MSNBC analyst Anand Giridharadas lauded President Joe Biden on Friday for not worrying about the budget deficit when pushing for and signing the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that became law in March.
While appearing on “Morning Joe,” Giridharadas told host Willie Geist that Biden is more “persuadable” than other politicians, isn’t “listening to” the same finance advisers his Democratic predecessors listened to and is focused more on “getting investment into people” than on “deficit anxiety.”
“There are many progressives who like the way this is headed, this big, bold, $1.9 trillion package, looking for more in infrastructure, looking for more beyond that. Where do you think Democrats should go with the power they have now?” Geist began. (RELATED: ‘This Is Nuts’: Shark Tank’s ‘Mr.Wonderful’ Blasts Democratic Congressman In Heated Debate Over ‘Horrible’ Relief Bill)
“I think the possibility that has emerged … is that Joe Biden turns out to be more persuadable, not to say perfectly aligned with, but more persuadable than a lot of people in American public life are,” Giridharadas responded. “So there has been the possibility of moving on some of these things.”
He went on to argue there’s “a new set of ideas of conventional wisdom” on the rise that will be “more significant for the long term,” such as “giving people money directly” and focusing on the poor rather than only the middle class. He added that he thinks “there’s a real shift” in who Biden is listening to compared to former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and that the “Goldman Sachs/CitiGroup” people are being shifted out of political power.
“And finally, deficit anxiety. Remember deficit anxiety? That word, the word deficit, almost never came up for most people in this debate over this stimulus. And it suggests … that we actually need to focus on getting investment into people, to live their fullest lives, and not worry about narrow accounting in a crisis like this,” he concluded. (RELATED: ‘The Devil Is In The Details’: MSNBC Guest Donny Deutsch Wants Biden To Stop Talking About Cost Of Relief Package)
Biden signed the $1.9 trillion relief package into law on Mar. 11. The bill passed through Congress with no support from Republicans in the House or Senate, due to concerns over excessive spending unrelated to the pandemic. The passage of the bill brought the total U.S. spending on coronavirus relief to $5.5 trillion. This comes as the U.S. national debt crossed $28 trillion, continuing to climb to its highest number in the history of the country.