It could be argued that the Liberal rejection of the $ 2,000 checks was rooted in an instinctive distrust of any idea associated with a Democratic left that these thinkers regard as insignificant; or in the fact that they automatically suspect anything Trump supports; or in their neoliberal aversion to the idea that Americans get used to universal benefits (despite the fact, often obscured by these critics, that checks are very much resource-related); but I think a lot of the criticism of the proposal can be attributed to many years of observing and participating in purely resentful politics. In this vision of governance, any proposal is analyzed not on the basis of how many people it can help, but on the folly of others to see these people helped.

This calculation helps explain a number of infuriating Democratic tendencies. This explains their reluctance to support popular ideas, such as student debt relief, lest future segments of Fox News say that suddenly debt-free art majors will have more income available for toast. attorney. And when popular ideas To do force their way into the mainstream, which is why these Democrats are looking for an argument, however specious, that could torpedo the proposed plan, like saying that if we made the public university free to everyone, Jared Kushner would simply attend the state of Fresno without paying its fair share.

Given the pervasiveness of these moderate trends, it was somewhat interesting to see future Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer accept both the $ 2,000 checks and a debt relief proposal. fairly large student. He’s a man whose entire political philosophy revolves around imagining what an imaginary wealthy white baby boomer couple might think. And he seems to have decided that the Baileys won’t make their eyelids explode seeing too many “undeserving” middle-class Americans getting some relief from Uncle Sam. (In the months to come, we’ll see how serious he is about the two. ideas.)

Now that Democrats are in control of Congress, we can expect another bitter debate over the design of the next stimulus round, as liberal pundits and a handful of moderate politicians once again call for a package that distributes the money. with greater precision. Joe Manchin, for his part, has already said “absolutely not,” when asked if he would back a series of checks for $ 2,000. As he said the Washington post: “Getting people vaccinated is job # 1.