It's odd to think that something as simple and vital as a stimulus bill, during the greatest modern catastrophe in the history of our country, being passed by Congress was "against all expectation," but the sad fact is that our government is so incredibly dysfunctional, that passing a single Covid stimulus bill 9 months the first bill was, indeed "against all expectation." It is truly amazing how little our government, and politicians are allowed to get away with. How profoundly they are allowed to fail us. So many dead, so much suffering, the government no where to be found, and we don't put up a fight!
This stimulus bill is apparently $900 Billion in total, but we don't know many of the details because the extremely long piece of legislation was only released to Congress on Monday. But, we do know a few things: 1) that surprisingly the will of the people was actually heard, and liability protections for corporations were not added in to this bill in spite of McConnell's deep advocacy. As we talked about last week, 77% of people did not want these protections included, and it appears the threat of the Georgia runoffs prevented McConnell from obstinately getting his way.
We also talked about how much stimulus people wanted,and it looks like once again that demand has been heard, if unfortunately in the form of a paltry one time lump payment of $600, which as numerous people have pointed out, does not even cover 1 month's rent let alone the months of back pay that so many millions owe. That Democrats would tout this as a win shows a lack of understanding of the suffering that so many people have felt during this crisis: whether or not they know someone that got Covid-19, there's also been so much suffering from the economic devastation, and the stress, and the Incalculable ripple effects that will be felt going outward for years and for decades. A $600, one time payment is insultingly low. It shows the incredible contempt that the government has for our people, in which its completely acceptable to only grant a single month's extension on eviction moratoriums, as if a month is going to make such a difference.
Perhaps it would have, given the fact that miracle of all miracles, we have indeed begun administering vaccines of Covid-19 here in America, but due to another bungling of the Trump administration we have millions upon millions fewer doses than we could otherwise have procured. What's more, new reporting is coming out suggesting the Trump administration is failing to effectively distribute even the small number of vaccines they did procure. With all this, and the upcoming holiday surge, we will be facing just the same problems at the end of January.
At least, however, we will have a new government, which if they are wise, they will listen to the American people and take another bite at the Covid-19 stimulus apple:
Select the top 4 issues you think the Biden administration should focus on in January:
The Coronavirus Pandemic: 65%
Jobs and the Economy: 48%
Healthcare: 38%
Corruption in Government: 28%
Wages and Cost of Living 27%
If Joe Biden is paying attention, and cares one whit for the American people, he should take the mandate Americans have given him, to pass more Covid stimulus, this time much bigger and bolder.There is reason to be encouraged that Joe might be responsive in certain areas to the people's demands: he is floating Haaland as interior Secretary, who would be the 1st Native American women, and an amazing and inspiring activist and environmental leader. Additionally, he is centering climate change in much of his policy, a very encouraging sign, as the climate crisis is the lens through which we must view all of our policies in upcoming years.
Make no mistake, though, just because there are encouraging signs in the Biden administration, we should only understand progress that in the context of the outside pressure being exerted by the people. If we continue to grow our voices and power, and advocate for our goals and policies clearly we can move the needle here on Covid-19 stimulus, and get aid to the people and our local and state governments, instead of the rich and powerful! We must make sure that we are relentless in our pursuit of these goals but if we organized and if we continue to push it appears that we should have hope that the Biden administration may be responsive in certain areas to our public pressure. We must organize every Tuesday in growing solidarity as we fight the powers of division and oligarchs who threaten to undermine our democracy and make sure the new government listens to the people. Don't Shop on Tuesdays!
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