Unity and the American Rescue Plan

Unity+and+the+American+Rescue+Plan.jpg

Topics Discussed

  • A Year of Covid-19 in America

  • Moment of Hope

  • The Call for Unity

  • The Politicization of Military Service

  • The American Rescue Plan

  • Raising the Minimum Wage

  • Outside of Politics

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Episode Resources

Transcript

Sarah: [00:00:00] I was reading about all these, what I would describe as empty calls for unity. And then Joe Biden stepped forward on Friday and spoke for a long time and presented this ad. And I thought, well, this is what unity means. Unity is not an empty call. Unity is not a sort of blank aspiration. Let's just all try. Like you said, let there be peace on earth to begin with y'all. 

It's we need this, and this is how we are going to get there. The way that you see your connection and form that deeper sense of we are in this together is working towards a common goal. And so here, I'm going to show you what our goal is, and I'm going to lead us all in this work we have to do together.

Sarah: (00:00:50) This is Sarah

Beth: [00:00:52] And Beth, 

Sarah: [00:00:53] You're listening to Pantsuit Politics.

Beth: [00:00:55] The home of grace-filled political conversations.

[00:01:00] Hello, and welcome to Pantsuit Politics. Thank you so much for joining us for today's episode. We are going to talk about the massive plan the Biden team has unveiled in their quest to hit the ground running and meet America's challenges. We're going to talk a little bit about inauguration plans, including you're going to want to stick around for this Sarah's pun, heavy inauguration menu. And we'll begin the show today talking about where we are with COVID-19.

 Before we do so many of you have reached out in such moving ways about the impact our expression "have the best day available to you" has had in your lives. It's been amazing to me how those simple words have been so powerful in so many different contexts for you all and as good things come in our lives, sometimes we need to put them on a t-shirt or a [00:02:00] notebook or a sticker, and you can get all of those things on our T public site.

 We have such a cute little "have the best day available to you" graphic. I got a notebook that I am writing down my daily goals in that says "have the best day available to you" on the front of it. And it just kind of brightens my day and it's a good focusing attitude shift. So you can not check all of that out on our T public site, which is linked on our website. And we'll be here in the show notes as well. 

Sarah: [00:02:24] Beth, do you want to tell the people the origin of that phrase? 

Beth: [00:02:27] I started using that phrase working with coaching clients, because as some of you know, up until December, when I decided to focus a hundred percent of my time on Pantsuit Politics, I had a small business coaching practice and COVID-19 made business coaching just really a thing that I had never anticipated.

And I was struggling with ways to kind of end my messages with those clients and to encourage people, but also create a sense of softness around their work. And I just decided to start saying, [00:03:00] have the best day available to you. Like, let's accept where we are and that it is not what any of us desire and also that we can find some gentleness and some happiness even in it. And that's okay. So I started saying it immediately, my clients started saying it back to me. And I incorporated it on the Nightly Nuance and then Sarah, on the news brief, and here we are. 

Sarah: [00:03:20] Yeah. And if you've noticed, we started ending the show that way as well. We like to keep Pantsuit Politics growing and changing and not stuck in any one particular way. And we've been using "keep it nuanced y'all" for a very long time. And, you know, we might use it again as the mood strikes us, but best day available to you was hitting everybody so strongly that we thought, Hey, we can say, have the best week available to you on Tuesday and the best weekend available to you on Friday and mix it up a little bit.

 And so we hope that you've enjoyed that, that final call to action at the end of Pantsuit Politics. Speaking of calls to action, the news brief is moving exclusively to Patreon on Thursday. I'm [00:04:00] so excited. I figured out how to do video on Patreon. So there will be a video of the news brief, and it will show up automatically in your RSS feed.

So for those of you who are unfamiliar, Patreon is where our community supports us financially, and for $5 a month, you will get the Monday Nightly Nuance, Beth's deep dive and Monday through Thursdays News Brief. For $15 a month, you get both Monday through Thursday, the News Brief in the morning and the Nightly Nuance at night.

I think they compliment each other very well. And then we have higher levels of support that open up membership to the extra credit book club. We of course have our amazing executive producers that support our shows with a hundred dollars a month. You know, it's really how we do our work here on Pantsuit Politics. And it's how we are growing our team. 

We have some exciting news about that coming in February. And so if you want to make sure you keep getting the news brief, it will be moving to Patreon on Thursday. 

Beth: [00:04:51] I do think the News Brief is you doing what you do best alone. And the Nightly Nuance is me doing what I do best alone.

And so the combination here is what makes Pantsuit Politics so [00:05:00] special and we love being able to give you that combination in a different way Monday through Thursday. Speaking of executive producers, welcome Helen Lilly Karen, thank you so much for joining our team of people who really make this work possible.

OKay. Sarah, you noticed that this episode is being released on a very poignant date. 

Sarah: [00:05:29] Yes. On January 19, 2020, the first reported us case of COVID-19 occurred in Washington state with a man who became ill after returning from Wu Han. So this is where we are. We are now on the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 confirmed cases in America. And I think that it is important to take a moment to both assess how we got here and to particularly look forward into what the next year might hold. 

The New York times has a great piece that we'll link in the show notes [00:06:00] about, you know, the failure and it has been a failure, the death of 400,000 Americans. The fact that we lead the world in per capita deaths is a failure. And, you know, historians will be digging deep into what happened there, but for a long, long time. But I think right now, what you're seeing is public health officials and public policy officials and researchers trying to gather as much as they can now and assess what has gone wrong up until this point so that we can hopefully make a dramatic turn.

And it, you know, I don't know about you Beth, but as I'm thinking about this anniversary, reading about this anniversary and paying attention to what people are talking about, both in my life, sort of anecdotally and out in the world, it does seem like, you know, hospitalizations are down. We didn't see the surge we were expecting to see, um, post-Christmas there were some areas of the country that are still suffering, particularly in Los Angeles.

And we all know that the vaccine distribution is an epic failure according [00:07:00] to the Biden administration. We have States saying, we were told that we would have a second dose in reserve released to us, and then reporting coming out that there was no reserve all along. And so I think that there is plenty to look back on at this point a year into the pandemic and say, we got a lot wrong. There was a real big failure of leadership.

Beth: [00:07:20] I think that's right. And I also celebrate so much, whats' going right. Kentucky has done a pretty good job with vaccine distribution, and I'm really grateful for that. And I think it shows how important it is to have competent leadership in government. We're going to talk more about some political ads in our next segment here, but it, it makes me think about what are the skills that we really need for people who serve in office.

And a lot of it is basic project management and a willingness to read and listen to experts and assemble good teams of people. And so I really celebrate how vaccine distribution is going here in Kentucky. I have a friend whose husband is scheduled to receive the vaccine and she said, this is going to [00:08:00] change our lives.

And. I think that's exactly right. So many people's lives are about to be changed in a positive way. And so there's a lot to learn. There's a lot to lament. There is so much about American culture that will be dissected and understood through how we've reacted to masking and social distancing in the kinds of sacrifices that we continue to be asked to make.

There are moments of personal loss and just heartbreaking moments over other people's choices in ways that are completely irrational sometimes. And none of us are immune to any of that. And also, I really am grateful for how quickly the science is giving us a path forward here. 

Sarah: [00:08:46] Yeah, that's the other thing I think is really important on this one year anniversary is to look forward and to see what's coming next.

David Leonhardt, the writer of the New York Times Morning ews Brief had a really great piece today about how we're underselling the [00:09:00] vaccine. And, you know, he talks about one of the big failures of public health officials early in the pandemic, which was telling people that we didn't need masks. They weren't trusting people, right.

They weren't saying, please don't run out and buy a medical grade masks, a cloth mask, homemade masks can really help. And once they did that, you saw people really step up. And so, and so and so, and make all these cloth mask and do what was asked for them. That's not everybody, obviously there's been tons of controversy from anti maskers, but some of that I think came from this distrust built on the early advice to not wear a mask. 

And he talks about that, there's a lot of concern in the medical community that we're doing that with vaccines. People are worried well, if the vaccine starts rolling up, everyone will abandon social distancing and masks, which we have to keep doing, so they're basically saying, well, we're not sure how effective it is and they're, downselling the effectiveness of it and underestimating the impact of this vaccine when it is a medical miracle. 

[00:10:00] You know, it brings tears to my eyes because a year ago, particularly in March, you know, talk of a vaccine, we didn't know it would be, we thought, you know, the earliest vaccine took four years, but I felt at the time and that, you know, throughout this entire terrible year that this like undercurrent, I remember Dave Pell saying, there's this story going on right now that, that we don't know because they're too busy working to save all of us and these research facilities and with vaccines that the story is not being told, but it's like, I could feel it. I could feel this joining of forces and the impact it would have.

Um, I also read a really beautiful thing in the good, good, good newspaper about the researcher who just really at great risk to her career continued to work away at this new technology that is showing to just be a miracle, like just life-changing. I don't know, miracle is not the right word because it is [00:11:00] the work of science, but you know, it feels miraculous.

She had this beautiful quote of like, I will celebrate when we don't think about the vaccine and the virus anymore. That's the time to celebrate. But I do think there is a moment to, to acknowledge that this vaccine is going to change our lives. It's going to save lives. And, you know, I understand the careful language that medical researchers and physicians use. They can't prove a negative. They have liability when they talk about risks, but I'm not a doctor. 

So I'm not somebody you should trust with medical advice. But I can say for myself, I can read between the lines of the language of these healthcare professionals. And I don't, you know, you don't even need to read between the lines to see how effective this is. It was like 32,000 research participants. One person got a severe case of COVID-19. One person. It is [00:12:00] incredibly effective, it is incredibly safe. And I don't think we talk about that enough.

Beth: [00:12:07] I wholeheartedly embrace the use of the word miracle, I guess it depends on what your definition is. It does feel like a miracle to me that this much work has been done in such a short period of time that this much cooperation has happened, that there are not only these amazing scientific advancements, but also people just doing good thinking. Maddock Lacey has had a great piece over the weekend about how the Biden administration is working to just make sure that the syringes being used use as much vaccine as possible. 

So that it's possible that something that is scheduled for five doses actually has six in it, just by using a different kind of syringe and how we could ramp up production of those syringes and make a lot more of the vaccine supply that we have today. That feels like a miracle to me.

The scientists and researchers and healthcare professionals and [00:13:00] logistics workers involved in all of this are as tired as I am and more, they have families too. They are dealing with school closures and not being able to rely on their normal support systems like the rest of us and that they are doing all of this while facing just the brunt of societal decisions every day. Still getting us this far down the road, that absolutely feels miraculous to me. 

Sarah: [00:13:25] So I love this summary that David Leonhardt wrote in the, New York Times based on his conversation with. Healthcare professionals and public health officials. He said we should immediately be more aggressive about mask wearing and social distancing because of the new virus variants.

We should vaccinate people as rapidly as possible, which will require approving other COVID vaccines. When the data justifies it, people who have received both of their vaccine shots have waited and have waited until they take effect will be able to do things that unvaccinated people cannot [00:14:00] like having meals together and hugging their grandchildren.

But until the pandemic is defeated, all Americans should wear a mask in public, help unvaccinated people stay safe and contribute to a shared national project of saving every possible life. I think this is hitting me extra hard because my mother is scheduled to get vaccinated on Friday and it just feels like this burden we've all been carrying is slowly starting to lift. And it does feel like a miracle. 

Beth: [00:14:27] Well, that's a great segue to our moment of hope. We really appreciate that Paul sent this our way. He said I wanted to let you know that some initial research is showing that MRNA vaccines, the type that the Pfizer and Maderna COVID vaccines are, might be able to help treat multiple sclerosis.

I pulled this from the article, "In several mouse models of MS, the researchers team showed that an MRNA vaccine in coding a disease-related auto antigen successfully ameliorated MS symptoms in [00:15:00] sick animals and prevented disease progression in rodents showing early signs of MS. The technology looks like it might be effective not only for dealing with MS symptoms, but also for treating other more complex auto-immune diseases.

And that lifted me almost through the roof of my house, reading about it. So, Paul, thank you for sharing that. We'll put the link in the show notes, those of you with more scientific literacy than I have, might really understand parts of this article and feel even more excited. But it made me think about after we saw Wonder Woman, the girls and I were talking about what wishes they would make if they have the wishing rock.

And they immediately said, we would wish for coronavirus to be gone, which I think is also incredibly touching and tells you a lot about how kids are processing everything. So I started, I kind of went down this mental rabbit hole of what would the consequences of that wish be? Because I think a really interesting part of the Wonder Woman [00:16:00] story is the effect that a granted wish has.

And I would never, ever, ever say. Yes. I want to have coronavirus here because of all the good that will come from it never, ever. I also really am looking for stories like this one from Paul and others, because I do think that some of the science here has been so amazing and effective that it will propel us into other areas.

And I hope that the same thing, culturally, this sense of a shared project and as hard as it's all been, I hope that lots of good things will come out of this horrific period of time. I'm so sad that we got here this way. I regret every life loss and every person who is still suffering, including my own mom. And I also just keep looking for what can come of this.

Sarah: [00:16:50] Up next. We're going to talk about unity, going to talk about the call from unity and the consequences of the insurrection in the Republican party [00:17:00] and the Biden administration's approach to unity specifically the recovery plan.

So Beth here's what's happened on Twitter, which I try not to be in and fail that every single day. And that's okay. And I see this Twitter thread that is calling out representative Dan Crenshaw for, um, tweeting that we need to take the heat down post. Insurrection and, you know, work to unify each other, as many Republicans are calling for, and this Twitter user, he's like, dude, that strong coming from somebody who, who filmed Georgia Reloaded.

I did not know what Georgia Reloaded was. So I searched it and I found it and I was traumatized. Then I realized that Georgia Reloaded is in fact, a sequel [00:18:00] to Texas Reloaded. And then I watched that, then I was traumatized. And then I invited you into my trauma and said, I will not suffer through this alone.

You must watch this with me. I also showed it to my husband who went through a really sort of hilarious flow of emotions, which you say mirrored your own. At first, he was like, is this real? So we, we put these videos up on Instagram. So that for the, all of you who love homework could watch it before we talked about it.

But for those of you who have not yet seen, and of course we'll put the link in the show notes, they are a takeoff of, I would say like a spy military hero action flick where of course Dan Crenshaw is the action hero. He in Texas Reloaded jumps out of an airplane and recruits all these, you know, some former military, some business owners, all doing very active things like kicking mannequins, and they're at airplane, there at airports, all kinds of things. They're all, they're all very actiony [00:19:00] and he recruits them to run for office. 

And this is like, they're, you know, they're, they're doing the walk that you see in action movies, things, or he's jumping out of an airplane. Things are exploding. Like they're fighting, they're fighting the leftists. Georgia reloaded is a very similar thing.

Like he, again, jumps out of an airplane fights and Antifa in a field. And then we see Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue, both with guns, shooting targets, you know, this they're saving America. And so, but again, my husband and it's pretty high production quality, I would say. 

So my husband flows through, is this real? Oh my God, it's real. How much could this have possibly cost? And it doesn't age very well, particularly Georgia reloaded. Not only because they lost, but and when you have people dress like this and acting like this at the Capitol insurrection, and then the people who make commercials like this calling for unity, it's just, it's, it's a lot. It's a lot. And, and how did you feel while you were watching Georgia Reloaded 

Beth: [00:19:57] In Texas Reloaded, I went through the same [00:20:00] stages of Dan Crenshaw consumption, which were one, this cannot be real. This has to be parody. Then two, how expensive was this? And then three, what is this? Which is, I believe what I texted back to you. What is this? You know, here's where I am on the unity question. I have so many feelings about all of this. 

Sarah: [00:20:24] We also need to put a pin in Dan Crenshaw. Cause I would like to speak to him when we have a chance, but go ahead. 

Beth: [00:20:29] I am okay with hypocrisy because all human beings are hypocritical and I am for growth and evolution. I am for understanding that different situations require different things because of context. Totally fine with all of that. What is missing for me right now is, what is the next step? You know, it sounds like from, from people like representative Crenshaw, from people like [00:21:00] representative Jordan in particular, it sounds like let there be peace on earth and let it begin with y'all.

Nah, ha. And that's not how it goes. And I am looking for what's my work to do in this? I'm trying to do that personally. And someone who is a member of Congress has an even greater opportunity to do that. And so there, there is hypocrisy around making ads like that, and then calling for unity. Now it is not to say that there are not moments when Democrats use imagery that is also militaristic and we're saving the world. 

This was not an official campaign commercial, but I think that was my discomfort with the Avengers End Game meme that was going around where Joe Biden and like a host of everyone who ran for president, or is it all popular on the left looks like they're out in the field, saving the world. Like I didn't like that. Just didn't sit right with me. And as I put it next to this [00:22:00] official campaign material, paid for by voters, featuring actual members of Congress in a similar aesthetic, I understand why it bothers me. 

Sarah: [00:22:11] It really isn't an Avengers, Texas Reloaded version, like where Dan Crenshaw is Captain America and they are all filling in the roles of the different adventures as well.

Beth: [00:22:20] So, yeah, and it, and I hate that. Like, It absolutely says all of our enemies are domestic. They're the people who vote differently than you. And I need to go kick some ass and defend you from these other Americans when, again, like the skills that we need in our members of Congress are reading critical thinking analysis, good listening, project management. 

Sarah: [00:22:45] Empathy 

Beth: [00:22:46] Competence. Yes. I, I just continue to think, what were we expecting people to do with this kind of encouragement? What, [00:23:00] what have we been expecting? 

Sarah: [00:23:01] Yeah, well, a couple of things. One Dan Crenshaw takes himself so seriously. And that is a high bar to reach in Washington, DC.

We're literally everyone takes themselves very seriously. And I think that he, you know, we all busted on Pete Davidson, making fun of him on SNL. But he saw something in Dan Crenshaw that I think the rest of us are just now observing, which is this again, putting yourself in the role of hero, really playing up parts of your background, just this appeal to a very masculine, arguably toxic masculine version of I don't really want to say politician, he's not playing politician. Like that's not it's warrior, right? 

It's not a, you're not a politician. Nobody likes a politician. You're a warrior. When, of course he's playing politics [00:24:00] even with this video. This is a political act, right and also a huge act of ego 

Beth: [00:24:06] And he is not alone. And there are Democrats who've run for Congress and lots of women who run for Congress who do a version of this, look how tough I am thing. And I understand why. They're not doing this in a vacuum. They're doing it because it works, because people like it, because it's shareable, because you get all this earned media around it.

And I just think we're at a good point. I'm not going to be mad at Dan Crenshaw forever for making these, I would like us to be at a turning point now where we say, perhaps that's unwise. Perhaps we need to figure out if we're going to, especially if we're going to use our moment right now to lecture other people on how important it is to come together and turn the heat down, then maybe I will commit to not acting like being a member of Congress is my Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible moment. 

Sarah: [00:24:58] Well, I think too, what's going [00:25:00] on here is the glamorization of military service. I don't, sometimes it's masculinity. Sometimes it's you should trust me because I started in the military, uh, happening with both sides of the aisle. And particularly with women running for office who have a military background. It's an attempt to build trust.

Now, I don't think that's what's going on in these ads. I think these ads are really, but they do contain that glamorization of military service or just like militarization generally. And I think we have some really hard questions, particularly considering the Capitol insurrection and how many ex military members we're serving.

I mean, clearly we have an issue if the military is coming down and saying, we're going to screen all 25,000 members of the national guard who are serving in the inauguration, like that's a red flag. Like we have some issues and we have decided as a nation to, to not only put people who serve in the military on a pedestal, which I don't think they even enjoy, but also to decide that [00:26:00] once you serve in the military, there are questions we need to stop asking. That sort of identity needs to include all of these character conclusions.

And that it is inherently, anyone who serves in the military is inherently trustful. And, you know, I think that we not only do a disservice to each other, but absolutely a disservice to those who serve in the military, who are not asking us to do that, unless they're Dan Crenshaw putting it in a commercial and asking us to do that for their political gain. That's an undercurrent. It's not just this emphasis on masculinity and this emphasis on that warrior. Mindset, but also this glamorization of military service and make all these conclusions about me because I served in the military. 

Beth: [00:26:47] And let me be clear. I value military service when I'm assessing people who are running for office. I think that if we want to genuinely press into these questions and make some good changes, that benefit all of our [00:27:00] service members and our country and our national security, we need people who've been in the military in Congress asking those questions. One of the leading voices on getting to the point where we're screeningpeople who are coming to protect the capital has been representative Crow, a former service member. It is important to have the right balance of representation as we're making decisions about these questions. 

But I do think the militarization fetish that civilians have is something that we have got to work on. Especially as you take a look at pictures from around state capitols over the weekend. I am so delighted this Monday morning that we aren't waking up to much, much worse news from the weekend. I'm so grateful and, and a lot of different people and ideas contributed to this weekend being safer than it could have been.

And I sincerely hope when we're back here [00:28:00] Friday, that's not changed. But looking at those pictures, you can see the obsession with wanting to look and behave like a soldier. And that's just, we've got to work on that. 

Sarah: [00:28:11] Well, because the, the underlying narrative is that serving in the military makes you a better person. But I think the narrative should be, especially when we're talking about representative Congress, it's a valuable perspective and you have experiences that other people don't have, and that is important and essential, I would argue in Congress. In the same way, when we're arguing for diversity of identity, it's not that being a transsexual representative or a indigenous representative, or an Asian representative, whatever the case may be makes you an inherently better person. 

It means that you bring perspectives and experiences that are valuable because they widen our ability to see problems and solutions. And I think [00:29:00] in particular with the military, but with other identities as well, it becomes this well because you are this, that means I should trust you, because you are this, it means that you don't, you should never be questioned about your patriotism or your devotion to the United States and I think that's wrong.

 And I think that's not serving us or people in the military. And I think that there, there is a way to value service and to see the really positive impact of people with those experiences without really, you know, turning them into two dimensional characters, two dimensional characters that jump out of airplanes and battling antifa in a field and save the day.

And that's what bugs me about this ad is that it's, it's two dimensional, it's reductive, and it's not that political ads are known for complexity, but, you know, I do feel like when military service is brought in on the democratic side, because there are [00:30:00] so many assumptions about Democrats, it's adding a layer of complexity, right?

You assume these things about Democrats, but look, see I served in the military, so maybe some of your assumptions are wrong and there's more complexity here than you're giving me credit for, especially if you're a woman. Whereas here, I feel like the military service and the militarization present in the ad is reductive. It's taking out all the complexity. 

Beth: [00:30:20] And again, it is presenting a list of traits about congressional service that are pretty divorced from what we need people to be doing. And that I think is a good transition to the planning that is going on in the incoming Biden team. 

Sarah: [00:30:34] Yeah. It really struck me. And the reason you're probably like, how do we get from Dan Crenshaw to the Biden's recovery act?

But I think there was this moment, you know, I was, I was reading about all these. What I would describe as empty calls for unity. And then Joe Biden stepped forward on Friday and spoke for a long time and presented this ad. And I thought, well, this is what unity means. Unity is not an empty call. Unity is [00:31:00] not a sort of blank aspiration.

Let's just all try. Like you said, let there be peace on earth to begin with y'all. It's we need this, and this is how we are going to get there. And it was very action-oriented. This is a huge plan and not, and I don't just mean the dollar impact. I mean, there's a lot of policy packed in here and I felt like his approach was okay.

We can't just all sit around and wish for unity. The way that you see your connection and form. That deeper sense of we are in this together is working towards a common goal. And so here, I'm going to show you what our goal is, and I'm going to lead us all in this, this work we have to do together, working together is how you unite, not just sitting around calling for unity.

Beth: [00:31:56] A lot about this plan [00:32:00] should be, I think, consensus, legislation that was needed back in June. There are versions of the bullet points of this plan that have been circulating in Congress for a very long time now. And I think it's just common sense. I think the public wants to see the pandemic tackling portions of this plan and wanted to see them six months ago. So hurray let's do it. 

Sarah: [00:32:25] That's the first major part is there is a plan to tackle the pandemic from the federal government as opposed to Hey States get on it. So there's $400 billion in investments in vaccinations, testing and public health workers. I mean, I don't know about you Beth, but the constant narrative in my community is that our public health department is overtaxed, understaffed, and just way beyond their capacity is.

So he wants to hire an additional 100,000 public health workers, further increasing testing capacity so that we can do widespread asymptomatic surveillance testing. [00:33:00] There was a really interesting thing in Start Here this morning about public school, where they sent home saliva tests. All the students.

And so they were saying like, it's, it's not meant to be a treatment plan. Like it's just meant to keep an eye on asymptomatic carriers. It's working. And this, this school has remained open and it's through part of this asymptomatic surveillance testing. And then this plan also significantly accelerates the deployment of vaccines, which we are all very unhappy with right now.

Beth: [00:33:29] It also includes an expanded, mandatory paid sick leave program intended to keep people home when they are sick. Which is something we've needed in this country for a long time. You and I have spent a lot of time talking about sort of American work ethic and how people shouldn't go to work when they have the flu.

They definitely shouldn't go to work when they have COVID-19, but we chalk those up to individual decisions instead of providing some structure around, ensuring that people can afford to make the choice that's best for them and their [00:34:00] coworkers. And so this plan includes that federal program, where there are dollars behind the advice to stay at home. Yeah. 

Sarah: [00:34:09] Well, and if you want to see how important that is, look at Los Angeles County. Like that's a huge reason they are suffering so badly because of the, the socioeconomic layout of that County. And so many people can simply not afford to stay home, not to mention that because of the cost of housing they live usually in multi-generational or even multifamily homes.

And so, you know, the ability for everybody in the home to stay home, if they're sick is just essential. If you don't have that, that's how you get really really dire situations like you see in Los Angeles. And 

Beth: [00:34:45] I think this is the kind of federal investment that will allow States to do better work. I don't think this is the federal government coming in and taking unprecedented control in a way that [00:35:00] would stop the progress that's happening right now and have everybody adjust to a new system. This all sounds helpful. If I were a governor, I'd read this and it sounds helpful to me, and I appreciate that .There are also some somewhat conservative ideas in pieces of this legislation and understanding that recruiting all those new public health workers means that some regulations are going to have to be waived.

Some standards are going to have to be loosened. Some certifications are not going to be required so that we get people in, get them the training they need to do this particular job and sort out the rest later. And so I think that this is a, this is really nice policy work, in my opinion. 

Sarah: [00:35:40] So the next major section of the American rescue plan is just direct relief. We have $1 trillion in direct relief. They are raising the $600 checks to $2000. So basically everyone, if you were, if you were maxed out for the amount you could get, you'll get another $1,400 check. [00:36:00] The calculations are pretty complex. So don't hear me say that everybody's getting a $1,400 check, but.

That's a huge component of that. That's going to bring it up to the $2,000 that even president Trump was calling for back in December. It's also going to raise the unemployment benefits from the normal benefits, plus an additional $400 a week. And the very interesting part in this you're going to see this throughout this American rescue plan is that they are working into making these extensions automatic so that there's not as much of this you have to figure it out. You have to stay on the unemployment office to get this that. Hopefully it will just smooth the process by which people are getting those benefits and get them the money quicker. And 

Beth: [00:36:44] that unemployment component to me is much more important than the checks that are being mailed out because it's more sustainable over the long-term and more targeted. They also want to put $30 billion into rental assistance. So that in addition to extending the eviction [00:37:00] moratorium, we prevent the situation where landlords are getting harmed in the process. And rental property is being foreclosed on and housing is hurt from that end. And I've heard a lot from our listeners about like, what about landlords?

And I think that this gets to that question. Yes. Landlords matter too. Landlords also have credit and debt obligations, and it's really important to make sure that we're thinking through the entire process to keep more people housed. Keeping people housed is an enormously important public health goal. It should be an enormously important goal all the time in America. It is especially important during this pandemic. So I was happy to see this provision as well. 

Sarah: [00:37:39] There's also more money for nutrition programs like snap and WIC, and speaking of WIC and child poverty, there is a child tax credit expansion. Okay. So we have a child tax credit that is supposed to be targeting people in poverty, but has a huge, huge problem, which it's only partially refundable. You have to make a certain [00:38:00] amount of money in order to get the child care tax credit refund, which means those who are the poorest who have the lowest amount of income, never earn enough to get that tax refund. So what the Biden administration wants to do is expand that and make it fully refundable.

So if you don't make enough, then you'll just get the check basically. It's an estimated that 27 million children aren't receiving the full child tax credit benefit because their families don't make enough income. And so they, the Biden administration is proposing increasing the credit from $2,000 per child to 3,600 per child under six and 3000 per child, six to 17.

Again, you won't have to earn a certain amount in order to get it back. You'll just get it. And they, I mean, the estimates of how many children this could raise out of poverty are incredible. 

Beth: [00:38:49] So all of that, that we just talked about, I could make an argument is directly related to COVID-19 very consensus policy [00:39:00] should pass Congress on a bipartisan basis. Don't you think, Sarah? 

Sarah: [00:39:04] Yeah. I mean, if I'm giving an, a massive amount of Goodwill yes. 

Beth: [00:39:09] The most controversial aspect of what. President elect Biden announced last week will be a national minimum wage increase to $15. Now I say controversial probably only in the United States Congress, because the politics of this are pretty good.

20 States raised their minimum wage this year, four more States and Washington DC will raise theirs later this year. Florida. Florida, which went red in the presidential election, Florida, which has two Republican senators and our Republican governor, that Florida, approved on the ballot a minimum wage increase to $15 by 2026 and a 2019 Pew research study found that two thirds of Americans support increasing the minimum wage to $15.

The timing on [00:40:00] this also makes a lot of sense because the federal minimum wage was last increased in 2009. That's the longest period of time without an increase since the federal minimum wage was established in 1938, the longest we've gone without adjusting it. And unlike a lot of state minimum wages, which are indexed to inflation the federal minimum wage, isn't it just sits there.

So it declines in value every year. Since 1968, the value of the minimum wage has declined by more than 30%. The peak federal minimum wage we've had since 1938 was in 1968 at a dollar 60 per hour, which in 20 $19 was $10 54 cents. So estimated 392,000 workers making minimum wage. 1.2 million tipped workers making even less than minimum wage.

The congressional budget office studied a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 [00:41:00] in 2019. And then it estimated that it would benefit 17 million workers and it would lift 1.3 million people above the poverty line. It also estimated that 1.3 million jobs could be lost in that process. And economists really disagree about how much job loss could happen because of a minimum wage increase.

Sarah: [00:41:21] So there is broad agreement that increasing the minimum wage will pass along some costs to more economically secure families and individuals, hopefully reducing income inequality, and the reason that there's this debate about whether or not a higher minimum wage will lead to job loss is because we have historically analyzed it as supply and demand.

If workers cost more, employers will want fewer, but what States and cities are showing us with the data coming in from these raises that have been happening across the country is that it's a little well more complicated than that. 

Beth: [00:41:55] So one of those  is that we could see a market correction in the job [00:42:00] market wages staying so low has probably kept people who would otherwise be looking for jobs out of the job market. So it could be that a $15 minimum wage puts more labor supply out there because people are attracted to that $15 number. There is probably a number North of $15. That would be too high because employers are not going to pay people beyond their productivity. So you have to think about the floor and the ceiling.

When you talk about policy around wages, I found this article in the economist that we'll link in the show notes. It was really helpful. And the summary for me was economists no longer think higher minimum wages are always bad. That is not the same thing as saying that they are always good. There is a lot of complexity and analysis to be done here.

As I think about this COVID-19 is the big question Mark to me because workers definitely need help. The benefit to all of society of a $15 minimum wage is more [00:43:00] consumer spending and we need more consumer spending right now. And families need that extra money to pay for basic needs. We have so many people who are working full time and living in poverty and that's unacceptable, and the businesses that will shoulder the burden of this regulation, the most tend to run on small margins and are in spaces that are struggling right now.

And so I think the question will be. Who has access to credit to whether that gap in time between having to pay people more and then getting the benefit back of increased consumer spending. That is what my eye is on. What kind of policies can be wrapped around programs like the paycheck protection program to keep credit moving.

In these businesses that we want to make it through so that they can afford to pay their people. And those increased wages come back to them in the form of more people buying from them. 

Sarah: [00:43:56] There was a tweet that went a little viral this weekend about [00:44:00] the debate surrounding the minimum wage. It was from R Eric Thomas and he said, hun, what I'm not going to do at this big dystopian age is argue with you about the $15 minimum wage being too high. If you want to make less money, feel free but we, as a society are moving on. And I just thought it went viral because it is, it just gets all of it right there. And I think that the idea that we have a $7 an hour federal minimum wage is bananas to everyone. We don't need to dig in the complexities of the economic indicators.

Everybody can look at that and say, it's too low and it needs to be higher. And I think the truth is the impact of raising the minimum wage. It just depends on where you live. Like it depends on what's going on in your economy. What the impact of COVID, what's your population, what's your demographic?

 And I'm willing to take a risk on people making more money at the lower ends of the socioeconomic ladder will be [00:45:00] positive. I just I'm willing to take that risk. And, you know, I think what makes people mad, the people who are criticizing Joe Biden for putting this minimum wage raise in the American rescue plan since correctly, because his administration has articulated this, that they're going to use this momentum surrounding COVID. And like everything that they think is good policy is going to get wrapped up and tied as closely as possible to COVID. And I don't think that's trying to, you know, sort of hide or deceive or obfuscate what's going on because to me, that's what we've all learned. Right? COVID has shaken everything loose.

COVID has exposed all manner of institutional failings. And so I have no issue with Joe Biden and his administration using COVID to get at those issues, with whatever policy they see fit. I think that. Coming out [00:46:00] of COVID is not the time to think small it's to think big. And that's what I love about the American rescue plan.

Like it's big. I want big action. We have done nothing. And what we have done has been too small. And so, um, you know, I think that raising the minimum wage, I hope is just the beginning for sort of the, the big steps that they're ready to take to get America back on its feet. 

Beth: [00:46:27] When we did our political resolutions episode, I talked about how it is really important to me to not have reflexive reactions to things, and to be less in the mode of thumbs up or thumbs down and more, what can I contribute to this conversation?

What questions do I have? So when I think about raising the federal minimum wage to 15, here's what I would contribute from a more conservative perspective. I think that in talking about big, bold needed policy [00:47:00] action, I, 100% agree with the need to do yes.

Through issues of equity and all of the ways that the minimum wage represents a lot of American history that is not history to be proud of, including the sub minimum wage for people with disabilities. Yeah.

We can hold all of that together and talk about how important it is and at the same time, recognize that people don't live in the macro experience. And so if you own a business that is on the brink right now because of COVID-19 and you want to pay your workers a really good wage, and you also worry about your ability to just continue [00:48:00] to have your business and keep anybody employed, there is space to say, I am fearful of how this will impact my business and it doesn't soften anything around that fear to know that eventually it could come back and really help you, or eventually this will make for a more equitable society and yes, people who look like you have historically been advantaged. So for a moment, we're going to be on the disadvantage side here or the side that feels disadvantaged for a moment. 

You know, we live in particular times and spaces. And even if you have a lot in your life, most people who have a lot still feel obligated to a lot of things. And I am not suggesting that we don't do this because it creates that discomfort. I am just suggesting that we also acknowledge that discomfort. That's why I'm really looking at access to credit as the key issue here. 

And again, access to [00:49:00] credit is a, is a very robust topic for conversations around equity, because a lot of the people who are going to have the strongest objectives to raising the minimum wage to 15 may have a better path to credit than someone of a different race, of a different class experience. So I'm not trying to ignore any of that. I just want to add to the conversation. It's not wrong for somebody to have a moment of panic over whether they can make this work in their business right now. And I do want us to find avenues to support all the businesses that would struggle through this so that we can reach that macro benefit.

Sarah: [00:49:38] One of the many reasons that I feel so much hope as we begin the Biden administration is just because of his long something I wasn't super excited about when he started to run, but his, a long history. So at our government and you know, I think what the mistake we've made in the past is we've [00:50:00] said we, it's not like anybody didn't recognize this.

I mean, there were some things we got wrong. We thought if the jobs moved out of these towns, the people would move with them and we've seen, that's not true economically that people stay. We thought that China would be opened up to the market and it would open up to democracy. Well, we got that hell wrong, but I think one of the mistakes we've made over and over again, as we've seen the risk, we've, we've understood the risk of big changes like this.

And there's a sense of like, if we admit there's a risk, then we can't pass it. So we'll just rush into it. And. Hope the benefits outweigh the costs. I like to believe that Joe Biden has, has learned enough from that experience to say, it's not that we won't, we don't acknowledge this could be hard for people, but like you said, that, that we have a plan in place to deal with that.

That w that our argument is not lost by saying there are risks and this will not be great for everyone. And we have a plan for those people too. And I think that that is what's, what's so important [00:51:00] and what I really. Hope to see and believe I'll see it coming from this administration. 

Beth: [00:51:04] Yeah, I want to find a way to acknowledge that without getting piled on, about protecting privileged interests, because sure there are lots of privileged interests in everything that I articulated. And also I think if we want to really come together and recognize the economic benefits for everybody, it's good to look at every layer of a problem and every angle of the problem. And to know that. You can operate in good faith from a lot of different lenses when you see an action that I do think on the whole will benefit everyone.

And I also know that the cost and benefits do not out to zero for everyone. And yeah, and I think it's important to be really honest about that. Will it cost some people more? Yeah, it will. Uh, well, some businesses have a lower [00:52:00] profit margin. Yeah, they will. And I just think we need to like stare that in this space and then say, as you said, and this is where I am on it.

I'm willing to take that risk to benefit the people who have the least in our society right now. And people who are working incredibly hard jobs and still have the least that's wrong. That to me, we are in an immoral place. When I think about. The working poor. And I think that taking a chance on something that helps us move beyond this immorality is really important and I acknowledge that it will have costs.

So we expect a lot more plans like this coming out of the Biden administration. We've only scratched the surface of what they intend to roll out in the first 10 days. And we'll continue to analyze all of that, especially on Patreon through the news brief and the nightly nuance. And we'll be back here on Friday to talk about it more.

 But next, we're not really [00:53:00] going outside of politics today as much as we're going a deep dive into Sarah's inauguration plans.

Sarah: [00:53:14] It's so appropriate because our first pun is about the minimum wage. Okay. So here's what happened. I said, we got to have some food. We got to have an inauguration menu. It's very important. And then my husband decided that the food would be based on policy puns, and then he could not be stopped. He's he should really be, be on the show right now, explaining this because he's the one that's come up with all of these.

Now my contribution was for dinner, we will be having Joe Biden's favorite food, which is pasta with red sauce and chicken Briani in Kamala's honor of her Indian heritage. And then of course ice cream. That's my favorite thing about Joe Biden. He's like I don't drink, I eat ice cream, so we'll be having ice cream for dessert.

So the, I wanted like [00:54:00] an homage to them in their favorite foods, but then Nicholas really took this, this policy pun situation and ran with it. Okay. So for breakfast, we will be having raisin the minimum wage French toast with affordable health caramel sauce for breakfast, and then we will be having a side of bye donuts. Donuts. Get it?

 So that's for breakfast for lunch. This one we really struggled with because I felt like we needed a COVID reference somewhere. It seemed very important, but like using COVID as a pun in your food makes it sound like you're eating COVID and that's gross so we didn't want that. So we struggled with lunch a little bit, finally settled on hummus wrapping up the pandemic. So hummus wraps with path to citizenchips. You like it? So those are, those are our 

Beth: [00:54:55] inaugation foods.

You Hollins don't do anything small.

Sarah: [00:54:57] Nope. We don't remember when we did the like 27 [00:55:00] layer dip for all the democratic primary candidates. Yeah. We like, we like food, we like themes. And so that's, that's it. I'm excited about.

That it was so funny. We were walking. We were like, what is Joe Biden's favorite food? And it was just so you know, his, you know, Jill's Italian, he talks about that a lot. And so it was just pasta with red sauce. I'm like how Joe Biden could you be? So Kamala's favorite Indian food involves some fermentation at that we did not plan far enough in advance for that. We've decided we will save for her inauguration.

Do you have any exciting inauguration plans or like, what are you watching for during the inauguration ceremony? 

Beth: [00:55:41] I was just sitting here thinking we're such different people and I love this about y'all. I love that you're doing this. No, honestly, I've been kind of in knots about inauguration day, just worried about the safety of it.

I am trying to channel my anxiety [00:56:00] into, uh, nerdiness, which is my favorite outlet. So I am just preparing a day of reading lots of executive orders cause my understanding is they're going to be so many executive orders. So I was thinking about making a binder, like actually printing the executive orders from the Biden administration.

I thought this would be a good research project for me over the next four years and like keeping them and making actual notes on them and having that be sort of a reference thing. So I'm just that I'm going more down the like staples route to inauguration celebration than the food route. 

Sarah: [00:56:34] Are you not doing anything with the girls though? Like, I mean, I just feel like the world has been so crazy. I have not fully like felt in my body the fact that we're about to swear in the first female vice-president like, I don't, I'm not prepared emotionally. 

Beth: [00:56:46] We are going to watch it. And I am just going to trust all of the planning and the safety protocol. I would feel so much better if this were happening in doors. I'm just going to say it. I don't need this show of strength of doing it on the Capitol [00:57:00] steps. I would like it to be inside. I would like it to be small and quiet and them just go to work. I do not think there's anything wrong with acknowledging in a pandemic, at a time when we've had a lot of domestic terrorism, at a time when lots of people are suffering, that it would be best to just do this quietly and move on. But I definitely want to watch with the girls, the swearing in of the vice-president by a female Supreme court justice Sotomayor, so I am, I am excited about that moment and we'll watch it together for sure. 

Sarah: [00:57:34] Well, I was worried at first, I don't feel as concerned as I was because for a lot of reasons, I mean, I think the fact, like you said that we're not reporting on a lot of terrible protests at state capitals. We have some friends in DC who live on Capitol Hill, they had to leave. Like you can't use your cell phone, they shut down cell phone service. They had to go stay somewhere else.

It's not a joke there right now. And you know, [00:58:00] I think that Americans right now, especially because of president Trump's refusal to attend the inauguration need a little bit of that pageantry. I think right now in the midst of how difficult things are, we need a little bit of that. It's like how I felt my emotional reaction to seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade.

Like there was just that sense of like, Oh right. I forgot. Like I think, I think we all need that maybe a little bit more than we realize. And I do trust the security officials to keep everybody safe. And I maybe I'm just feeling optimistic because it is inauguration week generally, but I don't feel as much as anxiety as I did last week.

And I'm just ready to to celebrate with the rest of America. And I, I'm not foolish. I understand that everybody will be celebrating, but I think that we need shared experiences [00:59:00] generally to shore up that, that identity as American citizens. And so I do, I think it's really important. I think it will be. Uh, really positive.

Beth: [00:59:08] I hope so. I'm nervous, but I hope so. And I hope you enjoy your food. I will look forward to, um, when I assume any patient photos. 

Sarah: [00:59:16] Yes. Yes. There will be so many pictures. Everybody just stay glued to get Instagram because it will be an all day thing. Okay. Before we wrap up someone shared this poem and I don't remember where, but it's beautiful.

And it was right after we recorded our last episode where you could feel a struggling and feel us really tied up in knots about so many things, particularly our relationship and feeling towards our fellow Americans. And so when this was shared, I thought, Oh man, it's so beautiful. And it's so perfect as basically everything written by Wendell Berry is and I thought we should share it at the close of the show. It's called "Our Real [01:00:00] Work."

It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work.

Beth: [01:00:05] And that when we no longer know which way to go, we have come to our real journey. 

Sarah: [01:00:09] The mind that is not baffled is not employed. 

Beth: [01:00:14] The impeded stream is the one that sings.

Thank you all so much for joining us for giving your time and your thoughts to this community. We hope that you enjoy watching the inauguration and we'll look forward to being back here together on Friday to discuss it and on Patreon between now and then. Have Beth: Pantsuit Politics is produced by Studio D Podcast Production.  

Sarah: Alise Napp is our managing director. Dante Lima is the composer and performer of our theme music. 

Beth: Our show is listener supported. Special thanks to our executive producers. 

Sarah: David McWilliams. Ally Edwards, Martha Bernitski, Amy Whited, 

Janice Elliot, Sarah Ralph Barry Kaufman, Jeremy Sequoia, Laurie Ladow, Emily Neislie,  

Alison Luzador. Tracy Puddoff,  Danny Ozment, Molly Cores, Julie Hallar, 

Jared Minson, Marnie Johanson. The Creeds! 

Beth: Sherry Blem, Tiffany Hassler, Morgan McCue, Nicole Berkless, Linda Daniel, Joshua Allen, and Tim Miller. 

Sarah: To support Pantsuit Politics, and receive lots of bonus features, visit patreon.com/pantsuit politics. 

Beth: You can connect with us on our website, PantsuitPoliticsShow.com. Sign up for our weekly emails and follow us on Instagram.

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