What America loses if it doesn't 'Build Back Better'

I WILL leave the savvy political analysis to others. I don't know why Senator Joe Manchin apparently decided to go back on an explicit promise he made to President Joe Biden. Naively, I thought that even in this era of norm-breaking, honouring a deal you have just made would be one of the last norms to go, since a reputation for keeping your word once given is useful even to highly cynical politicians. I also do not know what, if anything, can be saved from the Build Back Better framework.

What I do know is that there will be huge human and, yes, economic costs if Biden's moderate but crucial spending plans fall by the wayside. Failure to enact a decent social agenda would condemn millions of American children to poor health and low earnings in adulthood - because that is what growing up in poverty does. It would condemn millions more to inadequate medical care and financial ruin if they got ill, because that is what happens when people lack adequate health insurance. It would condemn hundreds of thousands, maybe more, to unnecessary illness and premature death from air pollution, even aside from the intensified risk of climate catastrophe.

I am not speculating here. There is overwhelming evidence that children in low-income families who receive financial aid are significantly healthier and more productive than those who didn't once they become adults. Uninsured Americans often lack access to needed medical care and face unaffordable bills. And studies show that policies to mitigate climate change will also yield major health benefits from cleaner air over the next decade.