;)
The Commentariat -- January 1, 2021
Kate Sullivan of CNN: "On Joe Biden's first day as President, his White House will issue a memo to halt or delay midnight regulations and actions taken by the Trump administration that will not have taken effect by Inauguration Day, Biden transition spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday. Psaki noted that issuing a regulatory freeze is standard practice for an incoming administration, 'but this freeze will apply not only to regulations but also guidance documents -- documents that can have enormous consequences on the lives of the American people.' The memo will take effect after noon ET on January 20, Psaki said, after Biden is inaugurated. The memo is part of a broader push the Biden transition team has previewed to immediately undo several of outgoing ... Donald Trump's policies." (Also linked yesterday.)
Mike Allen of Axios: "To set the tone for his inauguration the next day, President-elect Biden will lead a memorial to remember and honor lives lost to COVID-19, with church-bell ringings and light shows across the country on Tue., Jan. 19, at 5:30 p.m. ET. The Presidential Inauguration Committee is announcing Thursday morning that a D.C. ceremony, led by Biden, will feature lights around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool -- the first time lighting around the Reflecting Pool has memorialized American lives lost."
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "... logistical problems in clinics across the country have put the campaign to vaccinate the United States against Covid-19 far behind schedule in its third week, raising fears about how quickly the country will be able to tame the epidemic." (Also linked yesterday.)
The Rich Get Richer & the Poor Get Poorer. Hamza Shaban & Heather Long of the Washington Post: "The U.S. stock market ended 2020 at all-time highs, enriching the wealthy and capping off a soaring comeback despite a deadly pandemic that has killed more than 340,000 Americans and left millions jobless and hungry. The S&P 500-stock index, the most widely watched gauge, is finishing the year up more than 16 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 7.25 percent and 43.6 percent, respectively. The Dow and S&P 500 finished at record levels despite the public health and economic crises. Wall Street's resurgence has been fueled by the largest federal government stimulus ever, historic support from the Federal Reserve and optimism about how quickly the economy is likely to bounce back next year as coronavirus vaccines become widely distributed. Investors have largely ignored the pain on Main Street, including pronounced unemployment, overrun hospitals and battered small businesses. On the eve of the new year, nearly 20 million people remained on unemployment, a jobs crisis worse than during the Great Recession."
Fred Imbert of CNBC: "The number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time unexpectedly fell last week, marking its second straight decline. Initial jobless claims declined by 19,000 to 787,000 in the week ended Dec. 26, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected initial jobless claims to rise to 828,000. The previous week's total for initial claims was upwardly revised by 3,000 to 806,000. Continuing claims, which include those who have received unemployment benefits for at least two straight weeks, fell by 103,000 to 5.219 million for the week of Dec. 19. Data on continuing claims runs on a one-week lag to the initial claims numbers." (Also linked yesterday.)
Rachel Janfaza of CNN: "Florida Congresswoman-elect María Elvira Salazar said Thursday that she has tested positive for Covid-19 and will be unable to attend the congressional swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol on Sunday. Salazar, a Republican, said on Twitter she was admitted to a local hospital with heart arrhythmia, commonly known as an irregular heartbeat, on December 23, before being tested for Covid-19. That test came back positive, she said." (Also linked yesterday.)
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. Coral Murphy of USA Today: "Distilleries across the U.S. received a surprise fee from the Food and Drug Administration after using their facilities to make hand sanitizer amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 cases began surging in March, distilleries started making hand sanitizer by switching their alcohol production to antiseptic, undrinkable alcohol and giving away bottles to members of their communities. The efforts rose after the country faced a shortage in hand sanitizer.... The CARES Act ... established these facilities must pay user fees under the over the counter monograph drug user fee program.... [Late] Thursday, however, the Department of Health and Human Services appeared to have struck down the FDA fees. 'Small businesses who stepped up to fight COVID-19 should be applauded by their government, not taxed for doing so,' HHS chief of staff Brian Harrison said in a statement posted on Twitter. 'I'm pleased to announce we have directed FDA to cease enforcement of these arbitrary, surprise user fees,' he said. 'Happy New Year, distilleries, and cheers to you for helping keep us safe!'"
Indiana. Bill Hutchinson of ABC News: "The president and CEO of an Indiana hospital has prompted backlash for releasing what medical professionals and health care advocates described as a 'blame the victim' statement about a Black physician who died of COVID-19 after alleging she was mistreated by a doctor and nurses at his medical facility because of the color of her skin. In a press release, Indiana University Hospital president and CEO Dennis M. Murphy described Dr. Susan Moore as a 'complex patient' and said that during her stay at the IU Health North facility in Carmel, Indiana, the nursing staff treating her for coronavirus 'may have been intimidated by a knowledgeable patient who was using social media to voice her concerns and critique the care they were delivering.' Moore, 52, who operated her own family practice, died at another hospital she went to a day after being discharged from IU Health North, her 19-year-old son, Henry Muhammed, told ABC News. Before being sent home from IU Health North, Moore recorded a scathing review of her treatment and posted the video on her Facebook page, saying, 'I put forth, and I maintain, if I was white, I wouldn't have to go through that.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Wisconsin. Andrea Secedo & Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "An employee at a hospital outside Milwaukee deliberately spoiled more than 500 doses of coronavirus vaccine by removing 57 vials from a pharmacy refrigerator, hospital officials announced Wednesday, as local police said they were investigating the incident with the help of federal authorities.... Each vial has enough for 10 vaccinations but can sit at room temperature for only 12 hours.... The employee acknowledged having 'intentionally removed the vaccine from refrigeration,' the system, Aurora Health Care [of Grafton, Wis.], said in a statement late Wednesday. The employee, who has not been identified, was fired, Aurora Health said. Its statement did not address the worker's motive but said 'appropriate authorities' were promptly notified." ~~~
~~~ Update. Todd Richmond of the AP: "Authorities arrested a suburban Milwaukee pharmacist Thursday suspected of deliberately ruining hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine by removing them from refrigeration for two nights.... Police in Grafton, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Milwaukee, said the Advocate Aurora Health pharmacist was arrested on suspicion of reckless endangerment, adulterating a prescription drug and criminal damage to property, all felonies. The pharmacist has been fired and police said in a news release that he was in jail. Police did not identify the pharmacist, saying he has not yet been formally charged. His motive remains unclear."
The Last Days of the Mad Kaiser
Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "Throughout late summer and fall, in the heat of a re-election campaign that he would go on to lose, and in the face of mounting evidence of a surge in infections and deaths far worse than in the spring, Mr. Trump's management of the crisis == unsteady, unscientific and colored by politics all year -- was in effect reduced to a single question: What would it mean for him?... Mr. Trump's unwillingness to put aside his political self-centeredness as Americans died by the thousands each day or to embrace the steps necessary to deal with the crisis remains confounding even to some administration officials. 'Making masks a culture war issue was the dumbest thing imaginable,' one former senior adviser said." This is a longish piece with five reporters on the byline; it oulines Trump's -- and his aides' -- many missteps re: Covid-19. ~~~
~~~ Trump Says He Did a Great Job, & Everybody Is Calling to Thank Him. Amanda Macias of CNBC: "December was the deadliest month for America during the pandemic. Yet ... Donald Trump barely uttered a word about Covid-19's tragic toll. Instead, the president spent the month obsessing over unfounded claims of a stolen election, delaying relief legislation before signing it, weighing in on cable news broadcasts and lashing out at members of his own party. And, on Thursday, the last day of the month and the year, Trump tweeted a video in which he boasted about his administration's response to the pandemic.... In a recorded message released Thursday, Trump took the lion's share of the credit for the unprecedented speed in the development of vaccines calling the feat a 'medical miracle.' 'Thanks to Operation Warp Speed we developed a vaccine in just nine months, we've already begun a nationwide vaccination program, and we're sending the vaccine all over the world. The world will benefit we'll benefit, and everybody's calling to thank me,' the president said. Trump also took a moment to praise his work on the economy, saying that his administration 'built the greatest economy in the history of the world.'"
Hmm. John Kruzel of the Hill: "Vice President Pence on Thursday asked a federal judge to reject a bid by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and other Republicans to broaden Pence's powers in a manner that would effectively allow him to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's electoral win.... In a Thursday brief to Texas-based U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a Trump appointee, Pence said he was not a proper defendant to the suit. 'A suit to establish that the Vice President has discretion over the count, filed against the Vice President, is a walking legal contradiction,' a Department of Justice attorney representing Pence wrote in the filing. Typically, the vice president's role in presiding over the Jan. 6 meeting is a largely ceremonial one governed by an 1887 federal law known as the Electoral Count Act." ~~~
~~~ Maggie Haberman & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The [Justice D]epartment, acting on behalf of Mr. Pence, said that Republican lawmakers, led by Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas, could not invalidate the more than century-old law that governs the Electoral College process to expand an otherwise ceremonial role into one that has the power to reject electoral votes that were cast for Mr. Biden.... The Justice Department also made clear in its filing that it welcomed any comments from the federal judge ... that would clarify that Mr. Pence's role in the election was purely procedural. The White House counsel, Pat A. Cipollone, and the chief of staff, Mark Meadows, were aware the Justice Department was filing on Mr. Pence's behalf before it happened, according to two people briefed on the discussions.... The Justice Department's move to squash an 11th-hour attempt to undo Mr. Biden's victory could put it more at odds with Mr. Trump.... the department under [Acting AG Jeffrey] Rosen has taken a step that Mr. Trump may see as an overt act intended to thwart one of his allies, opening it up to possible retaliation." MB: It does seem that pence is trying to wriggle out of taking any responsibility for Trump's (and of course his own) loss in the vote-counting procedure. If so, Trump surely will dub him a traitor. ~~~
~~~ House Republicans to Vote Against Democracy, Constitution. Jake Tapper of CNN: "Two Republican members of the House of Representatives tell CNN that they expect at least 140 of their GOP colleagues in the House to vote against counting the electoral votes on January 6 when Congress is expected to certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory.... Donald Trump's Republican allies have virtually zero chance of changing the result, only to delay by a few hours the inevitable affirmation of Biden as the Electoral College winner and the next president. There have been no credible allegations of any issues with voting that would have impacted the election, as affirmed by dozens of judges, governors, election officials, the Electoral College, the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Supreme Court. But Trump is determined to claim he didn't lose -- which he did, significantly -- and many GOP politicians either share his delusion or fear provoking his wrath -- even if that means voting to undermine democracy. Both a House member and senator are required to mount an objection when Congress counts the votes. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said Wednesday he will object, which will force lawmakers in both the House and Senate to vote on whether to accept the results of Biden's victory. Trump has been pushing for Congress to try to overturn the election result as his campaign's attempts to overturn the election through the courts have been repeatedly rejected." MB: Tapper has said on-air that a "handful" of senators are likely to join Hawley. ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Swan of Axios: "In an extraordinary conference call this morning with fellow Senate Republicans, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his Jan. 6 vote certifying Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election will be 'the most consequential I have ever cast,' according to a source on a call and two other sources briefed on the private remarks.... The conference call came in the wake of Sen. Josh Hawley defying McConnell's wishes and publicly declaring that he'll object to certifying the electoral votes in Pennsylvania and perhaps in other states as well.... A source paraphrased McConnell as saying, 'I'm finishing 36 years in the Senate and I've cast a lot of big votes.' including over war and impeachment. 'And in my view, just my view,' McConnell said, 'this is will be the most consequential I have ever cast.' 'The context was McConnell saying we're being asked to overturn the results after a guy didn't get as many electoral votes and lost by 7 million popular votes,' the source said.... His remarks to his conference are likely to escalate President Trump's anger with him for daring acknowledge Trump's defeat.... Many Republican senators are furious at Hawley for forcing them to take what Trump is setting up as the ultimate loyalty test on January 6th." ~~~
~~~ John Wagner & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) called the effort in Congress to reverse President-elect Joe Biden's electoral college victory a 'dangerous ploy,' underscoring the challenge President Trump faces in persuading even members of his own party to join it. In an open letter to constituents, Sasse wrote that there is no evidence of fraud so widespread that it could change the results and said he has urged his colleagues to reject 'a project to overturn the election.' 'All the clever arguments and rhetorical gymnastics in the world wo't change the fact that this January 6th effort is designed to disenfranchise millions of Americans simply because they voted for someone in a different party,' Sasse wrote on Facebook shortly before midnight on Wednesday.... His letter followed Wednesday's announcement by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) that he will object next week when Congress convenes to certify the electoral college vote, a move that will force a contentious floor debate that top Senate Republicans had hoped to avoid." (Also linked yesterday.)
Kevin Brueninger of CNBC: "The head of the White House budget office on Thursday refused to direct staff and resources to help with the incoming Biden administration's spending plans, in an escalating dispute over what the office's responsibilities are during the transition process. Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought pushed back on accusations of obstruction raised by President-elect Joe Biden's transition team, adding that his agency will not cooperate with alleged efforts to 'dismantle' Trump administration policies.... The letter from Vought, shared publicly on his Twitter account, turns up the heat in the simmering dispute between ... Donald Trump's administration and the incoming Biden team.... Biden spokesman Andrew Bates in a statement called it 'indefensible,' in the midst of a time of economic hardship, 'to hamstring the United States government's ability to prepare a budget and efficiently deliver help to those who need it most, particularly out of explicit, declared partisanship.'" Bates makes clear Vought's letter makes no sense: he claims not to be obstructing the transition while he vows to obstruct the transition.
Brian Fung of CNN: "Microsoft said Thursday that the suspected Russian hackers behind a massive US government security breach also viewed some of the company's source code. The unauthorized access does not appear to have compromised any Microsoft ... services or customer data, the company said in a blog post. But an investigation showed that the attackers took advantage of their access to Microsoft's systems to view company code.... The disclosure highlights the broad reach of the attackers, whom investigators have described as extremely sophisticated and well-resourced. And it suggests that corporate espionage may have been as much a motive as a hunt for government secrets.... But Microsoft said its security practices begin by preemptively assuming that hackers already have access to the company's source code, and protects its services accordingly."
Matthew Choi of Politico: "The Census Bureau will miss a Dec. 31 deadline for reporting data used to determine congressional seats, the agency announced Wednesday. The delay could hinder ... Donald Trump's effort to exclude some undocumented immigrants from the figures used to apportion House seats.... It will be the first time the bureau will miss the deadline since its 1976 implementation.... Census Bureau documents released by the House Oversight Committee earlier this month show the data may not be delivered until late January -- after President-elect Joe Biden gets inaugurated. That would give the Democratic president an opening to cease Trump's efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from the count." (Also linked yesterday.)
Georgia Senate Race. Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: '... at an October rally in Macon with Trump[, Sen. David] Perdue did not mention specifics about his career, telling the crowd, 'I'm just a dumb business guy from right over that hill. That was followed by Trump promising to make the United States 'the manufacturing superpower of the world. And we will end our reliance on China once and for all.' Trump made no reference to the fact that Perdue, whom he called a 'very successful man,' made much of his fortune by heading Asian operations for a number of companies that relied on Chinese manufacturing of products sold in the United States.... Perdue was a top executive at some of the country's best-known consumer brands, spending years in Hong Kong and Singapore, which he used as bases to travel across Asia to take advantage of the region's lower-cost workforces." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ David Perdue, a Real-Life Simon Legree. Jessica Goodheart of Capital & Main: "Dollar General, which [Sen. David Perdue] ran between 2003 and 2007, rests on a business model of offering low-cost goods at rock-bottom prices while paying workers poorly.... The corporate dictum that wages remain at 5% of gross sales 'placed us at the bottom of a low-paying industry,' Cal Turner Jr., the son of Dollar General's founder, told ProPublica. Perdue presided over a more than 30-fold increase in the number of employee lawsuits filed against the company.... That vast increase mostly appears due to more than 2,000 wage theft cases filed in 2006 by Dollar General managers who claimed they were classified as managers only so that the company could circumvent federal law, which required hourly employees to be paid overtime when working over 40 hours in a single week.... Capital & Main has uncovered new evidence of allegedly discriminatory practices at the company while Perdue was at the helm, including those that singled out pregnant women and African Americans." ~~~
~~~ Marie: There were plenty of poor white Republican voters in Georgia. I'm surprised that, as far as I know, Ossoff hasn't hammered Perdue for his cruelty to workers.
Way Beyond the Beltway
U.K. Reuters: "The father of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday he was in the process of applying for a French passport to maintain his ties with the European Union after Brexit. Stanley Johnson, a former member of the European Parliament who voted Remain in Britain's 2016 referendum, told RTL radio he wanted to become a French citizen because of strong family links to France." (Also linked yesterday.)
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Reader Comments (23)
I think this is breaking news. Chancellor Merkel has announced that she will not be seeking another term in her new years eve speech. Her heartfelt summary of 2020, and hopes and challenges of 2021, demonstrates what true leadership is. Our orange turd won't even shake hands with her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvBsusuBA0o
@periscope: Merkel said in June 2020 she would not seek a fifth term. She also gave up her leadership of the Christian Democratic party in 2018, which was tantamount to declaring she would not seek the chancellorship again.
THE BREAD & BUTTERFLY :
Adam Copnik begins his quest into not what causes authoritarianism but what has ever suspended it by a conversation between Alice and the Gnat. Insightful and wonderfully written it was such a pleasure to read on this first day of 2021:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/04/what-we-get-wrong-about-americas-crisis-of-democracy
A few highlights:
"America itself has never had a particular settled commitment to democratic rational government."
"the way to shore up American democracy is to shore up democracy."
"The only way to stave off another Trump is to recognize that it ALWAYS HAPPENS. The temptation of anti-democratic cult politics is forever with us and so is the work of fending it off."
"a republic is a matter of not preserving it like pickles, but working it like dough."
It feels like a Sunday and the sun is shining and if Marie managed to put up a new sign perhaps her lot is clear; we wish the same for all of us.
Hope this is not a harbinger of the new year, but when I read this from Fox News this morning….
"McConnell, R-Ky., in floor remarks lambasted the House-passed bill for $2,000 stimulus checks as "socialism for rich people." The comments were his most direct to date on his opposition to President Trump's request that stimulus checks be boosted from $600 in the recently passed stimulus.
"The data show that many upper-middle class Americans have kept their jobs, work remotely and remain totally financially comfortable," McConnell said. "On the other hand, some of our fellow citizens have had their entire existences is turned upside down and continue to suffer terribly. We do not need to let the speaker of the House do socialism for rich people in order to help those who need help."
….I was all prepared to lambaste McConnell in turn, saying that coming from him any objection to socialism for the rich is itself….very rich.
But then I made the mistake of looking at the numbers. From them I learned two things.
Hadn’t realized the paltry $600 went to each family member so for a family of four it was really $2400….and that the upper income limit for the House $2000 checks. again going to each family member, is indeed…upper. A family of four making in the 300,000’s will still get 8 or so thousand.
Made me wonder, very reluctantly: if McConnell did not have a point, and also why the House structured their bill that way in the first place.
Even if the purpose were to get more money into circulation any and every which way, from appearances alone it would seem to invite criticism.
There is also a big difference between having and spending, and a greater difference the more you have….so it would not seem productive to toss money to those who don’t need it….which was what I thought to be the Democrats’ line.
A very confusing morning. As I said, hope the whole year doesn’t go this way.
Thoughts?
@PD Pepe: While some of Trump's bad behavior can be prevented in future presidencies only by Constitutional amendments (his pardons of his criminal friends, for instance), many of his bad acts can be prevented with legislation: refusing to release his tax returns, failures to answer subpoenas, failure to put his business in a blind trust, using the presidency to advertise his businesses, using federal taxes to subsidize his businesses, etc. Congress must fix what can be fixed.
If we make it harder for crooks to get into the White House, fewer may apply. As for nominating crooks, I don't see how to get around that. Patrick had an idea a couple of weeks ago, but it occurred to me that the parties already had the power -- but not the will -- to do what he suggested, more or less. Democrats, in particular, have "super-delegates" who can overrule popular votes for any candidate who doesn't just sweep all the states. And there's a reason we have popular-vote nominations: back in the day, party bosses didn't do such a good job of picking candidates, either.
A sunny Krugman:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/31/opinion/2021-economy-recovery.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Anent my earlier comment, look what I just found:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/some-of-the-progressive-priorities-really-help-the-rich-more-than-the-poor/2020/12/31/f3e1a2ac-4b70-11eb-839a-cf4ba7b7c48c_story.html
Thought I got up this morning on the right side of bed, but could it be I rose on the wrong side of politics?
@Ken Winkes: While the first purpose of stimulus checks is supposed to be to help out people who need the money to survive, the second purpose is supposed to be to stimulate the economy -- that is, to put the money back into purchases of groceries & other necessities. Unemployment benefits do a very good job of that. I recall reading that for every dollar of unemployment insurance paid, there is a $2 benefit to the economy as the money circulates.
But this is not true of stimulus checks. A NYT article I linked yesterday reported that most people saved the stimulus checks they received in the first go-round earlier this year. That is, they didn't circulate the money into the economy but put it in their savings accounts, which is a benefit to banks. It just doesn't make sense to pass out the same amount of money to (1) people who are unemployed & waiting in food lines to feed their children and (2) people who are working from home in their same old jobs at the same old paycheck. I am by no means against savings; but I am against donating my earnings to other people's savings accounts.
So Happy New Year - my decidedly mid-upper-middle class family of two got our stimulus money today. We make too much to get the full boat but got $742 in the bank account this morning. I immediately went to our local community service org website and donated it plus more. Will do the same if we get the $2K (which I assume will be reduced by the $600 already paid).
Marie,
That's the exact issue.
Or said another way, what were the House Dems thinking? Tbeir "plan" looks bad politically and is bad economically...
Seems almost like Larry Summers wrote it.
@Ken: Glad you brought all this money business up: We received our $12,000 check yesterday. We used part of it to donate more to ACLU, St. Judes, our local food bank and Doctors without Borders. But, I, too, wondered why this money was circulated like this. In our case our donations certainly helped these organizations but I would have thought it should have been zeroed in for low income families. I agree with Marie in her "I am by no means against savings; but I am against donating my earnings to other people's savings accounts."
So if the proposed $2,000 stimulus bill means that amount for one person, then a family of four would get $8,000 which when calculated in for rent, mortgage food, etc, doesn't seem outrageous except for those that are living high off the hog or those that just boost, as MB said, their bank accounts. Tis a puzzle as to the thinking of how to distribute these sums.
Another version:
https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2020/12/30/950636647/you-might-be-ready-to-forget-2020-this-film-reminds-you-why-you-shouldnt
Why have relief (not stimulus) checks for most people, rather than means-tested targeting to those who need it, and nothing to those who don't?
Most political economists (which, if you think, is all competent economists) know that if you identify support programs as targeted at people below the poverty level, or at some threshold near it, conservative politicians will at some point tag the program as for "the poor." Then it will be for the "deserving poor." Then it will be "handouts keeping the poor from working." Then it will be "paying the indigent to have children to increase their take." Then it will be "if you feed them, the population just increases." And at some point in that slide, the beneficiaries are implied to be "others": minorities, disabled, immigrants, Swedes, whatever.
Sad to say, if you need broad social programs for the good of society, you cannot allow them to be salami-sliced into "for the poor, the sort of poor, the not-poor, the well-off, etc". When programs are kept broad (social security, medicare, education assistance) they are less vulnerable to the Dickensian ministrations of those who would put the poor on the roads in winter.
Many of our ancestors left Ireland (Poland, Germany, Russia, Norway, Italy, etc. for many reasons, but the willingness of the ascendancy to let the poor die when they could have helped is a big one. This country is supposed to do better.
Patrick,
I'd say you've nailed the psychology of relief perfectly.
If the intent is stimulus, though, the $$$$ have to go to those who don't have them because they will, as Marie says, be forced by circumstance to spend them.
There is also the factor of inequity, already an economic pandemic.
Handing an additional 8 grand to those who don't need it and won't spend it (not to the minority of the well-fixed who will donate their gift to a charity that will immediately spend it on those in need--thanks Rockygirl) only exacerbates that already grave social-economic problem.
So....what to do?
Another fascist face to hate ( or if not a nasty Republican, to energetically dislike).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/31/russell-vought-trump-saboteur-undermine-biden-america/
Josh Hawley is the guy who was one of the faces of the States' lawsuit to destroy Obamacare at the same time that he was running for Congress and saying that he supported protecting people with pre-existing conditions, like his son. Lying to the people of Missouri at the same time trying to make sure his kid can be priced out of health care coverage or denied it outright. That is the kind of asshole Hawley is. So his latest actions to screw over Americans is no surprise.
They could tax the relief payments as income but at a higher progressive rate, giving incentive for the wealthy to seek tax shelter by donating it, and not taxing those below a certain income level, but this is just a backdoor approach to means testing. I agree with Patrick about what that will lead to.
I have seen data that a sizable proportion of the last stimulus went to paying off credit card debt - which doesn't benefit the banks - but I can't seem to locate the article on https://wolfstreet.com. Another surprising chunk went to buying cars.
For the majority of working class citizens who are paying 35 to 50% of income to pay rent and another 20% on various insurance and debt, the stimulus is a temporary ease for a month - already encumbered by FIRE (finance, insurance, real estate). The question I have is whether the pandemic only exacerbated what appears like the impending failing of our uncontrolled rentier capitalism.
New Year's sendiment from Albert Brooks:
"I’m a very suspicious person. Last year I wished everybody a happy new year and look what happened. So this year, from the bottom of my heart, fuck you."
Only those making 75/150k (single/couple) would get the full $2k. The people making 300k would only get a small fraction of it.
Aimee Picchi, CBS News
"Single people earning up to $75,000 would receive $600, while married couples earning up to $150,000 would receive $1,200.
The second round of checks would have the same type of income phaseouts as in the CARES Act, with the stimulus check payments reduced for earnings above $75,000 per single person or $150,000 per married couple.
The amount of payment individuals receive would be reduced by $5 for every $100 of income earned above those thresholds, according to the House Appropriations committee. That's similar to the CARES Act, but fewer higher-earning taxpayers would qualify for the checks under this formula when compared with the earlier bill."
CORRECTION:
My mister, who read today's R.C. said:
"You had too many zeros in the money we received–-it was "$12, 00 not $ 12,000" to which I replied–-"Well, shucks, just shows how grateful I am that you handle the books!" Evidently the people in charge don't take into consideration we have, as others do, investments. They just go by tax returns. Sorry for the mistake–-gosh, with that mistake we might have gone off to Belize for the weekend.
@PD, $12, 00?
@PD Pepe: At first, the $12,000 figure confused me. Then I realized you lived in a family of 20 people. Seems normal.
Ok, people we can see that I have either eye problems or just problems with math–-maybe both. Yikes!