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I have to admit that I& #39;m baffled by the Trump/McConnell strategy of stonewalling on aid to hospitals and state governments. I get that they have bad intentions, but what& #39;s the political logic? 1/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/04/11/gop-leaders-refuse-democrats-coronavirus-demands-wont-negotiate-over-small-business-lending-program/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy...
First of all, Dems are obviously right to demand that aid. State budgets are in desperate straits, as are hospitals. No reason to wait, especially since they can& #39;t trust McConnell to act later 2/ https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/03/23/how-will-the-coronavirus-affect-state-and-local-government-budgets/">https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-f...
And in terms of sheer political power, Dems control one house of Congress; nothing happens unless Pelosi and her party agree to it. Why shouldn& #39;t legislation make substantial concessions to their priorities? 3/
Maybe McConnell thinks that Dems will be cowed by the prospect of being cast as obstructionists. This might work if Trump had overwhelming public approval for his handling of Covid-19; but he& #39;s actually (and rightly) underwater and sinking fast 4/
Also, believing that the public would blame Democrats for bad things happening on Trump& #39;s watch — even if it were true, which it isn& #39;t — assumes a level of public attention to legislative maneuvering that doesn& #39;t happen in real life 5/
And a state/local/hospital fiscal crisis would, among other things, hurt the economy in the run-up to the election, which hurts Trump. So Dems appear to have most of the bargaining power 6/
