#Stimulus Checks

[afriblaq]

Congress holds the Purse

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Arthur Delaney at HuffPost:

WASHINGTON — For the first year of Joe Biden’s presidency, it looked like Democrats were on the verge of creating the social safety net of their dreams. The coronavirus pandemic had already prompted Congress in bipartisan agreement to boost unemployment insurance and dish out stimulus checks to even the poorest Americans — a significant breakthrough.

Democrats under Biden seized the momentum in March 2021, quickly passing another relief bill that sent a third round of stimulus checks and even created a child allowance, worth as much as $300 per kid, for almost all parents in America. “I think this will be one of the things that the vice president and I will be most proud of when our terms are up,” Biden said a few months later as the payments started. “This has the potential to reduce child poverty in the same way that the Social Security [program] reduced poverty for the elderly.” But the payments, contrived as advance refunds of the child tax credit, were only temporary, and the big plan to make them permanent — alongside new child care subsidies, paid leave for workers and universal prekindergarten — was stymied in part by dubious concerns from within the Democratic Party on how parents would spend the money. And so Biden, who may have hoped to be as consequential a president as Franklin D. Roosevelt, the author of the New Deal and its foundational supports for workers and older adults, has to settle for less — but not nothing. Biden will be leaving office having made his mark on the federal safety net in a number of ways. [...] The higher food benefits have lifted more than 2 million people above the poverty line, while 4 million would go uninsured if it weren’t for the enhanced premium support. The latter policy will expire at the end of the year, however, if Republicans don’t proactively keep it going. In short, while Biden may not have revolutionized the U.S. political economy like Roosevelt, whose reforms banished poorhouses to the annals of history, Biden made policy marginally more favorable to workers and families. [...] In his farewell address this week, Biden touted the overall success of the American economy, which was buoyed by the aggressive relief bill he signed into law, rather than any lasting social policy he’d put in place.

“Instead of losing their jobs to an economic crisis that we inherited, millions of Americans now have the dignity of work; millions of entrepreneurs and companies creating new businesses and industries, hiring American workers, using American products,” Biden said. Unfortunately for Biden and Democrats generally, most people hated the economy of the last four years, thanks to price inflation that may have been the single biggest contributor to President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. Higher prices made people feel poorer, and it’s possible that the retrenchment of federal spending after 2021 did so as well, though no such nuance shows through in consumer surveys. [...] The child tax credit will be a live issue this year. Republicans want to reauthorize their own temporary changes to the credit that they made as part of their 2017 tax bill, which expanded the credit to help cover for other tax changes that were disadvantageous for families. And some Republicans, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, have talked about increasing the credit as a means of encouraging people to have more kids. The Democratic child tax credit expansion, costing more than $100 billion annually, led to the sharpest reduction of child poverty in modern U.S. history. For six months, American parents got to experience the kind of monthly support that is typical in every other advanced country on Earth. Democrats were on the verge of continuing the child tax credit beyond that point, but couldn’t get agreement from then-Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), who told his colleagues that he feared parents spent the money on drugs.

Joe Biden’s Presidency brought a glimpse of a better safety net.

[gwydionmisha]

The original plan was to only give them to middle class and higher income people, instead of the people who's services are being cut as a result of the cruel and often illegal cuts.

Now they are saying maybe they will have to be smaller because they aren't really saving much money.

I will believe these supposed stimulus checks when I see them. It sounds a lot like lies they told to make killing Social Security go down easier as if a small one time payment most people on social security won't even get will make of for all the people becoming homeless when their rent money doesn't arrive.

[themetaphorical]

Paying Down National Debt: A Smarter Alternative to Stimulus Checks

Using Newfound Funds to Reduce National Debt: A Smarter Long-Term StrategyRecent discussions have surfaced around the idea of using newly discovered or recovered government funds—such as the DOGE savings—to send checks directly to Americans. While a direct payout might seem appealing, a more strategic use of these funds could have far-reaching benefits: paying down the national debt. This…

[bewithus4u]

Understanding the IRS $1400 Stimulus Check: What You Need to Know

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government introduced several stimulus measures aimed at providing financial relief to individuals and families. Among these measures, the IRS $1400 stimulus check, part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, has been a significant source of support for many. This blog will delve into the details of this stimulus check, eligibility criteria, recent…

[leftiedinolover]

I'm seriously trying to understand what he's yapping about because holy shit is this unhinged.

Moviebob can’t really contemplate anything without running it through the lens of the online culture war he’s obsessed with. So much of what he believes in boils down to “owning the nerds” or whatever group he dislikes. It’s kind of sad, actually. I remember being a fan of his videos years back.

[aunti-christ-ine]

[hanktalkin]

Abrams and his stupid baka life

[meaningtotellyou]

black men…..

[rhys-ravenfeather]

Off now.

Today went...as well as it could, considering the circumstances.

Got a ride to work at least (since it's BELOW freezing here), so that was nice. And I got a couple things...so yeah.

Well, I have the day off tomorrow, and I have a few plans, so yeah. I'll see you guys when I see you.

[heauxplesslydevoted]

The amount of dickriding we’re gonna be witness to when TikTok is reinstated as soon as #he takes office again. Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

[shesmydoct0r]

people not realizing that the results of a president’s term in office usually are most evident while someone else is in office and continue to have effects after the term is over is honestly i think one of the the reasons people who are ostensibly on the left are so flippant about the specter of another trump term

[polyamoryprincess]

I’m watching the good doctor and I’m like “hell yeah Bates Motel man, bad that he’s not autistic but good acting and stupid weird doctor show shit,” and then they’ll say something about autism and I’m like “oh no you talked to the wrongggg people.”

[asagi-asagiri]

"Briggs is currently unemployed and receives over $174,000 in benefits a year from the government and lives in public housing with three out of her nineteen children by different fathers, Lemonjello, 10, Stimulus Check, 2 and Wakanda Forever, 9 months old."