New Stimulus Bill?

The first stimulus bill expires this week. For many Americans, the stimulus already expired, which will leave a gap in their income.

In addition, the eviction moratorium also expires in 3 days, leaving millions of Americans at risk of being evicted from homes and apartments. Landlords have not wasted any time, in some cases they have already filed eviction notices with courts, ready to deliver on August 1st.

While the House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats, have had months to negotiate terms for ongoing support of the American people in need, as of this time they have failed to do so. This with full knowledge that lives will be placed in danger, along with the entire economy. It is highly questionable whether they will reach any agreement for an economic package before leaving DC on Thursday of this week.

Republicans and Trump want to drastically decrease the amount of support for the unemployed. Trump’s idea is actually more generous than the general GOP. The GOP wants to eliminate any additional unemployment support or limit the additional support to $200 (arguably per week or even month, depending on the source). Trump wants to limit support to 70% of a person’s regular income.

While Trump’s idea is more generous than the general GOP, it is still a major decrease in income for many. Keep in mind that at full pay, before the pandemic ever came along, half of Americans could not afford a $400 emergency. For those who were making minimum wage or barely above, that 30% drop in income will be the final nudge which pushes them over the edge financially.

Trump also wants a payroll tax moratorium. It remains to be seen if the suspended taxes would then be due next year. However, he wants this as the national debt is currently over $26.5 trillion and the deficit is nearly $3 trillion.

No matter which way these things go, we are now set to be experiencing numerous crises successively over several years, making our current situation seem trivial by comparison.

The GOP and Trump plans for recovery rely entirely on people going back to work. This completely ignores the hundreds of thousands of jobs which already no longer exist, not to mention the long list of pending bankruptcies and closures indicating millions more jobs which will no longer exist in the very near future.

First, there will be the evictions, forcing Americans out on the streets within days. In millions of cases, the…