Critics, supporters alike may be 'misleading' the public on scale of Democrats' reconciliation bill

Both sides of the progressive-moderate debate in Congress may be "misleading" the American public on the true scale of Democrats' budget reconciliation bill, Eric Levitz writes for New York.

Critics like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and supporters such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) frequently emphasize the proposal's $3.5 trillion price tag. The former paints it as too exuberant and risky, while the latter champions it as historic and transformative. If passed, it would ultimately be the biggest expansion of the American welfare state in half a century, Levitz acknowledges, but that's over the long-run. Its actual immediate, single-year fiscal cost is $350 billion.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.