After all, the labor market has been hobbling all summer; state and local governments are struggling to make ends meet, and so are millions of income-depressed families. Many of those families live in swing states, which gave Senate Republicans and President Trump a motive to provide an economic boost with Election Day nearing.
Instead, negotiations on Capitol Hill stalled. Now there is a decent chance that no further stimulus measures will be taken before November.
In an opinion essay published this morning, Jay C. Shambaugh, who was the chief economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 2010 to 2011, urged congressional leaders to come to an agreement.
It may be easier, politically, to give up and devolve into partisan blaming as Election Day nears, he wrote. However, it is imperative that a new deal is reached to avoid suffering and to keep the economy from further slowing.
Mr. Shambaugh praised a bipartisan group in the House made up of 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans for putting forth a proposal on Tuesday that, while not perfect, may open prospects for a deal. But top House Democrats have already said that the plan, which is worth as much as $2 trillion, does not go far enough.
Mr. Shambaugh argued that the compromises framework merited consideration for the sake of the one in five families who report their children dont have enough to eat this week and the panicked states already forced into firing workers.
Those stakeholders, he argued, cannot wait until after the election for a deal.
Talmon Joseph Smithread more
Playing Politics With a Vaccine
