shouldn’t wait for Republicans to come to their senses
Right now, good policy also appears to be good politics. Democrats shouldn’t hesitate.
Here is the lesson Democrats should learn from the passage of President Biden’s massive covid-19 relief bill in the Senate: Don’t hold your breath waiting for Republicans to come to their senses. Just do the right thing.
That not a single Republican in the House or Senate was willing to vote for the $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package is astonishing, given the overwhelming popularity of the legislation and the magnitude of the crisis it seeks to address. Yes, that’s an awful lot of money. But the GOP has long since forfeited any claim to stand for fiscal restraint, simply preferring to add to the national debt through tax cuts for the rich rather than through spending for the poor.
All the howling and moaning about how Biden supposedly went back on his pledge of bipartisanship is nothing but cynical blather. The president made a good-faith attempt to engage with Republicans, and the best they could come up with was an unserious offer worth barely a third of what the administration believes is needed. Even with GOP state and local officials, such as West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, imploring Congress to “go big,” Republican senators refused to budge.
Pual Waldman: Hidden provisions in Biden’s rescue bill make this a bigger deal than you thought
Those $1,400 checks are just the beginning.
Sometime in the next few days, President Biden will sign the American Rescue Plan, the first major legislation of his presidency. It has gotten a large amount of press coverage, especially the $1,400 checks that will be going to most Americans.
But if anything, we’ve underplayed how significant this bill is.
Yes, those subsidy checks are important; in fact, they may represent the largest broadly shared direct payment to Americans in history. A family of four with a household income under $150,000 will get $5,600, even before other measures, such as the boosted child tax credit, are accounted for. That’s a huge amount of money, and it will provide a tremendous boost of economic activity that will accelerate the recovery; the American economy is now projected to grow this year at a pace we haven’t seen in decades.
But while you’ve probably heard plenty about the subsidy checks and the extension of unemployment benefits, the bill is full of provisions that could have significant or even transformative effects on the country, many of which have gotten little or no attention:
Jennifer Rubin: The GOP displays its antagonism toward the rule of law, yet again
In questioning Justice Department nominees Vanita Gupta and Lisa Monaco, Republicans show little interest in justice.
Consideration of nominees for the second- and third-highest positions at the Justice Department is serious stuff. The department was corrupted, politicized and demoralized under the prior administration. Violent white nationalism escalated with little or no response, culminating in the violent insurrection incited by the disgraced former president. Yet Republicans unsurprisingly have shown little interest in such matters, as we saw during Tuesday’s confirmation hearings for Vanita Gupta to be associate attorney general and Lisa Monaco to be deputy attorney general.
The lion’s share of their questioning for Gupta, a woman of color, attempted to paint her as a radical, dangerous threat to the United States. [..]
The Republicans’ utter frustration is understandable. These nominees are inarguably qualified, have long records of working across party lines and are determined to undo the damage inflicted on the department. Both remained unflappable and polite throughout, draining the hearing of the conflict Republicans desperately sought. And despite their efforts to paint Gupta as anti-police, she has received backing from scores of law enforcement groups.
More telling than what Republicans said during their questioning and speechifying was how little time they spent on the integrity and operation of the Justice Department and the rising threat of white-supremacist violence. How did the government fail to address the rise of white supremacist violence? How will the Justice Department take on this threat? What reforms are needed to correct the hyperpoliticization of the agency? These are apparently of little interest to Republicans.