Thursday, March 11, 2021
PMT: The stimulus bill
President Biden will sign the $1,900,000,000,000 stimulus bill, which made it through Congress with a narrow, Democrats-only majority. According to the Times, here is what is in the bill:
-- $1400 checks for those making under $75,000.
-- An extension of the $300-per-week federal supplement to unemployment benefits
-- A significant expansion of the tax credit given to people with children. People will be eligible for this even if they don't pay taxes (or much in taxes), and soon will get it in the form of checks periodically. This is the advent of a form of guaranteed personal income. (Yang Gang Unite!)
-- Funding for vaccine distribution and testing
-- $350,000,000,000 for states and local governments
-- $130,000,000,000 for schools
-- A temporary increase in subsidies provided under the Affordable Care Act
-- Money for public health programs and veteran's care
This really is something new, in a few ways. First, it is a huge pool of money, and will add to the national debt (continuing a pattern of expanding deficits that has extended through the Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden presidencies). Second, a lot of the aid will provide money directly to people who don't have a lot of money. This is going to be a good experiment: what happens if we try trickle-up rather than trickle-down economics?
I worry about deficits. I also think this stimulus will work to keep the economy moving towards a recovery that will benefit all. At best, it will create an economic boost that will mitigate the cost of the stimulus.... but we will have to wait to see about that!
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Once it is signed today this legislation will restore the role of the federal government to pre - Reagan days. There will be pushback. The ability of the Biden administration to gain and hold public approval will be critical. The message could be that the financial cost of supporting those at the bottom will be less expensive than the past forty years of financing the wealthy. We have watched the debt explode during the our recent "trickle down experiment". In the NYT More importantly I keep reading somewhere that favoring those most in need is the right thing to do. This is an possibly imperfect but definitely powerful first step to a richer United States of America.
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