House progressives are detached from Senate reality. Rep. Cori Bush, a Democrat “squad” member in the House, attacked Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin for his opposition to the multi-trillion dollar Build Back Better Act. 

Manchin is “anti-black, anti-child,  according to Bush because of his opposition to this mega-spending welfare bill. He’s not even opposed to it; he just wants to know what’s in it before he signs off on it. If Bush wants to identify politicians hurting blacks, children, women, and immigrants, she needn’t go further than to look in the mirror. 

Bush represents Missouri’s 1st Congressional district, which includes a big chunk of St. Louis. The district is 49 percent black. According to Census Reporter, median household income in the district is $50,163, compared with a U.S. average of $65,712; the poverty rate is 16.4 percent, compared with a national average of 12.3 percent; and 41 percent of households are headed by a married couple, compared with a 60 percent nationwide average. Only someone who thinks history is irrelevant would believe that plunging low-income Americans deeper into government dependency will free them from the cycle of poverty and underachievement. 

The Build Back Better Act, with child care subsidies that progressives like Bush are touting as critical for women and low-income families, is effectively a rebirth of the old welfare program, Aid to Families With Dependent Children. Remember that? We had to reform it in the 90s because it devastated black families by penalizing marriage and work to qualify for welfare. According to University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan, the child care subsidies are structured such that single parenthood will be rewarded and marriage punished. Per Mulligan, a single mother earning 75 percent of median income in her state would pay nothing for child care. But a married couple each earning 75 percent of median income would pay full-price.

 Further, that “full price” will cost more than today because the bill regulates how much child care providers must be paid — “equivalent to wages for elementary educators with similar credentials and experience.” The babysitter makes what the teacher makes. Mulligan estimates this would increase the cost of child care providers by some 151 percent. 

He also notes that various subsidies in the bill for Medicaid and “affordable housing” will discourage work because subsidies disappear as earned income increases. Mulligan summarizes, saying the result of all this will be “more kids will come home from a regulated child-care facility to an unmarried parent who is out of work.” The Commerce Department just reported horrible third-quarter results for the American economy, showing growth at a dismal two percent. 

We’re already seeing inflation at higher rates than we’ve seen in years.

So larding our country down with trillions in ill-conceived welfare state spending spree is not what we need now, or ever. 

Perhaps moderate Democrats in the Senate should awaken into reality before they allow progressives like Cori Bush to cost them their jobs in Election 2022.