Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 bill wins final approval in House

[webfact]

Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 bill wins final approval in House
By Susan Cornwell and Makini Brice

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) signs the "American Rescue Plan" as and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer applauds during the enrolment ceremony following passage of U.S. President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus disease (COVID-19) relief bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 10, 2021. REUTERS/Erin Scott

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval on Wednesday to one of the largest economic stimulus measures in American history, a sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that gives President Joe Biden his first major victory in office.

The measure provides $400 billion for $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, $350 billion in aid to state and local governments, an expansion of the child tax credit and increased funding for vaccine distribution. Forecasters expect it to supercharge the U.S. economic recovery.

"Help is here," Biden wrote in a tweet after the vote. The White House said he plans to sign the bill on Friday.

Approval by a 220-211 vote in the Democratic-controlled chamber came with zero Republican support after weeks of partisan debate and wrangling in Congress. Democrats described the legislation as a critical response to a pandemic that has killed more than 528,000 people and thrown millions out of work.

"This is a historic day. It is the beginning of the end of the great COVID depression," Democratic Representative Jan Schakowsky said.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement that passage of the legislation was a pivotal day for the U.S. economy and would speed its recovery.

But Republicans said the measure was too costly and was packed with wasteful progressive priorities. They said the worst phase of the largest public health crisis in a century has largely passed and the economy is headed toward a rebound.

"It's the wrong plan at the wrong time for so many wrong reasons," Republican Representative Jason Smith said.

Nevertheless, before final passage, Democrats predicted that Republicans would tout the benefits of the bill to constituents, despite their lock-step opposition in the House and Senate.

Indeed, Republican Senator Roger Wicker wrote on Twitter: "This funding will ensure small businesses can survive the pandemic by helping to adapt their operations and keep their employees on the payroll."

Democrats were eager to get the final bill to Biden's desk for his signature before current enhanced federal unemployment benefits expire on Sunday.

POPULAR SUPPORT

Although many Republicans supported coronavirus relief under former President Donald Trump's administration, no Republican lawmaker voted for the bill in the House or Senate.

But the bill is popular with the public. A Reuters/Ipsos national opinion poll, conducted March 8-9, showed that 70% of Americans support the plan, including majorities of Democrats and Republicans. Among Republicans, five out of 10 say they support the plan, while nine out of 10 Democrats supported it.

The legislation could have high stakes for both parties. If it succeeds in giving the economy a major boost, the plan could improve Democrats' political fortunes as they attempt to hold their slim majorities in Congress in the 2022 midterm elections.

Only one House Democrat, Jared Golden of Maine, voted against the package, saying its high borrowing costs endangered the recovery.

The version passed by the Senate in an marathon weekend session removed a $15-per-hour federal minimum wage increase by 2025; tightened the eligibility for $1,400 direct payments, capping them at those earning below $80,000, cut the unemployment insurance payment to $300 per week from the House's $400 and targeted some of the state and local government aid to smaller communities.

States that voted for Trump in the November election are due to get a larger amount of education and child-care aid per resident than those that backed Biden, according to estimates from two congressional committees.

Residents of Republican-leaning states, which tend to have lower household incomes, also are likely to get larger stimulus checks and tax breaks as well, according to an independent research group.

The massive spending push is seen as a major driver, coupled with a quickening pace of COVID-19 vaccinations and a slowing infection rate, in a brightening outlook for the economy.

Morgan Stanley this week pegged 2021 economic output growth at 8.1%. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Tuesday predicted U.S. growth would top 6% this year, up from an estimate of around 3% three months ago.

With the COVID-19 aid bill now completed, attention turns to Biden's next round of major legislation, including massive infrastructure investments, immigration reforms and climate change initiatives.

While conservatives bridled at the $1.9 trillion cost of the COVID-19 bill, it could be possible to get Republican buy-in on immigration and climate change legislation in the Senate, said Paul Sracic, a political science professor at Youngstown State University.

But getting enough Republican support for Democratic initiatives to propel them to passage will be a challenge and "anything that gets 60 votes in the Senate is likely to be a problem with progressive Democrats in the House," Sracic added.

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell, Makini Brice, Richard Cowan, Chris Kahn and David Morgan; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis, Alistair Bell and Cynthia Osterman)

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-03-11

 

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[Chomper Higgot]

Excellent news.

[Tug]

Finally something for the working class plus help for small business and the states vaccination programs imo Joe is delivering to the American people regardless of political party or skin color just the way it’s supposed to be 

[Eric Loh]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

But the bill is popular with the public. A Reuters/Ipsos national opinion poll, conducted March 8-9, showed that 70% of Americans support the plan, including majorities of Democrats and Republicans. Among Republicans, five out of 10 say they support the plan, while nine out of 10 Democrats supported it.

Bipartisan public support. That's good news and some hope to narrow the steep division. Rep lawmakers must pay more attention to the sentiment of the people rather than steadfast loyalty to a lost cause. 

Edited March 11, 2021 by Eric Loh
grammar correction

[placeholder]

And the Democrats even managed to impose a small tax hike:

A $60 billion surprise in the Covid relief bill: Tax hikes
Democrats tucked in a trio of little-noticed tax hikes on the wealthy and big corporations.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/10/covid-relief-bill-tax-hikes-475051

[Sujo]

12 minutes ago, placeholder said:

And the Democrats even managed to impose a small tax hike:

A $60 billion surprise in the Covid relief bill: Tax hikes
Democrats tucked in a trio of little-noticed tax hikes on the wealthy and big corporations.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/10/covid-relief-bill-tax-hikes-475051

Good.

But the reason they werent noticed is because the repubs were too interested in dr zeuss.

wasnt this thing read out word for word in the senate for 10 hours? And repubs didnt want to notice it and negotiate?

[placeholder]

Another huge benefit of the new covid bill:

Obamacare’s About to Get a Lot More Affordable. These Maps Show How.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/10/upshot/stimulus-obamacare-lower-costs.html

[placeholder]

Here's a link that shows how much you can expect to pay now for a health insurance plan:

https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/

[Jeffr2]

What happened to America First?  Supporting the workers?  Not a single Republican voted for this.  Wow.  Bipartisanship at it's worst.

[Isaan sailor]

Why not just Covid relief, and call it good?  Would save about a trillion...

[Chomper Higgot]

3 hours ago, placeholder said:

And the Democrats even managed to impose a small tax hike:

A $60 billion surprise in the Covid relief bill: Tax hikes
Democrats tucked in a trio of little-noticed tax hikes on the wealthy and big corporations.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/10/covid-relief-bill-tax-hikes-475051

I’m not sure about ‘little noticed’, the hyper wealthy certainly will have noticed being required to pay a small fraction of their fair share of the nation’s tax burden.

What a marvelous difference an election makes.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

Just did my taxes. Hopefully it will come to my US bank acct soon. Then some will be transferred to my Thai bank. Then some will stay home to pay the credit card. ????

[earlinclaifornia]

Finally a President that knows how to keep a promise.  Trump did a good thing endorsing this. Sad no Republicans went along with his wishes. Say's so much about 2022 midterms expectations.

Edited March 11, 2021 by earlinclaifornia

[Chomper Higgot]

14 minutes ago, earlinclaifornia said:

Finally a President that knows how to keep a promise.  Trump did a good thing endorsing this. Sad no Republicans went along with his wishes. Say's so much about 2022 midterms expectations.

Trump endorsed it because he knew it was going to happen and it would be welcomed by millions of Americans.

 

However, while in office he showed zero interest in doing this himself, he paid out big to the hyper wealthy and chicken feed to the masses.

The only reason he paid anything to ordinary working Americans is because he saw the chance to have his name on the check.

[Jeffr2]

3 hours ago, placeholder said:

Here's a link that shows how much you can expect to pay now for a health insurance plan:

https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/

That's a very interesting link!

[Isaan sailor]

How long before 1.9 trillion is paid off?   For those who live here in Thailand, don’t expect the the USD to keep rising.  Currency traders will not look kindly on so much debt.  

[placeholder]

Just now, Isaan sailor said:

How long before 1.9 trillion is paid off?   For those who live here in Thailand, don’t expect the the USD to keep rising.  Currency traders will not look kindly on so much debt.  

And yet US IDX has been rising for the past 2 months. Currency traders know that if this bill doesn't pass, most likely the US would experience an extended recession.

[Isaan sailor]

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

And yet US IDX has been rising for the past 2 months. Currency traders know that if this bill doesn't pass, most likely the US would experience an extended recession.

I doubt that very much. USA can do fine without spending trillions more, with only 1/3 for covid relief.  And USD down more than 1% in last 36 hours.  It sure ain’t rising now.

[Sujo]

2 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

I doubt that very much. USA can do fine without spending trillions more, with only 1/3 for covid relief.  And USD down more than 1% in last 36 hours.  It sure ain’t rising now.

You must be happy trump is out of office then.

[placeholder]

3 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

I doubt that very much. USA can do fine without spending trillions more, with only 1/3 for covid relief.  And USD down more than 1% in last 36 hours.  It sure ain’t rising now.

You actually consider a period of 36 hours significant? And the last few months insignificant? Seems desperate.

[candide]

How shameless.... ????

GOP Senator Who Voted Against COVID-19 Relief Already Taking Credit For Bill’s Benefits

Mississippi’s Sen. Roger Wicker tweeted about how the legislation would help independent restaurants — even though every Republican voted against it.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/roger-wicker-covid-relief-credit_n_6049466dc5b672fce4ea3537

[simple1]

16 hours ago, Sujo said:

Good.

But the reason they werent noticed is because the repubs were too interested in dr zeuss.

wasnt this thing read out word for word in the senate for 10 hours? And repubs didnt want to notice it and negotiate?

Dems rejected all republican requests for changes, whether the attitude will bite the Dems in the <deleted> later is an open question. IMO some of the funding allocated was over the top, especially based upon income brackets, more like vote buying. On the other side of the coin republicans are pushing for voter disentrancement which if enacted is estimated to negatively impact tens of millions of people - a massively corrupt effort to stop Dems achieving power in the future - don't comprehend how in an alleged democratic system it is legal to even attempt to do so.

[placeholder]

3 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Dems rejected all republican requests for changes, whether the attitude will bite the Dems in the <deleted> later is an open question. IMO some of the funding allocated was over the top, especially based upon income brackets, more like vote buying. 

Opinion: The real lesson of the feud between Susan Collins and Chuck Schumer

During the debate over the $1.9 trillion relief package, you constantly heard media figures asking whether President Biden and Democrats could “do more” to “win bipartisan cooperation” from Republicans, as though this could have been secured by acts of personal glad handling or other mystical rites that went unspecified, and that this would have been an inherently good thing.

But the only thing Democrats could have done to win such bipartisan cooperation was to dramatically scale down their package. And so, those who suggested that winning bipartisan cooperation would have been an inherent good were necessarily offering an opinion on policy: They were saying a much smaller package would have been a better outcome than what did happen, because it was bipartisan.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/11/real-lesson-feud-between-susan-collins-chuck-schumer/

[placeholder]

The US House passed a sweeping $1.9tn Covid relief bill on Wednesday, a massive emergency relief measure that marks the first major legislative victory of Joe Biden’s presidency. The bill, passed along party lines in the House and Senate, will provide critical financial relief to millions of Americans through $1,400 stimulus checks, extend unemployment benefits in the middle of a pandemic-induced recession, and expand access to healthcare. “So naturally, Republicans are against it,” Jimmy Kimmel joked on Wednesday night.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/mar/11/jimmy-kimmel-biden-covid-relief-republicans-late-night-recap

[Jeffr2]

40 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Dems rejected all republican requests for changes, whether the attitude will bite the Dems in the <deleted> later is an open question. IMO some of the funding allocated was over the top, especially based upon income brackets, more like vote buying. On the other side of the coin republicans are pushing for voter disentrancement which if enacted is estimated to negatively impact tens of millions of people - a massively corrupt effort to stop Dems achieving power in the future - don't comprehend how in an alleged democratic system it is legal to even attempt to do so.

Politicians don't care about anything now other than getting re-elected.  One reason I get upset when I see members here bashing one party or the other.  They're both corrupt and change is desperately needed. 

 

With that being said, as an reformed member of the GOP...the GOP are the ones causing the biggest problems now.  Their support and enabling of Trump and his reign of terror will never be forgotten.

[Stargeezr]

Well it seems that the USA is a bit more in debt.  I guess it will be the 5 generations from now who will maybe get the

country out of debt.  555.  I am just glad that where I live, the debt is not so massive.  It will be a good day when all the worlds population

has had the vaccine of some sort against the covid 19 virus. I just hope that all travel out of all countries requires a vaccine certificate to show that 

no one is a covid carrier.    No vaccine, no valid passport, would be the way to control the non believers, and the anti everything crowd.

  Geezer

[Jeffr2]

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/11/us/joe-biden-news#in-his-prime-time-speech-biden-will-direct-states-to-make-all-adult-americans-eligible-for-vaccine-by-may-1

In his prime-time speech, Biden will direct states to make all adult Americans eligible for vaccine by May 1.

But Mr. Biden will warn that a return to normal this summer will require the public continuing to wear masks, social distance and sign up to be vaccinated in the meantime. His order to eliminate the current prioritization of vaccine eligibility is a reflection, his aides said, of the administration’s confidence that there will soon be enough vaccine for everyone.

[Chomper Higgot]

50 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Politicians don't care about anything now other than getting re-elected.  One reason I get upset when I see members here bashing one party or the other.  They're both corrupt and change is desperately needed. 

 

With that being said, as an reformed member of the GOP...the GOP are the ones causing the biggest problems now.  Their support and enabling of Trump and his reign of terror will never be forgotten.

Can you explain what is corrupt about this relief package that helps millions of struggling Americans regardless of age/gender/race/resident State or political affiliation?

As for wanting to get re-elected, what’s wrong with that? The Democrats fought and clean to win this election, to defeat a corrupt President and a corrupt Republican Party, they are turning the country around and it is already benefitting ordinary Americans.

There is no comparison on any scale of corruption between the Democrats and the Republicans, it’s a totally false equivalence.

The Republicans could learn from the Democrats, win votes with policies that actually help ordinary Americans, if they could manage that they’d be on board with getting all Americans to vote.

 

[Jeffr2]

3 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Can you explain what is corrupt about this relief package that helps millions of struggling Americans regardless of age/gender/race/resident State or political affiliation?

As for wanting to get re-elected, what’s wrong with that? The Democrats fought and clean to win this election, to defeat a corrupt President and a corrupt Republican Party, they are turning the country around and it is already benefitting ordinary Americans.

There is no comparison on any scale of corruption between the Democrats and the Republicans, it’s a totally false equivalence.

The Republicans could learn from the Democrats, win votes with policies that actually help ordinary Americans, if they could manage that they’d be on board with getting all Americans to vote.

 

It's a big bill, with a huge price tag.  There are 2 sides to this bill.  Read this.  One of many articles. 

https://www.npr.org/2021/02/26/971007439/bidens-1-9-trillion-rescue-plan-vital-medicine-or-costly-overkill

An opinion piece, but an interesting read.  As some have said here, the US is already in debt more than ever in it's history.  Scary, to put it mildly.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/1-9-trillion-is-too-much-stimulus-51612645043

I'm all for supporting the average worker.  The last bill, by Trump, didn't really accomplish that.  Time will tell if this bill will help.  Or hurt.

Nothing wrong with wanting to get re-elected.  Unless you do it like Haley, Cruz and DeSantis.  Spew lies.

[Chomper Higgot]

This bill is something else beyond help for ordinary Americans, it’s the direct opposite of ‘trickle down economics’ and a direct challenge to the idea that less government is good government.

The impact of spending money at the bottom of the economy is going to be demonstrated and the people who benefit will be the very people who are suffering from the results of over forty years of neoliberalism.

Millions of people in desperate need are being helped out. 

And if you don’t like the bill for that, (but had no problem with the bill for handing over a $trillion to the hyper wealthy) wait until you see the bill for the much needed infrastructure programs.

This is not profligacy of ‘the left’, this and the forthcoming infrastructure investment is the bill the nation has after decades of neoliberalism stripping wealth from working Americans and neglecting the nation’s vital infrastructure.