Why Spending Too Little Could Backfire on Democrats

<p>When Democrats first set out to expand the social safety net, they envisioned a piece of legislation as transformational as what the party has achieved in the 1960s. In the process, they hoped that they’d win back the working-class voters the party had since lost.</p><p>But now that they’re on the brink of reaching a deal, the question is whether the enormous cuts and compromises they’ve made will make it impossible to fulfill either ambition.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/jonathan-weisman">Jonathan Weisman</a>, a congressional correspondent for The Times.</p><p><i>Love listening to New York Times podcasts? Help us test a new audio product in beta and give us your thoughts to shape what it becomes. Visit </i><a href="http://nytimes.com/audio"><i>nytimes.com/audio</i></a><i> to join the beta.</i></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/signup/NTTD?smid=pc-thedaily">Sign up here</a> to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. </p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>As Democrats ponder cutting a $3.5 trillion social safety net bill down to perhaps $2 trillion, a proposal to limit programs to the poor has rekindled a debate on the<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/us/politics/manchin-democrats-means-testing.html"> meaning of government itself</a>.</li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p>