Reconcilable Differences

Shortly after Congress passed President Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic rescue bill earlier this year, Mississippi senator Roger Wicker issued a celebratory tweet about the bill’s provision of nearly $30 billion to support the restaurant industry.

Here’s the thing, though: Wicker and every other Republican had voted against the legislation. His tweet and similar statements from his GOP colleagues can and should of course be written off as typical political hypocrisy, but they suggest a likely preview of how the current political debates over the President’s latest spending proposals will play out—and also why Republicans should, frankly, not worry too much about them.

Since these bills, through the magic of a parliamentary maneuver called “reconciliation” (which we’ve all had to learn way too much about), can pass with simple majority support, they are likely to squeak through Congress with only Democratic votes. Once this happens, feckless Republicans can brag to their constituents about all the goodies they’re receiving while still proudly proclaiming their anti-Biden credentials. Win-win.

And while I hate to be giving Republicans any advice, I take comfort in the fact that the “win-win” alluded to above includes the country as a whole.

Solipsistography: “Democrats Push a Budget to Fulfill Biden’s Aggressive Economic Ambitions”

The Lord Giveth in Mysterious Ways

This week, the biggest American poverty-relief program to be created in generations will begin delivering financial aid to families with children. An expansion in the child tax credit will send cash payments of $250-300 per month per child to the vast majority of American families. Almost everyone thinks this is a good idea. Even reliable conservatives like Mitt Romney have offered little in the way of criticism. 

Still, there are those who continue to stamp their feet and advocate against their own interests. A Louisiana parent who has been out of work for over a year and who, with four children, would stand to receive over $1000 a month from the government to, you know, help feed them, is considering not accepting the money because, as he says, “I’m a Christian believer—I rely on God more than I rely on the government.”

Here’s my question for people who invoke God to resist governmental programs: Did it ever occur to you that the governmental program might just be God’s mysterious way of helping you? Or were you just expecting money to literally fall from the sky? And if so, why is accepting mysterious welfare from some unseen deity inherently better than just taking a check from Uncle Joe?