President Biden made a political calculation when earlier this week he decided to give the CDC his blessing to extend the eviction moratorium to the beginning of October after initially resisting doing so.
Indeed, Biden acknowledged the measure might not pass "constitutional muster" but "it will probably give some additional time while we’re getting that $45 billion out to people who are, in fact, behind in the rent and don’t have the money".
In saying this, Biden's political calculation is that he would rather fight the Right than the Left on the question of an eviction moratorium. Biden wasn't only contending with the Squad led by Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush who slept on the Capitol steps for four nights but subsequently with Democratic Congressional leadership. This was a fight he could ill afford. Ideally, such a measure should be passed through Congress but you won't find 10 Republican Senators who give a flying fuck about the poor.
So despite dubious legal standing, Biden extended the eviction moratorium to hold the Left at bay and to acknowledge political reality on Capitol Hill. In so doing, now the Right is going after Biden on it by declaring his actions "lawless" with one GOP Congressman calling for his impeachment. Biden would much rather have this fight because every time conservatives call him lawless or declare he should be impeached, he can remind voters that conservatives were perfectly happy to turn a blind eye to President Trump sending a violent mob to Capitol Hill to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.
Yes, Biden's measure might very well be rebuked by The Supreme Court. But I suspect the voting public is going to be much more inclined to be forgiving of a President who tried to prevent people from being thrown out of their homes and onto to the street amid a resurgent COVID pandemic than a President who praised his supporters after they assaulted police officers and wanted to hang his Vice-President.
No comments:
Post a Comment