Democrats say that some of the large government spending featured in the coronavirus relief bill could become permanent once people get used to the money.
“Democrats hope American families will get used to receiving their checks, and they cite the Washington axiom that it’s hard to take something away from voters after they’ve started receiving it,” the Washington Post reported.
At issue specifically is the expansion of the childcare tax credit included in President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which was changed to include a larger payment that is fully refundable, even to those who earn no income.
Democrats, some of whom have long favored making direct payments to parents with children, saw pandemic relief as an opportunity to introduce the concept to people.
BYRON YORK’S DAILY MEMO: IT’S NOT ‘COVID RELIEF’ IF THEY WANT TO MAKE IT PERMANENT
“The thought was that this vehicle would be an early and important one where we could, in the context of the COVID crisis, do something extremely beneficial for those who’ve been hit the hardest by the crisis,” Biden adviser Susan Rice said of the expanded credit.
The push to make the changes to the credit permanent caught the eye of conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who blasted the plan for pushing “government dependency.”
“In which we learn that the Democrats used the covid relief bill in order to achieve more government dependency, and are now bragging about it,” Shapiro said on Twitter, including a screenshot from the Washington Post story.
In which we learn that the Democrats used the covid relief bill in order to achieve more government dependency, and are now bragging about it https://t.co/Mu9uRmetcI pic.twitter.com/6wTnOIO0oM
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 22, 2021
The idea does have some GOP support, including from Sen. Mitt Romney, who introduced his own plan that would be even more generous than the one currently championed by Democrats.
“We’ve seen the birthrate in this country go down, down, down, and people are not getting married and not having kids,” Romney said while pitching his plan, which he said is “designed to be a very substantial incentive for marriage, family formation, as well as for having kids.”
Romney’s plan would also provide monthly stipends to parents, a direct transfer of wealth Romney says would help reduce the rate of abortions.
“This is to help the pregnant women who are concerned about the financial circumstances of bringing a child into the world,” Romney said. “Providing a monthly stipend to someone who is pregnant is very much a pro-life consideration.”
The issue is sure to spill over into next year’s midterm elections, with Republicans already blasting Biden’s relief bill as a giant government spending spree mostly unrelated to COVID.
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“Democrats decided their top priority wasn’t pandemic relief — it was their Washington wish list,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said of Democratic plans. “It was jamming through unrelated policy changes they couldn’t pass honestly.”
