Congressional Democrats may be just days away from beginning the final series votes on the $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill and today's report from payroll processor ADP highlights why it's still very important to put money in people's pockets.
As of today, there isn't a single Republican who says they'll vote for the bill even though payrolls grew by about half as much as economists predicted last month.
Company payrolls rose by 117,000 during the month, according to ADP Research Institute data released Wednesday. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for an increase of 205,000. The prior month was revised up to a 195,000 advance.
The figures suggest that employment gains continue to be held back by pandemic-related constraints on businesses and economic activity. Even so, many economists expect a meaningful improvement in the labor market in the coming months as Covid-19 vaccinations pick up and virus concerns ease.
The obvious need for more spending is not persuading Republicans to support more spending because what they're truly afraid of is that it will work.
They're afraid the stimulus bill is going to fuel a massive rebound in the economy throughout the summer and second half of the year and give Democrats too many positive things to campaign on in 2022. Republicans could have supported the bill and claimed it as their own, too, but that's not the way they think. Many of them probably don't even remember how to campaign on anything but anti-Democratic animus if they ever have.
While Democrats are focused on improving everyone's life when the pandemic is over, Republicans in a dozen states are passing voter suppression and anti-transgender bills. Conservative media is currently focused on the 'cancelation' of Dr. Seuss, not the economy or even Congress.