Several commentators have recently argued that Democrats “folded” in the negotiations that resulted in the current Coronavirus relief expansion. These commentators are not only wrong, but they do a major disservice to the Progressive cause.
There are many critical items that are not included in the bill that was passed Tuesday by the Senate and will be considered by the House today. Among others, these include:
- Expanded food support (expansion of SNAP);
- Money for cash-strapped state and local governments;
- Rental and mortgage assistance;
- Help for the unemployed who lose health insurance when they are laid off;
- Funds to rescue the critical postal system;
- Meaningful expansion of the availability of mail ballots for elections;
- Protection from drug companies that profiteer off the pandemic;
- Expansion of paid family leave;
- Protections for immigrants.
The entire Democratic Caucus in both the House and Senate agree that these are critical proposals. These measures have not been passed for one reason: The Republicans who control the Senate and the White House oppose them.
So why didn’t House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stand fast and refuse to bring the current bill to the floor unless all of these be included in the measure?
Those who argue that Speaker Pelosi should simply have used her “leverage” to demand all of these proposals in this bill ignore key facts:
1). Most importantly, increased funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that gives forgivable grants to small businesses if they keep their employees on payroll, is not something Democrats “gave” to the Republicans. It is something that Democrats themselves desperately wanted to pass. They want it because it would benefit millions of ordinary workers and small businesses who are being devastated through no fault of their own, by the Coronavirus Pandemic – and President Trump’s failure to prepare to combat it. Democratic Representatives are being inundated by calls from desperate employees and small businesses who need the help NOW.
Democrats did demand – and get -- a variety of measures in this extension that the Republicans opposed. These included the assurance that a portion of the extension was available to mom and pop businesses who could not get it under the original program; federal funds for more coronavirus testing – without which the economy can never reopen; and aide to hospitals and other health care providers.
But many of the Democrats other demands are much harder to extract from intractable Republicans. Had they insisted on their inclusion, it would have delayed passage of this funding extension for weeks. Remember that Democrats control only one-third of the decision-making process – the House. The GOP still controls the Senate and the White House.
Democrats wanted the extension at least as much as Republicans – that’s why delaying everything would be like putting a gun to your head and then threatening to shoot yourself if someone does not agree to your demands.
Pelosi elected to take the extension and other provisions and bank them – and then move on to make war on the other more difficult, but very popular, measures on the Democratic list.
That’s not “folding.” That’s smart.
2). Pelosi’s strategy allows Democrats to truly play hard ball with the rest of their demands. And that is exactly what she said she intends to do. The next bill will originate in the House and provide a flag that Democrats can rally around in a knock-down, drag-out fight – for as long as it takes – to force the Republicans to agree to our demands on many issues that they flat out oppose.
And it gives the progressive community the opportunity to organize the unbearable pressure from target Republican Members’ districts and states that are the only true leverage that can get these proposals to passage and force Trump to sign them. It will take that kind of pressure because the Republicans absolutely oppose things like more mail voting.
3). The fact that the Republicans refused to include funding for state and local governments in this bill may be a blessing in disguise. There are many Republican governors and mayors who want federal aid as much as their Democratic colleagues do. They will mount increasing pressure on Mitch McConnell to consider another bill. And that will give Pelosi leverage to add many of the items on the remaining Democratic to-do list.
4). There is no one who is a better negotiator and strategist than Nancy Pelosi – no one who is better at knowing when to hold them, and when to fold them.
Pundits and commentators can say all they want about the tactics or strategies they would use if they were the Speaker of the House. Periodically they might be right. But there is no one I would rather put my money on to make the right call most of the time. This time she was absolutely right.
5). The claims that Pelosi and the Democrats “folded” or were “weak” when it came to negotiating the current bill are not just wrong, they do positive harm.
Some of these commentators defend themselves by saying that criticism from “the left” gives Democratic leaders more political “leverage.” They might be right if Pelosi and the Democratic caucus did not already embrace the policy agenda of the critics – but they do.
Instead, such criticism misdirects the justifiable anger of ordinary people that the government must do more, against Democratic leaders who “didn’t fight hard enough” – instead of directing that anger – and political pressure – at the source of the problem: the Republicans – and especially the Senate Republicans and current occupant of the White House -- who we must defeat this fall.
That actually undercuts the progressive cause as well as the interests of all of those people who so desperately need for Progressives to be successful at transforming our politics and ending the rigged economy that benefits the wealthy few at the expense of ordinary Americans.
Robert Creamer, a partner at Democracy Partners, has been a political organizer and strategist for five decades and was a consultant in the last three Democratic presidential campaigns. He is the author of "Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win." Follow him on Twitter @rbcreamer