Manchin says no to new round of $2k cheques (update: not quite)

[IceAgeComing]

Yes.



Targeted relief is notoriously bad at actually getting money to the people you're trying to reach. The government doesn't have perfect information.

Also, countries are in recession right now and have enormous fiscal headroom, so other than some sort of moral objection there's no cost to getting checks out to even people who don't need the money.

The other part of this is that the people that perhaps don't need the money but who aren't what you'd call rich are likely to spend a chunk of it soon after getting it anyway - not necessarily on essentials but perhaps on some 'luxury' (defined incredibly broadly here) that they'd been saving for.  That has an economic benefit: that additional money flowing around the economy probably helps to keep businesses afloat and therefore retains jobs, a large chunk of it will return to the government through taxation: both directly through things like Sales Taxes (which admittedly benefit state and local governments more: but they are a lot more likely to need the money due to their reliance on a consumption tax for a large portion of their revenue and their smaller ability to use dept to fund government) and also indirectly through the positive economic affects decreasing the negative impact on revenue that a recession would cause.  You can debate the merits of this sort of policy at other times but in a period like this where a large number of people aren't working and where a lot of companies are marginal when it comes to their ability to trade expanding the range of who is covered is a big benefit since the economic affect will be stronger.

Means testing does have its place but for something like that where people falling through the net would lead to a great amount of hardship and where the benefits of a universal benefit outweigh the drawbacks its a no brainer.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Several Republicans supported it, though? Like Hawley and Rubio? Hopefully they keep their word, although with Trump on his way out they might not care anymore.

Maybe tell Hawley we will drop this talk of expelling him if he keeps his promise on the checks.

He'd probably prefer to have that talk sustained, tbh. I doubt he's given up on his presidential ambitions just yet.

Manchin appears to be another who's not giving up on an electoral career that seems even more DOA than Hawley's presidential plans. I doubt he'd be posturing (even in a relatively meaningless manner) unless he wanted to win WV again, but that's not happening anyway.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

The vast majority of people don't need the money. And even those that do will get by without it, as people always do.

I think this is the wrong framing.

Would tens of millions of people in difficult economic circumstances be helped by direct payments? Yes. Would the economy as a whole benefit? Yes. Are there any inflationary or deficit risks? No.

Most people don't 'need' Social Security who receive it. A 'needs-based' targeted welfare state would be cumbersome, inefficient and fail to include people who it was supposed to protect. That's not a good standard for public policy in my view. Get the checks out and help people before worrying about just deserts.

[Stockdale for Veep]

Diamond Joe pondering the DC Statehood and/or filibuster-killer votes for the next 2 years

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

Diamond Joe pondering the DC Statehood and/or filibuster-killer votes for the next 2 years

I still don’t understand why Manchin would support the filibuster.

It’s the difference between being largely irrelevant except for budgets and judges and being the single most important man to all legislation.

[politicallefty]

I've been thinking for awhile that one of the huge benefits of having Biden as President is that he is ultimately, at heart, a Senator. That means something. Individuals such as that rarely ascend to the Presidency. The last person like that was probably LBJ. It means you have a certain skill set and way of building relationships with people. It's something President Obama wasn't good at or really cared to do. He didn't care much about having dinners with politicians or inviting political opponents to golf. Joe Biden is quite the opposite in that respect and I think it's something that could serve him well for his Presidency.

Why do I mention that? First of all, Joe Biden went on record in saying that a vote for Warnock and Ossoff was a vote for $2000 checks. He has to deliver on that. Invite Joe Manchin to the White House, have some lunch or dinner, and talk. Joe Biden's the kind of person that likes to do that sort of stuff. That's the traditional way of getting things done in Washington. If some minor adjustments have to be made or other things added to another bill, so be it.

[MT Treasurer]

I really, really hope my boy Chris Sununu is as good at conning gullible Biden voters into supporting him for Senate (and hopefully acting more like a Susan Collins than a Kelly Ayotte) as Manchin is in WV.

[It’s so Joever]

I really, really hope my boy Chris Sununu is as good at conning gullible Biden voters into supporting him for Senate (and hopefully acting more like a Susan Collins than a Kelly Ayotte) as Manchin is in WV.

I hope he doesn’t run.

[MillennialModerate]

I really, really hope my boy Chris Sununu is as good at conning gullible Biden voters into supporting him for Senate (and hopefully acting more like a Susan Collins than a Kelly Ayotte) as Manchin is in WV.

I hope he doesn’t run.

I can’t see that happening. Mitch can’t breath properly if he isn’t majority leader