The last time Mike Pence was in the Capitol building, the GOP and Donald Trump nearly allowed him to be handed over to a raging mob. This time, the GOP is sending Mike Pence in to oppose the most popular COVID relief bill, one supported by nearly every American making less than $100,000 a year, and one from which GOP leaders fear certain members will stray and vote “YES” for the popular bill. Thankless work, but it’s the only type of work that Mike Pence knows. Once again, he’s a loyal foot soldier to people who just need him as a speaking human body with decent Republican-hair.

Most Americans not named Lauren Boebert, Donald Trump, or Mike Pence, wanted this bill passed two months ago and that is going to put a lot of heat upon Republicans who oppose it. We suppose that Mike Pence is there to tell that them that life goes on, even when one is hated, used up, mocked, and handed over to the Huns.

The $1.7 trillion package contains a vast array of provisions including but it not limited to the following relief efforts: $1,400 checks for individuals making less than $75,000, a minimum wage hike to $15 per hour, pension resolution and subsidies for laid-off workers, an extension of unemployment benefits until August, tens of billions of dollars dedicated to a comprehensive vaccine rollout, and an increase of the $2,000 Child Tax Credit.

For an economy that is teetering on a cliff, that sounds like a good idea. And Americans agree, Mike is up against formidable pressure to keep Repubs from staying toward it, but again, he doesn’t know anything else. It is surely why leadership picked him:

According to a poll conducted by Yahoo News in early February, “Ordinary Americans overwhelmingly favor most of Biden’s agenda.” Fifty-eight percent of Americans, for example, support Biden’s minimum wage increase. Seventy-four percent support $2,000 stimulus checks, which amounts to $600 more than the current provision.

Right. Otherwise known as “Everyone.”

So now the GOP is asking Pence to do the impossible and put his face all over it, in the negative, and encourage every other Republican to be negative about it, too. They probably figure everyone hates him anyway, MAGAs and Democrats:

GOP leaders believe that the moment is similar to 2009, when a new Democratic President pushed through a major relief plan with scant GOP backing — more than a year before their party took back control of Congress, a message that former Vice President Mike Pence privately delivered to a group of conservative lawmakers on Tuesday afternoon.

Indeed, Republicans believe that public opinion will shift on the matter — eventually. Yeah, but this isn’t that. People are far more frustrated. And this time, the government is giving money directly to the people that need it most, instead of the least. It is tough to rally the GOP around being bigger assh0les. But if anyone can do it, it’s the guy who’s never known anything else.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak