From fb friend, Lee Arnold:
On Wednesday, the House will pass the “American Rescue Plan” and send it to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. This comprehensive legislation takes bold action to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic while providing needed assistance to bolster the economy. The “American Rescue Plan” provides direct assistance to families, invests in vaccine distribution, ensures schools have the resources to resume in-person learning safely, and supports small businesses. Americans around the nation support this legislation in a bipartisan manner.
What’s in the “American Rescue Plan”?
$1,400 direct payments to each American, including for each child, for individuals making less than $75,000 a year and married couples making less than $150,000 a year to help those struggling to pay their bills and help get the economy moving.$300/week enhanced unemployment benefits through Labor Day, with $10,200 tax free for those making less than $150,000, to help Americans who are waiting to get back to work.$20 billion for development and distribution of vaccines, including $7.5 billion in CDC funding to address racial disparities and ensure vaccines are reaching every community, including communities of color hit hardest by the pandemic.$48.3 billion for testing, tracing, and mitigation efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 and provide PPE to frontline health care workers.$350 billion in critical aid to state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to keep frontline workers such as teachers, law enforcement, and health care workers, on the job.15% increase in SNAP benefits through September to help families struggling to put food on their table.$3,600 expanded child tax credit per child under 6 and $3,000 per child from ages 6 to 17 for parents making less than $75,000 or $150,000 per couple; because it is now fully refundable for the lowest income families, this will cut child poverty in America in half.Nearly $35 billion to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and ensure individuals have access to quality, affordable health care during this public health crisis.$29 billion targeted specifically to help struggling restaurants who have been hit the hardest by measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.$50 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund under the Federal Emergency management Agency to assist in securing PPE, distributing vaccines, and sanitizing public buildings.Over $125 billion for K-12 schools, $40 billion for colleges, and $39 billion for child care providers to ensure a return to safe in-person learning for students, teachers, and staff.
And this:
NEW POLL -
Overwhelming bipartisan support for the American Rescue Plan.
Support: 75%
Oppose: 18%
Dem: 90% Support 5% Oppose
GOP: 59% Support 35% Oppose
IND: 71% Support 20% Oppose
19 comments:
House Republicans led by Marjorie Taylor Greene are attempting to block Covid relief for the American people by ending all business in the House for the day. It is 9:24 a.m.
Tyranny of the minority!
May her term in office be brief and may she suffer the humiliation of being shunned by the people who need this relief and help so desperately.
My concern over the last 30 years has been our growing national debt, which I blame mostly on Republicans because of their non-paid spending and their no tax policies. There are times of national need (like now) that deficit spending is justified. But Mondale was right and Bush defined it correctly as Voodoo economics.
Biden wants to raise taxes by 4 trillion dollars, if he can get that passed by Congress, which won't be nearly enough to cover corvid spending (we have spent over 3 trillion on corvid relief so far) not to mention the spending Biden wants on other programs. I support what he wants to spend on, but Americans have to face the reality that there is a bill for those services that has to be paid. We can't just tax the rich. It was more than just the rich who benefited from all those tax breaks over the decades. It was more than just conservatives who approved of and supported much of the spending over the last 30 years.
At my age it won't be my problem, but I think it's a sin to leave such debt to future Americans. Our parents and grandparents did not pass their debts unto us and they had great debts (like WW II). It has been a tradition that we leave the country better off than it was given to us. Our generation has failed that tradition.
What kind of services do we want from our government and how much are we willing to pay for it? Bankrupting America is not an option in my opinion.
My rant for the day after reading your post. You don't have to publish it Shaw.
When I see a repug on TV talking about financial responsibility, I want to reach into the screen and choke the hell out of them.
Jerry, I gladly publish your comment and add that I agree. The Dems were tagged with the label "Tax and Spend," and now we have the Trumpublicans' "Tax Break and Spend."
Reagan's and the rest of the GOP's "trickle down" economy didn't work.
So here we are. When we need to go big in extraordinary economic times, we dig ourselves deeper in the hole.
It didn't take a genius to understand that when you give tax breaks to the uber wealthy, it cuts revenues as well and then there's deficits up to our eyeballs.
Mike you, me, and the rest of the country.
With the nation clearly and SOLIDLY in support of the American Rescue Plan this may VERY WELL be the final nail in the trumpublican Q-GOP (aka GQP) coffin. An event a majority of Americans would not mourn.
Not a single Republican voted for the American Rescue Plan.
Their constituents should mail back whatever check they get, since their reps don't believe they need the help. Only fair!
NEW Politico/MC Poll
Support for American Rescue Plan
Support: 75%
Oppose: 18%
Among Baby Boomers
Support: 74%
Oppose: 24%
Among Evangelical
Support: 74%
Oppose: 20%
Among Trump '20 Vters
Support: 55%
Oppose: 38%
Among GOpers
Support: 59%
Oppose: 35%
Here's the deal: I don't want to hear another Republican and that includes your skudrunner pal complain how Dem's aren't doing enough to help when EVERY Republican in BOTH chambers of Congress voted against the stimulus relief bill.
That's right, Trumpees: not a single Republican wanted you to get help.
I have no issue with providing relief for those in need. Why our corrupt elected elite can't pass a clean bill that only deals with affects of the pandemic and not add hundreds of billions in vote buying pork. Does calif and NY deserve billions because they can't manage their state. Why is a bridge part of the relief, why should money go to planned parenthood and why is americorps getting additional funding as part of the relief bill. 200 millions to the institute and library services, 270 million to endowment for the arts. Face facts Ray 890 billion will go to help people and one trillion will buy votes and provide pork.
Jerry, allow another old timer to stand and applaud what you wrote. Very well said.
skud
To answer your question:
Here are some of the provisions that were in the bill. This is not a comprehensive list, just a sampling:
A windfall for real estate investors allowing them “to use losses generated by real estate to minimize their taxes on profits from things like investments in the stock market. The estimated cost of the change over 10 years is $170 billion,” according to the New York Times.
$17 billion in loans for “businesses critical to maintaining national security,” a provision seemingly targeted solely at Boeing.
$25 billion in grants and $25 billion in loans for the airline industry.
A series of regulatory changes sought by the banking industry.
A tweak to the tax code, retroactive to 2018, allowing certain retailers to more quickly write off expenses they incurred upgrading their properties.
A series of other tax changes that in many cases take concessions business made in exchange for lower tax rates in Trump’s 2017 tax cut and eliminate them for a period of years. As one budget expert said to me, “corporations and pass-through owners are having their cake from [the 2017 tax cut] and eating it too.”
A gift to for-profit colleges: They’ll be able to keep loan money for students who drop out due to the coronavirus.
(cont.)
(cont.)
Help for manufacturers of “innovative” sunscreen technology.
A six-month extension of funding for abstinence-only education.
An expansion of the services that health savings accounts, which mostly benefit wealthier people, can pay for.
A provision allowing many hotel chains to access the $350 billion in loans intended for small businesses if their individual hotels employ fewer than 500 workers each. Unlike the loans in the fund intended for large businesses, many of these loans will not have to be repaid if the money is used mostly to keep workers on the payroll. This could allow large firms with the ability to successfully navigate the program to scoop up a significant portion of this fund, potentially pushing aside actual small businesses.
So there you have some of what was in the relief package.
EXCEPT!
THAT WAS THE TRUMP RESCUE PACKAGE THAT TRUMP SIGNED IN MARCH OF 2020.
I checked my blog comment section for that period, and YOU, skud, said absolutely NOTHING about the pork in it.
NOTHING.
So I have nothing to say to you about your complaint on this package.
Ms. Shaw, There is pork in every bill that our elected elite pass because there is no such thing as a clean bill. A clean bill would require congress to do something for the people and that is just not going to happen.
I am glad you agree about the needless pork in the stimulus bills. I read Jerry's post and cannot understand all the hysteria about deficit spending. This country will never have a balanced budget because we, and I mean democrats and republicans, don't have a requirement to balance the budget and certainly don't have the will. We will continue to print money based on no standard and someday will have run away inflation so we can re-create the country. I am sending my grandchildren an apology card for allowing crooked politicians with no term limits and no brains to tank their future.
Lets just spend like there is no tomorrow because there might not be.
Small business relief:
Independent restaurant operators have won $28.6 billion worth of targeted relief.
This funding will ensure small businesses can survive the pandemic by helping to adapt their operations and keep their employees on the payroll.
https://restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/stimulus-bill-29b-direct-restaurant-aid-appears-headed-passage
In one day, we had the COVID Relief Bill win, Merrick Garland confirmed, a record day on the Dow...
And everybody ignored the former guy.
All in all, a pretty good day.
It was actually pretty easy to undo the work of the last administration, considering they did nothing.
We don't need a requirement to balance the budget. In fact, a small debt is actually not a bad thing. The problem is when that debt becomes massive as it is now and has been for decades. The only thing a requirement to balance the budget would do is to tie our hands in the case of multiple disasters which were not budgeted for. You can only cut so much from other programs and sadly the right always ALWAYS try to gut programs that help our needy citizens. If I had that magic wand, there would be zero corporate welfare, zero tax shelters for the uber rich and every child would be offered 3 free meals a day. Head Start would be offered to all young children and teachers would earn at least as much as lawyers. I could go on and on but it's time for me to go out front and randomly yell at passersby "Get off my lawn", while shaking my oxygen tank at the sun.
skud: A clean bill would require congress to do something for the people and that is just not going to happen.
A "clean" bill would require republicans to set aside their hypocrisy. An example of that would be a republican "championing" pork (his word) then taking credit for the pork being in the legislation. Despite voting no.
WisPolitics.com: U.S. Rep. Moore Applauds American Rescue Plan Provision to Address Solvency Issue in Multiemployer Pensions. ... Republican Blake Moore: "I am proud that this important provision which I have championed, has been included in the American Rescue Plan to ensure workers can retire with dignity".
ProPublica: Major vote: Rep. Moore voted no on House Vote 49: On Passage: Passed (H.R.1319: American Rescue Plan Act of 2021).
Given EXTREME republican hypocrisy, Democrats would be stupid NOT to include everything they can in legislation they can pass with 50 votes. btw, I am SURE hypocrites like Moore love reconciliation... it allows them to vote no AND take credit. I very seriously doubt he'd have voted YES. Even if they had needed his vote to pass the legislation.
btw, Congress is doing something for the people. That is all this legislation is about and why it has such high public approval ratings. QED the Democrats are doing something for the people... the republicans are lying about the legislation while also taking credit for the portions that help their districts (trying to have it both ways). Because they are terrible hypocrites and cowards.
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