upgrade its systems to deliver the additional
$600 a week in federally provided benefits.
Throughout U.S. history, economic catastrophes
have sometimes led to lasting programs to
benefit ordinary people — and sometimes
have not. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
drove through a series of lasting changes to
the economy after the Depression struck, to
provide Social Security pensions, for instance,
and to make it easier for workers to form unions
and bargain for higher wages and better
working conditions.
President Barack Obama countered the Great
Recession with a stimulus package and pushed
through legislation that provided health
insurance coverage to millions of Americans.
But a backlash by conservative critics, decrying
what they called meddlesome and costly
government programs, stymied further action.
The government ended up doing less to help
the economy recover from the Great Recession
than it had after previous downturns.
This time, said Alexandra Cawthorne Gaines
of the liberal Center for American Progress,
“What we want to see are long-term structural
changes,” including expanding access to health
care. In light of the crisis, she said, there may
be more willingness, from Republicans and
Democrats alike, to better protect the neediest.
Gould at the Economic Policy Institute said the
country needs to strengthen its social safety so
the needy aren’t left so vulnerable in the next
public health crisis.
“This is not the last time this is going to happen,”
she said.