This is not Bill Clinton’s Democratic Party. But it’s not the Squad’s party either.
Today, a very special Group Chat to discuss a very large stimulus bill. Amira and Guido are joined by Mary Small, National Legislative Director for Indivisible, to react to the passage of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. What does the massive investment in stimulus checks, expanded unemployment insurance, and the child tax credit tell us about the state of the Democratic Party halfway through Biden’s first 100 days?
After a break, Mary and Amira break down progressives’ strategy during the Congressional negotiations over the American Rescue Plan. There were threats of progressives voting as a bloc! What did progressives win, what did progressives lose, how has the Congressional Progressive Caucus changed since the Obama era, and what can we learn about wielding the power of the progressive bloc in future legislative fights?
Readings & resources:
- What’s in the Stimulus Bill? A Guide to Where the $1.9 Trillion Is Going
- Biden’s COVID-Relief Bill Is a Big F**king Deal
- Where Do We Go From Here on Tax Credits?
- How Democrats miscalculated Manchin and later won him back
- An Expanded Child Tax Credit Would Lift Millions of Children Out of Poverty
- Analysis: Senate ‘gangs’ show Biden what’s possible, and not
- ‘A Racist Narrative’: Biden Warned of Welfare Moms Driving Luxury Cars
- No, Joe Biden Won’t Give Us Social Democracy
- Clinton’s 1996 State of the Union
- Dismantling the Welfare State? Reagan, Thatcher and the Politics of Retrenchment