Congress Fiddles While the Economy Burns Down

Congress, to its credit and to President Donald Trump’s as well, rushed through three increasingly large coronavirus rescue bills, with the third signed into law on March 27. It was an impressive show of emergency action in the face of sincere differences on policy and complicating partisan incentives.

Now … where’s the next bill? Where’s the urgency? Congress began serious work on the “Phase 3” bill, which became a $2.2 trillion law, immediately after agreeing on the Phase 2 bill. But with the economy in full retreat — see the terrible new retail sales and factory output numbers, along with the millions of newly unemployed — no one is acting as if there’s a need for speed. Phase 4 needs to be big, fast and simple, but three weeks after Phase 3 was done, it’s not happening.