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Greg Bates is a writer from Monroe.
Both Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. Jared Golden are out of step with their voters. They urge President Joe Biden to negotiate for a smaller relief package under the guise of promoting bipartisanship. But what few seem to realize is that Biden has already succeeded on this front.
Prior to leaving office, President Trump advocated for a more than $1.8 trillion relief package. Biden is at $1.9 trillion. The difference is miniscule and stands as one of the narrowest gaps in legislative history.
Trump and his 74 million voters understand that confronting the pandemic requires going big. Thus the name ” Operation Warp Speed” for the administration’s vaccination plan. Biden and his voters also grasp the need to move fast. Thus the promise of 100 million vaccinations in 100 days.
As a nation we are divided on many issues. And Biden and Trump’s aid packages are different, no doubt. But no one voted for small steps.
Are we so divided that we fail to see bipartisanship when it is staring us in the face?
Even the many Democrats who back Biden need to be reminded: We have already achieved bipartisanship — we are one with Trump voters on this.
In the interests of the country, even our current president could think differently. Biden could seize this opportunity, branding his proposal the Unity Act, one that most voters agree with.
Biden has another opportunity to heal our divide, if he is willing to act on an adage of President Ronald Reagan’s: “There’s no limit to the amount of good you can do if you give other people the credit.” Despite Biden’s eloquent inaugural address, unity is about action, and giving credit where credit is due is an important way to do that.
Biden could potentially save lives by acting to reduce the political resistance to getting vaccinated. He could call the vaccines created under his predecessor’s watch the “Trump vaccines.” That term would be hard to swallow for the many of us who lament Trump’s otherwise lethal response to the pandemic. Nonetheless, the vaccines were a Republican administration initiative, and a wildly successful one at that. If recognizing this saved lives, the pain would be worth it.
Returning to the aid package, if Collins and Golden want to do something useful, they could figure out the midpoint between the two proposals of Biden’s $1.9 trillion and Trump’s $1.8 trillion and advocate we meet there. Instead of berating Biden, they could loudly proclaim that voters are united.
The offer from 10 Republicans of about $600 billion as an alternative to the Trump and Biden plans has nothing to do with what either president wants and nothing to do with what voters of either party want. On this issue, Collins and, dare I include Golden, represent the voice of the old guard of the old Republican Party. We need politicians on both sides to get out of the way and endorse the will of the people. We want change now!
There is yet more unity to be had. Those who wear masks and those who refuse to do so can all agree: We are tired of them. Tired of living in a pandemic. We want to get back to normal. The slogan behind which everyone can rally is clear: Get COVID done.