With congressional Democrats having finally gotten President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief package across the legislative finish line, they’ve handed Biden a political win even larger than what it looks like on the surface, according to observers across the political spectrum.

Democrats muscled through Biden’s massive economic plan without a single Republican vote, and now Biden looks forward to signing his long-sought “American rescue plan” into law this week.

But the legislation is much more than just the $1,400 stimulus checks Biden’s been promising the American people, said Amanda Carpenter, an author and speechwriter for such conservative Republican senators as Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Ted Cruz of Texas.

“Yeah, I think this bill is so massive. I mean, we pay attention to the $1,400 checks because that’s what we think of as COVID relief, but man, you look at the details of this bill, Joe Biden got a lot. This is practically FDR-level type of reform that he’s getting,” Carpenter said, referring to the expansive New Deal President Franklin Roosevelt laid out to get the nation out of the grip of the Great Depression. “There’s $86 billion union pension bailout. There’s a complete transformation of the child tax credit, so it becomes sort of a direct payment in the form of a monthly allowance. There’s expansion of Obamacare.

“I mean, when you talk about a massive victory for the Democrats, it’s not just the relief checks that are going out. There’s so much more in the details. And I actually think, you know, the Republicans, because the Democrats chose to pass this with a 50-vote threshold, they essentially took a pass. Like, where was the debate on all of these other details? They were talking about Dr. Seuss,” Carpenter added, referring to the decision by Seuss Enterprises to pull several titles from publication for racist imagery. “And I think it’s going to take them many, many weeks to realize how much they actually got rolled by not choosing to engage in this debate.”

Jaime Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, also emphasized the far-reaching effects that the legislation will have.

“This bill is going to have a dramatic impact on the lives of low-income kids across the country. They say about 93 percent of children in this country will be impacted because of this,” Harrison said in an on-air interview with CNN host Don Lemon. “I mean, just think about it, Don. We are increasing the child tax credit in this bill from $2,000 — you got a kid like mine that’s under the age of six, I got a 2-year-old. That will go from $2,000 to $3,600.

“For a poor family that is struggling right now because of COVID, that’s a game changer,” he added. “There’s so many provisions in this bill that’s going to make life easier for a lot of low-income and working people in this country.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised Biden’s leadership getting the package through Congress.

“This is the Biden American Rescue Plan. It will be followed by the American Recovery Plan and it’s about just that, saving lives and livelihoods and giving people hope for the future. His presidency does just that,” Pelosi said. “This legislation is a reflection of his values.”

Content from The Bipartisan Press. All Rights Reserved.