Stimulus Paella…
It’s always scary when our “trusted” leaders name bills for me since they usually don’t 100% mean what they’re named. This week’s Stimulus Paella includes the HEALS Act (Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protections and Schools Act) proposed by the Senate and the HEROES Act (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act) proposed by the House.
From a pure quantity standpoint, the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, and Economic Security Act) provided a total of $2.2 trillion in aid. In comparison, the newly proposed HEALS Act would provide $1 Trillion and the HEROES Act $3 trillion. The $2 trillion difference is a big one and it means if a person supports the HEROES Act they believe the CARES act was not enough to help the American public. On the other hand, if a person supports the HEALS Act, it means the CARES Act went overboard.
Normally I would say somewhere in the middle lies the truth, but considering the corporate lobbyists were able to siphon trillions and trillions of dollars to corporate interests I think initially, I go with the HEROES Act as stupid as the name is. After all, what’s good for the goose is for the gander, right? Don’t get me wrong, I do believe the PPP programs were needed and well distributed in general. I’m not talking about PPP, I’m talking about the corporate assistance programs you didn’t see in the news, and the injection of funds by the Federal Reserve.
For a married family of three with less than $150k in combined income, the HEROES will provide them $4800 in stimulus benefits as opposed to $3400 by the HEALS Act. Unemployment benefits would stay the same with HEROES but would be reduced by HEALS. On the flip side, HEALS would provide incentives for the unemployed to get new jobs or get rehired by way of a “return to work” bonus, where HEROES does not provide any. The HEALS Act also provides $16 billion in funds earmarked for Corona-virus testing.
In the end, the chips will fall where they do, hopefully, it means the “wisdom” of our leaders allow them to negotiate this into a scenario where the truly affected are helped. Outside of the left and right bickering, we DO have children going hungry right now, we DO have small businesses on the brink of failure, and we DO have leeches as big as airlines and as small as sole proprietors salivating to get their pound of flesh. In this case, I hope the hungry and the small business owners get the cake and leave the crumbs for the leeches…