https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/11/coronavirus-economy-stimulus-democrats-leverage-trump-176783The news out of Washington this week made it sound like Democrats are playing hardball on economic relief, blocking a Republican bill that didn’t include their top priorities. But the Democrats aren’t really playing hardball. They have the power to demand just about anything they want, and they’re demanding things that President Donald Trump wants, too.
Just two weeks after the largest economic relief bill in U.S. history failed to arrest the economic collapse, Trump needs another rescue package far more than Democrats do. The economy he loves to brag about has shed more than 16 million jobs. The stock market that he obsessively tweets about has plunged 20 percent. Trump doesn’t want to run for reelection during a full-blown depression, so he desperately needs more legislation.
That gives congressional Democrats extraordinary leverage to dictate the terms. So far, though, they don’t seem inclined to use that leverage to take on Trump. They didn’t let the GOP fast-track an additional $250 billion for small businesses without including more money for hospitals, states and ordinary families, but ultimately, Republican leaders will be happy to spend more money on all those things to prop up the Trump economy.
Hardball would mean insisting on concessions that Republicans don’t want to make, like sweeping protections for the November election, or far more aggressive public health measures to contain the coronavirus. That doesn’t seem to be a game that Democrats are willing to play.
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Looks like the rats don't think their leadership is bold enough.
