“You're on a roll, kid. Enjoy it while it lasts. Because it never does.” That’s from Oliver Stone’s movie “Wall Street,” uttered by a wise old broker played by Hal Holbrook to hotshot Charlie Sheen in the middle of a string of market gains. The same aphorism applies to politics.
Unified control of the White House and Congress does not happen all that often. We are in one of those periods now, with Joe Biden as president and his fellow Democrats holding the majority in the House and Senate. And they’re pursuing policy like they know their time is limited: enacting a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief measure in early March and releasing plans for a multitrillion-dollar infrastructure plan this week.
In this episode of Political Theater, host Jason Dick talks to Molly E. Reynolds of The Brookings Institution about why unified control of government is so rare. And then, CQ Roll Call politics editor Herb Jackson joins Jason to discuss the political consequences of unified control.
Show Notes:
- Unlikely alliances push for action on infrastructure, but will they last?
- What’s in Biden’s infrastructure investment, corporate tax plan
- Senate Democrats welcome Biden ‘signal’ on nixing filibuster if Republicans obstruct
- Schumer lays out ambitious spring, early summer agenda
- The GOP’s bet against chocolate chip cookies
- On this issue, even Joe Manchin and public opinion can’t move the GOP
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