Mitt Romney and the Short Rope

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In his role as the personification of the pre-Trump Republican Party, Mitt Romney has proposed a modification of the provision in Senate Republicans’ new COVID bill that immediately slashes the $600 weekly unemployment insurance supplement to $200. Romney’s proposal would phase in the cut, reducing the amount to $400 one month from now, $200 two months from now, and zeroing it out three months from now.

In his desire to phase in insufficiency rather than impose it abruptly, the Mittster is upholding the time-honored traditions of “moderate” Republicans. So time-honored, in fact, that his policy is best described by a line I heard from Democratic Sen. Eugene McCarthy during his 1968 presidential campaign.

“Republicans adhere to the short-rope theory,” McCarthy said. “A man is drowning 50 feet from shore. Republicans throw him a 30-foot rope and say, ‘We’ve gone more than halfway.’”

Mitt Romney is a short-rope Republican.

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