Build Back Better may not work – but it will help the media
November 19, 2021
As members of the House take up the Democrats’ latest promise to make the seas stop rising under the guise of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan, it might be instructive to look at what the media was saying about the previous latest, greatest bill that would “help” us: the American Rescue Plan.
“Biden’s aid bill wildly popular with Americans — except Republicans in Congress,” Reuters reported in February.
“Joe Biden’s $1.9trn stimulus package is one of the most popular bills in decades,” according to the Economist.
“American Rescue Plan is a down payment on an equitable America,” the Hill said.
“Biden’s stimulus plan is popular. The GOP needs to accept that,” MSNBC reported.
But just eight months later, both the popularity and the wisdom of the American Rescue Plan is in question after seeing the difference between what the media promised the bill would do, and what the bill actually does.
Three of five voters now say that the Democrats’ policies encompassed by the Biden stimulus are responsible for rising inflation, according to a Morning Consult poll.
Inflation is exactly what Republicans warned about before the passage of the plan.
And more troubling for Democrats is that nearly half of all Democratic voters now agree with the Republicans about where the fault lies for that inflation.
The problem with the media in cases like this is that they too often treat GOP concerns as a throwaway line in a rush to write stories that support the liberal agenda.
And when they are wrong, as they are now, they don’t want to accept that.
People pre-judge legislation by what it promises rather than what it delivers. And the media is to blame for much of that when they try to rally support for legislative programs that are untried and make dubious claims about what they will do.
Today, Biden is promising that after the $1.2 trillion he just approved in infrastructure spending and the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan he approved last spring that has caused inflation to surge to historic levels, that inflation will go down if we just spend $1.75 trillion (more or less) on climate change and other liberal goodies for Blue State millionaires.
Is that why Democrats in the House are retiring rather than face their constituents again? Is it because they know what Joe Biden, the media, you and everyone else knows?
That the bill being sold now by White House via the media is bound to be a disappointment?
“House Democrats’ retirement crisis is quickly becoming a five alarm emergency,” said Calvin Moore, communications director of the GOP’s Congressional Leadership Fund, according to CBS News.
The trouble is that the media really doesn’t care. They don’t have to face angry voters. They sell their product right along, regardless of whether good laws or bad laws are passed.
In fact, it’s probably when bad laws get passed that the media does best.
Controversy is good for media sales even if it’s bad for Americans.
Obamacare may not work and be touted, but boy, does it sell a ton of advertising.