Another Relief Package Could be on the Way, But it Won't be Enough.
Politicians in the United States have been unable to come to an agreement to pass a corona-virus stimulus bill to provide relief to the American public in months. Many of the most impactful programs that were part of the CARES Act that was passed by Congress at the start of this crisis have expired months ago, leaving those who were lucky enough to qualify for those programs with the meager benefits provided by state unemployment systems.
The neoliberal nature of the last relief package resulted in major shortcomings for small businesses, undocumented immigrants, and poor and working class Americans in general. For example, about 90% of small businesses owned by women or minorities were shut-out from receiving PPP loans while corporate politicians on both sides of the aisle allowed PPP funds to be looted by multi-million dollar lobbying firms.
To make matters even worse, as a result of the neoliberal nature of the American social safety net, a majority of states do an awful job at ensuring that everyone who needs assistance gets it. According to a report by the Pew Research Center, on average only about 10-20% of unemployed individuals qualify to receive unemployment benefits.
In my article “Means Tested Neoliberal Social Programs Leave Millions of Poor & Working Class Americans with No State or Federal Assistance” I compared how this failure to get assistance to those who need it most has been compounded by the massive influx of unemployment filings that states have received, and continue to receive, throughout this crisis:
“…even before state unemployment programs were bombarded with tens of millions of claims a week, 79% of unemployed individuals were excluded from receiving assistance. Currently around 55 million Americans have filed for unemployment, so that would mean that around 41 million Americans have been excluded from receiving assistance. So I wouldn’t be so quick to think that those temporary means-tested $600 weekly unemployment payments that expired at the end of July actually made it into the hands of everyone who needed the assistance the most.”
After the last few negotiations surrounding coronavirus relief packages have failed to gain bipartisan support, it looks like Democrats and Republicans are willing to budge in order to pass something as Election Day approaches. Steve Mnuchin has announced that the White House is proposing a $1.6 trillion relief package that includes, among other things:
$300 Billion for another round of $1,200 checks
$300 Billion for $400 weekly unemployment benefits until Jan. 1st, 2021 retroactive to Sept. 12th (Democrats want $600 weekly continuing through 2021)
$250 billion for state and local governments (Democrats want $436 Billion, $186 Billion more than White House offer)
$175 Billion in funding for healthcare providers ($50 Billion for vaccine development)
$150 Billion in Education funding (most likely tied to keeping schools open)
$100 Billion in funding for restaurant relief
$60 Billion in funding for rental assistance
$20 Billion for the airline industry
Before Mnuchin announced the proposal from the White House Democrats were pushing for a $2.2 trillion relief package that included more funding for unemployment benefits, state and local governments and healthcare providers. Since the White House has announced their latest proposal Democrats have announced that they’d delay voting on their package pending the outcome of the current negoiations between Democratic leadership and Trump administration. House majority leader Steny Hoyer has stated:
“The speaker thinks there’s a possibility of getting a deal. If we have a deal, yes, we may well do that. But if we don’t have a deal, then we’re going to move the bill.”
Unfortunately for the White House, not all Republicans are on board with the proposal coming from the Trump administration. For example, Kevin Brady, a Republican representative from Texas said on Fox News earlier this week concerning the $400 weekly unemployment benefits:
“How much wasteful spending will we have to swallow to do this?”
The fact politicians owned by corporate America have the urge to call out spending on unemployment insurance as “wasteful” while saying nothing about the fact that they supported a $4 trillion bailout of their corporate donors should expose exactly who they’re working for.
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has stated that he’d be unwilling to even discuss the $2.2 trillion plan being proposed by the Democrats, but he has indicated that he’d be able to get the votes that are required to pass the $1.6 trillion relief package being proposed by the White House. According to RollCall.com, the majority leader stated:
“We’re not going to do a $2.2 trillion deal, the President instructed us to come up significantly, so we have come up form the trillion-dollar deal that we were working on earlier”
In order to fully recover from the impacts of corona-virus there needs to be a complete restructuring of our society. Republicans advocate for regression, Democrats advocate for incremental progress. One is better than the other, but neither are capable of doing what’s necessary to deal with this crisis. Sensing the fact they may lose the election if another relief package isn’t passed, the Trump administration has once again shirked the fiscally conservative facade of the Republican party and forced the party to come up with a plan that’s larger than their previous package, but it’s still less than the $2.2 trillion package being proposed by the Democrats, which still wouldn’t be enough to fully recover from the impacts of this crisis.
Corona-virus has killed more than 200,000 Americans, its thrown more than 50 million out of work at a time when 78% of Americans were already living paycheck to paycheck. It has allowed billionaires to increase their wealth by more than $500 Billion while wiping out $6.5 Trillion of household wealth. It’s causing private health insurance companies to raise their premiums, making it even harder for poor and working class people to receive the healthcare they deserve, but neither party supports universal healthcare, an emergency Universal Basic Income, or even canceling rent because their corporate donors don’t want them to.
A recent report published in The Lancet, one of the leading medical journals in the world, discussed the importance of addressing the underlying disparities in our society that have compounded the effects of the corona-virus crisis. Unfortunately, neither party is capable of doing what’s necessary to actually address and resolve these disparities. The report states:
“The most important consequence of seeing COVID-19 as a syndemic is to underline its social origins. The vulnerability of older citizens; Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities; and key workers who are commonly poorly paid with fewer welfare protections points to a truth so far barely acknowledged—namely, that no matter how effective a treatment or protective a vaccine, the pursuit of a purely biomedical solution to COVID-19 will fail. Unless governments devise policies and programmes to reverse profound disparities, our societies will never be truly COVID-19 secure.”
By treating this crisis as a purely medical one both parties are failing to address the underlying disparities in our society that have compounded the effects of coronavirus and resulted in disproportionally worse outcomes for minority communities and poor and working class people in general. This type of thinking may eventually result in the creation of a successful coronavirus vaccine, but what good is a vaccine if the majority of Americans who were already living paycheck to pay before this crisis are unable to afford it? The government can impose stay-at-home orders to reduce the spread of the virus, but it won’t acknowledge that the majority of Americans can’t afford to stay at home if the government doesn’t provide them with the income they’re missing from going to work. Even if the government does provide that income, they won’t do anything to change the fact that the most essential jobs that allow our society to continue functioning the way it does are worked by the most vulnurable people in it. If we don’t address these disparities, they won’t ever be resolved. If these disparities are never resolved, we’ll never be free from the grip of this crisis.
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Editors Note: After this article was written, news broke that Donald Trump tested positive for Coronavirus. As many people from across the political spectrum announce that they’re praying for the Presidents speedy recovery, The Bull-Moose Note. would like to make it clear that we do not wish for the speedy recovery of a President who refuses to condemn right-wing extremists and white supremicists, who’s allowed more than 200,000 Americans to die from coronavirus, and who’s allowed the U.S. Empire to continue their exploitation of the American and global public. Maybe he shouldn’t have bragged about not wearing masks during the last debate.
Instead of using this time to pray for the recovery of a President who upholds the oppressive imperial Empire that is the United States, The Bull-Moose Note. wants to use this time to draw attention to the fact that at least 21 people have died in Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in 2020, and ICE has refused to release people from their custody even as coronavirus has run rampant in ICE detention facilities.
For instance, more than 1/3rd of people who died in ICE custody this year tested positive for coronavirus. To make matters even worse, according to a whistleblower report ICE has been preforming non-consensual hysterectomies on immigrant women who are fleeing turmoil in their home countries caused by U.S. imperialism. Instead of calling for Donald Trump’s speedy recovery, The Bull-Moose Note. is calling for the total abolition of ICE and the entire Department of Homeland Security that was established in the period of intense fear-mongering that followed the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.
Editors Note #2: Last night House Democrats passed their $2.2 trillion relief package. There is no possibility that it will pass the Senate.