The $1.9 trillion Covid-19 rescue package that squeezed through the Senate on Saturday is "the most significant piece of legislation to benefit working families in the modern history" of the United States. The liberal icon's claim for this bill -- the centerpiece of Joe Biden's presidential agenda -- is significant since moderate Democrats like West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin watered down some of its key provisions.
The long-term significance of the bill lies not in its immediate stimulus payments of $1400 to some Americans, its extension of unemployment benefits or the extra billions for reopening schools and boosting vaccination drives. The measure includes an array of tax credits for low income families though 2021 in an effort to lift millions out of poverty. The bill's supporters suggest it could cut child poverty by half.
Economically, the bill is conceived to get people back to work, kids into school and business up and running again by cranking up the pace of vaccines. More symbolically it is a statement of intent by Biden that he will use federal power to widen the social safety net and help the poorest Americans. And politically, the bill is popular with many Americans — despite GOP politicians' opposition.
The bill is the inverse of an earlier $1.5 trillion tax cut that represented the sole significant legislative accomplishment of ex-President Donald Trump and mostly benefited wealthy Americans and corporations. It places Biden in the same conversation as great reforming Democratic Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Franklin Roosevelt, even if most of the measures included in the American Rescue Plan expire after a couple of years.
The bill must now return to the House, since it was stripped of some popular elements like a raise in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Wrenching negotiations between Democrats in the Senate on the issue on Saturday underscore the progressive/moderate divide in Biden's majority in the chamber that threatens to derail future efforts like climate change and voting reform.
Nevertheless, the President looks likely to sign his first major legacy win this week, not least because Sanders, the progressive champion he beat on the way to the Democratic nomination, will give him cover before the House vote.
'We have a little different approach'
Manchin faced criticism from more progressive party members, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for opposing a minimum wage increase in the relief bill. "The congresswoman, I respect where she's coming from, I respect her input. We have a little different approach, we come from two different areas of the country that have different social and cultural needs, but with that you have to respect everybody," he said. "We're going to get that, but it's going to sit down and be done -- I hope in more of a collaborative way." He told CNN's Jake Tapper that that he'd like to see the current federal of minimum wage of $7.25 increased to $11 and then "it should be indexed for inflation so it never becomes a political football again."
Below, Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's emphatic "no" vote on the relief bill provision to raise the federal minimum wage also infuriated progressives. (Senate TV)
'Neanderthals are hunter-gatherers'
First it was Mr Potato Head, Dr Seuss and the Muppets. Now who will stand up for the Neanderthals?
While the rest of the world frets about getting their kids back in school and dodging devious new variants of Covid-19, some conservative lawmakers and pundits in America are whipping up outrage over what they're calling cultural fascism: the supposed "cancellation" of artifacts from the childhoods of generations past. While no toys, books or shows have actually been banned, fears that liberals want to control how 'real' Americans think and believe are burning up conservative talk radio and Fox News segments.
The fight that the right calls 'cancel culture' encompasses a vast array of social issues and plays into divisions over race, gender, education, abortion and religion in American society. Often this is a necessary debate about the balance between antiquated language and attitudes, and free speech -- and one that has been reprised for years on US university campuses over controversial speakers. But the latest furor is being hyped out of all proportion by propagandists.
Last week, Hasbro, that makes Mr Potato Head, announced the 1950s-era brand would become simply Potato Head (Mr and Mrs Potato Head will remain characters). The group that handles Dr Seuss's legacy said that six lesser known works from the 1930s, '50s and '70s would no longer be reprinted because of "hurtful" racial imagery. And Disney+ added a viewer disclaimer that some episodes of the 1970s Muppet Sow contain "negative depictions" of various national cultures.
Each case is a study in how American consumers' expectations have evolved over decades. But the backlash against change can sometimes verge on absurdity. After Biden described lifting pandemic mask mandates as "Neanderthal thinking," Tennessee GOP Senator Marsha Blackburn took offense, implying that this was yet another example of condescension to certain Americans -- and arguing the merits of the extinct Homo neanderthalensis.
"Neanderthals are hunter-gatherers, they're protectors of their family, they are resilient, they're resourceful, they tend to their own." Blackburn told Fox Business. "So, I think Joe Biden needs to rethink what he is saying."
Bloody Sunday
This weekend marked the 56th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," when US civil rights demonstrators faced bloody beatings at a march in Selma, Alabama. Above: Selma marchers including Albert Turner, Bob Mants, Hosea Williams and John Lewis.
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