In the Coronavirus Bill, Most of the Money for Ordinary People Is Thanks to Democrats

Say something!Kevin Drum

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Judging from my Twitter feed—I know, I know—conservatives know only one thing about the Democratic Party contribution to the coronavirus rescue bill: it includes money for Obamaphones and the Kennedy Center. I assume that this is basically the only thing Fox News has told them.

That’s the conservative noise machine for you. Even in the face of a massive pandemic the only thing they care about is pressing Trumpish hot buttons for their audience. Still, I wonder: how many people of any political persuasion understand that the expansion of unemployment benefits in the rescue bill is worth an extra $600 per week through the end of June? How many understand that this adds up to $10,000 or so? How many understand that this is literally the only thing in the bill that will keep most people whole while they’re out of work thanks to government lockdowns?

And how many understand that the only reason this is in the bill is because Democrats insisted on it? Republicans couldn’t have cared less. Their original bill bailed out businesses and gave people a flashy but utterly inadequate one-shot $1,200 check. That was it. That was all anyone would have had to get them through the next few months.

But why would anyone know this unless Democrats do something to take credit for it? Have they? Not that I’ve heard. So conservatives think Democrats were all about Obamaphones and the Kennedy Center, while everyone else figures that Democrats did nothing.

Once again, then, Democrats do the right thing but commit political malpractice by not crowing about it. It’s a wonder the party is still in business.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate