Giving people money is (surprise!) really popular right now
86% of voters want Congress to approve an extra round of stimulus spending
When Republicans killed efforts for an extra $2 trillion in stimulus spending right before the election, I argued that it was perhaps their biggest missed opportunity of the campaign. Back then, an extra round of direct payments was wildly popular, and some Democrats were arguing for checks of up to $2,000. But the additional funding was killed by Mitch McConnell and some of his Republican colleagues, leaving the party without a popular achievement before Election Day. One wonders how the election may have been different had they done the popular thing.
Now, two months after the effort for a second round of spending (the first being in April at the beginning of the pandemic) began, Washington has nearly converged on a bipartisan compromise for a $900 billion stimulus package. This time, political concerns look less likely to override electoral motivations.
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The current bill would give qualifying Americans another $600, extend pandemic unemployment insurance for a few months and provide funds for small businesses that have been hurt by the virus — three things on the Democratic wishlist, though most have called for $1,200 checks rather than the $600 handouts. But the bill would not advance paid sick leave and would shield employers from legal liability if their workers got sick with the virus — two Republican-favored proposals that have drawn a lot of fire from Democrats.
Portions of that bill are wildly popular. For example, a CBS News poll conducted between December 8th and 11th found that 86% of Americans approved of “Congress passing an additional economic relief package that would provide funds to people and businesses impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.” Democrats (94% approval), Republicans (79%), and Independents (85%) are all on board with the package, making it one of the most demanded pieces of legislation before Washington adjourns for the winter recess.
Of course, it is no surprise that additional spending is this popular. Generally speaking, people like it when you give them money (even though they don’t like it when you give groups they don’t like money — hence the conservative line “I don’t want government, handouts I want hand-ups”).
For what it’s worth, there are several reasons to believe that support for government stimulus would also be higher than average right now: Roughly 80% of voters are at least somewhat worried about the general state of the economy; 12 million households are more than $5,000 behind on their rent (which many are now paying with their credit cards); and 25% of apartment-renters are completely failing to make rent (with many more presumably struggling to do so).
(That dip is from the first round of stimulus checks hitting renters’ bank accounts.)
Given the demand for more spending, it is also not surprising to see Republicans joining Democratic-led efforts for relief. Josh Hawley, the populist, Trumpist Senator from Missouri, gave a compelling speech from the floor demanding direct relief for working families. Hawley even joined with Bernie Sanders last week in pushing for $1,200 payments, though the effort was killed by fellow Republican Ron Johnson of Wisconsin — who is now, after 4 years of supporting deficit-raising cuts for rich Americans and corporates, suddenly concerned about the deficit. Back in October/November, McConnell blew up $2T in relief for a similar reason; He didn’t want the party to look open to directly increasing the deficit, or else it would be on the back foot when negotiating deals with a Biden administration over the next four-to-eight years.
It looks likely that the GOP is going to act more strategically this time. Alas, that is what the electoral connection is all about.
Related links:
CBS News poll: CBS News Poll – December 8-11, 2020.pdf - Google Drive
538 roundup: Both Republicans And Democrats Want Congress To Approve A New Coronavirus Stimulus Package | FiveThirtyEight
Eric Levitz for NY Mag: COVID Stimulus Checks to Come at the Unemployed’s Expense
James Hohmann in The Washington Post: The Daily 202: Stimulus deal will not extend emergency paid sick leave, which helped slow the spread of covid-19 - The Washington Post