There is no upside to moderation in the face of a disaster. Asking for only half as many fire trucks as necessary to rush to the scene of a fire does not make you a wise leader; it makes you someone who let the house burn down. No matter how many times we are forced to learn this the hard way, the lesson has not sunk in for the leaders of the Democratic Party.
Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the House Democratic leadership unveiled their proposal for the latest stimulus bill, the patronizingly titled HEROES Act. This is really version 2.0 of the CARES Act, the initial multi-trillion-dollar post-Covid stimulus bill that passed less than two months ago and is already tapped out. One might imagine that Congress would go ahead and appropriate a sufficient amount of spending to cover the gargantuan economic hole that has been caused by the coronavirus shutdowns, but no. They prefer to do this in phases, ensuring that the relief Americans ultimately get will be late, unsteady, and always on the verge of running out before the crisis is over.