Democrats Release Draft Plan For COVID Stimulus Payments

If getting relief to citizens who are suffering is so darned important, why not simply put forth a stand-alone bill with the stimulus payments?

Stimulus checks would be capped at $100,000 income under Democrat plan. What we know

House Democrats unveiled a proposal Monday that would cap direct payments for individuals making up to $100,000 a year and couples making up to $200,000.

House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, released legislation that would provide $1,400 checks to individuals earning $75,000 a year and married couples earning $150,000 a year — the same income thresholds in Biden’s $1.9 trillion emergency plan released in January. The plan has a faster phase-out than in previous proposals, capping payments at $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 for couples.

The plan by House Democrats may not be the final version of the income eligibility requirements as lawmakers negotiate a bill they hope to pass before Mar. 14, the day that $300 weekly unemployment benefits approved in December’s coronavirus package expire. That timeline has added to lawmakers’ desire to go with the budget reconciliation route, a process that allows for “expedited consideration” of legislation on spending, taxes and debt and would enable Democrats to pass the bill without any GOP support.

“While it is still our hope that Republicans will join us in doing right by the American people, the urgency of the moment demands that we act without further delay,” Neal said in a statement.

What’s so urgent about March 14? That’s over a month away. Democrats knew they would have majorities months ago, yet seemed to have no actual plan ready to go. Unless the plan is to use the pandemic and economic devastation caused partially by locking down the economy, then continued by mostly Democrat rulers keeping states and cities locked down, to jam through a far left wish list. Because there will be few Republican votes in the House, and Democrats have to play games in the Senate by using reconciliation to get it passed. They’re still planning on jamming through the minimum wage hike to $15, which would kill millions of jobs.

A group of 10 Republican senators, led by Maine’s Susan Collins, released a plan on Feb. 1 that includes $1,000 direct payments to Americans instead of the $1,400 checks proposed by Biden. The plan would provide $1,000 stimulus checks for individuals making up to $40,000 a year and phase them out completely when income reaches $50,000. Joint filers would get $2,000, with the payments phasing out beginning at $80,000 a year with an income cap at $100,000.

That does make more sense, especially in terms of who would get the money. Do we really need it for higher earners? If they were smart they’d be on TV and social media and stuff constantly saying they’d be willing to compromise but that it’s super important to pass a stimulus immediately, and that it should be voted in a standalone bill which is “clean”, meaning it is solely about stimulus checks.