Lots of thoughts about this. Here's two: 1) This really puts the minimum wage fiasco of a couple months ago in sharp perspective; 2) Bernie & others should rally in these states and make this a populist flashpoint.

https://money.yahoo.com/south-carolina-cancels-federal-unemployment-benefits-212914813.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr via @Yahoo

The GOP is attempting to turn extremely popular pandemic relief into an aberration by making the victims of the K-shaped "recovery" into the new welfare queens. Left politicians need to fight back not just by playing on sympathy, as mainstream Dems will, but empowerment.

I should note "as mainstream Dems will *at best*". Many will simply throw the unemployed under the bus and return to Clintonism. Shaheen and Hassan, my senators, couched their opposition to the $15 wage explicitly in terms of servicing small business owners who have their ear.

Recently heard an interview with @sunraysunray were he speculated that the "moment" that began around 2011 may be over. He meant in terms of global grassroots left movements but it's possible there will also be a right/center reversion to anti-populism. I hope both are wrong.

I mean, don't get me wrong, the center has been adamantly anti-populist all along and the right's flirtations with it have been very surface-level and phony. But the first was defensive and the second was co-optative vs the bellicose reaction that may be coming.

I kind of thought that even if the tide does go/stay out on populist rebellion it would leave a new establishment consensus in its place, at least slightly less oriented toward austerity and neoliberalism for self-protecting reasons if nothing else. But I'm beginning to wonder.

There's been lots of talk about how "Oh, sure, the new Democratic coalition is more bourgie but they're not actually averse to redistribution, they just tend to care more about culture!" But I could easily see them embracing "fiscal discipline" and smart-set mangerialism.

There may very well be an attempt underway to turn the 2020s into a "peace and prosperity" 90s redux. The new era of big government over, again, before it's even fully born...

Expect lots of weird tautological pivots between "AOC et al are divisive and polarizing because they endorse redistribution" and "Redistribution are divisive and polarizing because AOC et al endorse it!"

As @MasterMastermnd put it when showing me this story, "the truth is the wage floor has returned and it must be removed."