The states with the biggest revenue drops are ... red states. Those are the states needing the bailouts. https://www.axios.com/covid-pandemic-state-tax-revenue-980bad9e-ae3e-476e-9b6a-6bdbd017594a.html Nice try, though. Seems like Florida and Texas' "we're gonna save the economy while letting Covid run wild" strategies flopped - those states are two of the top 7 in percentage drops in revenue..
The culture wars win out. That's why you have places like Arkansas and Missouri overwhelming voting to raise minimum wages while overwhelmingly voting GOP in state and national elections. The GOP does have the messaging figured out - people will love the money they are getting while simultaneously thinking the people giving it to them are demonspawns from hell.
There's evidence that the Biden team has learned some lessons from the Obama years and has plans for sustained messaging around the ARP-https://www.axios.com/biden-covid-relief-public-support-c1c3194b-3753-4cd7-9d44-b1ee82485ba7.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiossneakpeek&stream=top Reason for a little hope.
My wife already bought a new FitBit and was scrolling through Abercrombie & Fitch's website.....and we ain't even got the money yet. Stimulated economy, indeed. Of course, many others need the $$$ in a real way.
Yes culture issues have a very strong appeal and certainly issues like abortion and immigration are very central to the current Right. Whether that applies to things like "cancelling Dr. Suess" I'm not sure if that will be as much of a wedge issue. Getting checks will be very popular and if the economy is back and COVID-19 vanquished the Democrats will be in good shape. The issue that I think Democrat very much need to be careful about is "Defund the Police". That issue has very much been hijacked by the opposition.
The culture war wins for the 30-40% of voters or whoever that are adherents to the Fox News Fan Fiction Canon. I have no doubt at all that they will absolutely convince themselves of the relevance of Dr. Seuss book burnings on the East Lawn and the ceremonial neutering of Mr. potato head years from now. As for the rest, the Trump-Biden voters or the Clinton-Trump voters or the lower propensity Trump voters- will they be swayed by that or 4% unemployment, checks and a much bigger EITC? I don't know, but I am guessing less than the first group.
It should be called the Red State Bailout. The biggest per capita winners are: Alaska, North Dakota, Wyoming and Vermont.
I think a good economy will sway them as it reduces anger at government - so in that regard, the checks help. But I don't think a vote against the particular bill hurts them. A Republican who voted for this bill probably loses more in their primary against some anti-RINO dumbass than they gain in the general. So if you're a Republican, the smart strategy is probably to talk out of both sides of your mouth - vote against the bill but take credit for its benefits. Like Roger Wicker.
I'm arguing with the stupid motivated reasoning by Eric Erickson. Sure maybe he's right that more absolute numbers of base voters will care about whatever nonsense garbage is fed to them by Tucker Carlson than people who directly credit the ARA of 2021 and the rebound it will generate as their key issue. But that's a parlor trick. Those people aren't up for grabs. On the other side, There are probably more liberal voters who care passionately about less broadly popular items like Reparations for slavery or the ERA and are more likely to vote on that than . . . whatever passes for a broadly popular GOP policy initiative these days (do they even have any? Not joking...?) But, those voters are already probably voting one way anyway. So pointing it out is just sour grapes.
Barring something really going wrong with the rollout I think Republicans will act as though this law doesn't exist. Especially once people start getting checks it will hard to argue against them. Unfortunately Americans do have short attention spans and by 2022 this law likely isn't going to be an issue that is in the forefront of the electorate.
Abbott has been an abysmal failure in the handling of both COVID and the freeze. Hopefully Texas gets it in 2 years.
I'm all for.it as long as they make a one year amnesty period that doesn't implicate an election weeks away... Which is usually what GOP state legislators try to do.
80% of Americans support early voting, voting by mail, and voting on Sundays; GOP is passing new laws to suppress that
