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from the a-billion-here-a-billion-there-pretty-soon-you're-talking-about-real-money dept.
Biden signs $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, making $1,400 checks and child tax credit official:
President Joe Biden on Thursday signed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, which includes a third stimulus check, for up to $1,400, and an expanded child tax credit. The IRS and Treasury will begin to send the new stimulus checks as soon as this weekend, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday at a press briefing.
The bill signing comes just one day after the amended bill passed in the House by a vote of 220-211. The House initially passed the bill on Feb. 26, and the Senate approved it last week, albeit with some changes.
[...] Democrats had been pushing to get the stimulus package signed into law before current unemployment benefits expire March 14. Biden was originally scheduled to sign the bill on Friday, but it got moved forward after Congress sent the final bill to the president more quickly than anticipated, Psaki said on Thursday.
The stimulus package, called the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, includes changes made by the Senate last week, such as reducing income limits for the third stimulus payment and lowering proposed weekly unemployment benefits from $400 a week to $300 a week (though they'd extend through Sept. 6 rather than the end of August). The Senate also dropped a federal minimum wage increase from the legislation, but proponents say they'll reintroduce that at a later date.
How to watch President Biden's national address tonight.
House passes $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, sends it to Biden to sign:
[...] Here are the proposal's major pieces:
- It extends a $300 per week jobless aid supplement and programs making millions more people eligible for unemployment insurance until Sept. 6. The plan also makes an individual's first $10,200 in jobless benefits tax-free.
- The bill sends $1,400 direct payments to most Americans and their dependents. The checks start to phase out at $75,000 in income for individuals and are capped at people who make $80,000. The thresholds for joint filers are double those limits. The government will base eligibility on Americans' most recent filed tax return.
- It expands the child tax credit for one year. It will increase to $3,600 for children under 6 and to $3,000 for kids between 6 and 17.
- The plan puts about $20 billion into Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing and distribution, along with roughly $50 billion into testing and contact tracing.
- It adds $25 billion in rental and utility assistance and about $10 billion for mortgage aid.
- The plan offers $350 billion in relief to state, local and tribal governments.
- The proposal directs more than $120 billion to K-12 schools.
- It increases the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit by 15% through September.
- The bill includes an expansion of subsidies and other provisions to help Americans afford health insurance.
- It offers nearly $30 billion in aid to restaurants.
- The legislation expands an employee retention tax credit designed to allow companies to keep workers on payroll.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 12 2021, @03:56AM (6 children)
Yes, that is definitely an accurate representation of my position!
Or, perhaps, I'm in favor of giving it to people who make less than $160k which is in the bill I just posted about.
It is true that it does exclude Jeff Bezos. And, thanks to Manchin, myself!
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday March 12 2021, @04:03AM (3 children)
Yeah, well, you are a democrat, counting out your pennies...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 12 2021, @04:27AM (2 children)
Well I watched the speech and kind of liked it. I feel like I might actually get the vaxx in a reasonable timeframe.
I'm OK with that getting stimulated as opposed to my bank account. The debt actually is important. I'm not too pissed off by Manchin trying to reduce the sticker price a bit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 12 2021, @01:19PM
Not when that money is going to help ordinary people, it's not. 'But the debt!' is a Republican talking point. Manchin would know.
So you're okay with fucking over people on unemployment to the tune of $100/week and stealing checks from millions of people who received the $600 checks, just to save what amounts to an absolutely minuscule amount of money? Just insane. Democratic party partisan hacks really are right-wing.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday March 12 2021, @06:47PM
I could believe you mean that if you made some noise about the Wall Street bailouts instead of standing up for Manchin. The "debt" is nothing but a bullshit pretext to justify austerity that the democrats do not oppose.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 12 2021, @07:09AM
Are you also in favor of lying? Because the Democrats promised $2,000 checks ($600 + $1,400) if they won, and now they've excluded millions of people who received the $600 checks from receiving the $1,400 checks. Those people were 100% lied to and betrayed. Are you in support of that, too? What's worse is that the people in that income range were the ones who helped Democrats win states like Georgia. Is screwing over your own voters the strategy for winning 2022?
We saved what amounts to fucking pennies on this and broke a major promise. And I don't believe for one fucking millisecond that Joe Manchin would have tanked the entire must-pass bill if they had kept the income thresholds and unemployment benefits the same; that was just an excuse to do what Joe Biden wanted to do already. Such a 'compromise' would not have been made under Bernie.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 12 2021, @11:41AM
Why spend a bunch of money on bureaucracy to determine who gets paid, when you can just send them to everybody?