The headline of my local paper quotes the owner of an iconic local bar as saying the American Recovery Act grants 'quite a big relief" to restaurants and bars. Coupled with the increasing numbers of people who have been vaccinated against Covid 19, there is a real chance we can see the end of the crisis and the possible resumption of life as it was before the virus.
The injection of gigantic amounts of money into the economy will supercharge it in the short term, muting the Republican criticism of Joe Biden's administration. Stupid GOP memes portraying the president as senile or stupid will fade as people find out government can solve problems and at least one party is committed to smart, competent solutions.
However, as Paul Krugman points out in today's NYT, the ARA is merely a band aid on the longer term problem of an economy which still shuts out a large minority of the population from well paying jobs with a future. Here is where a robust infrastructure program would be the perfect complement to the Covid relief bill, according to Krugman. However, Democrats are about to find out once again the futility of counting on any bi-partisan input into such a plan. The party may carve out a filibuster exception to pass a voting rights bill, but Joe Manchin has already put leaders on notice he will not support infrastructure unless there is GOP input to any such plan. What happens next will have a huge effect on the future of this country. Let's hope Mr. Manchin see the GOP for what it is; a morally bankrupt, anachronistic tool of the evil geniuses who have been working the system in favor of the 1% for the past 40 years.
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