Welcome to the commentary magazine daily podcast today is Monday March 8th 2021.

I'm John Pajor, it's the editor of commentary with me is always senior writer Christine Rose and high Christine.

Hi John.

Associate editor Noah Rothman.

Hi Noah.

Hey John.

And executive editor Abe Greenwald.

Hi Abe.

Hi John.

So the 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief America needs to be saved act past the Senate is going back to the house for reconciliation purposes.

And will in theory be signed into law assuming that something disastrous to Joe Biden's hopes does not happen in the house over the next four or five days should be signed into law next week.

It is the second largest act of budget budget act in American history.

I think next to last year's you know Hail Mary coronavirus salvation package and it's interesting because it's interesting in 10,000 ways because I think the ultimate message is you know elections have consequences right well.

So in 1996 after an election when Bill Clinton lost the House and Senate to Republicans in the biggest midterm switch in American history really the most dramatic in his first in his second state of the union after the when he was gearing up to run for for re-election.

He issued the famous statement in the state of union that the era of big government is over.

He didn't really mean it.

Of course it wasn't really over if you take big government simply to be like the heavy hand of Washington or whatever because in different ways the air of the government has remained with us.

Governments got bigger in the aftermath of 9 11 the security state got larger.

We created a new cabinet department stuff like that and then of course Obama came along.

And created Obamacare with a scent of the House and Senate spent to 1,500,000 in 14 months in a spending spree that likes of which no one had ever seen.

And then of course Donald Trump came in and had no appetite for cutting anything but regulations.

So the big big government never really went anywhere but this is what Clinton was saying was not going to happen anymore is now happening which is an expansion of government spending and a doubling down on the notion that the Washington should be providing direct benefits goods and services to the electorate and to the American people.

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