Congressional leaders have reached a bipartisan deal on an almost $ 1 trillion covid-19 economic relief parcel Sunday afternoon that would launch a temporary $ 300 per week protuberance in unemployment benefit and send $ 600 stimulus checks to most Americans , the Associated Pressreports .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , Republican of Kentucky , and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , Democrat of New York , herald the deal on the Senate floor just days before Christmas .
“ The great news is , Congress is not going to be the Grinch , ” said Virginia Senator Mark Warner on Sunday morning as negotiations seem to fill up in on an accord , perthe Guardian .
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) walks to the Senate floor on Capitol Hill on 1 January 2025 in Washington, DC. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate finally came to an agreement on the coronavirus relief bill on Sunday.Photo: Tasos Katopodis (Getty Images)
The House of Representatives and Senate are await to vote on the deal on Monday , and will almost certainly okay it just as the U.S. has seen unprecedentedcase spike , hospitalizations , anddeathsin late week . To day of the month , there have been more than 17.8 million covid-19 character and 317,000 deaths nationwide , harmonise to theJohns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center .
At a cost of approximately $ 900 billion , this deal would the second - largest economic stimulus package in U.S. history following the more than $ 2 trillion CARES Act in March . The final agreement would conflate this relief software system with a $ 1.4 trillion government - wide funding programme , create it the largest expenditure step in America to date , AP reports .
The $ 600 payment would be subject to exchangeable stipulations as the previous round of stimulus checks . Two people familiar with the matter toldthe Washington Postthat people who earned more than $ 75,000 in 2019 likely wo n’t welcome the full amount . As for the $ 300 per week bonus out of work benefit , they would be limited to a 10 - week menstruation or else of 16 weeks like last time . The software would also let in as much as $ 330 billion in subsidy for little line of work and funnel tens of billion of dollars to schools , wellness charge providers , renters face dispossession , and a bevy of other vital needs , per the Post .
And while this package is undoubtedly a welcome sculptural relief , it ’s candidly mortifying that Congress has adjudicate $ 1,800 is enough money for Americans to make it on this year amid a oecumenical wellness and economic crisis . That means Congress thinks roughly $ 150 is enough to hatch each soul ’s monthly expenses for the past twelvemonth ( those fortunate enough not tofall through the crackswith receiving defrayal , that is ) . And even that pittance take months of prolonged negotiation for Congress to concord on it .
I entail , I was well-chosen to listen Congress finally turn over an agreement , do n’t get me incorrect . But I ca n’t help but think of that scene at the beginning of Mad Max : Fury Road . You know the one where Immortan Joe opens the floodgates for all of three seconds for the vile masses below dying of thirst , and then chastise them about “ becoming addicted to water ” when they complain ? $ 600 feel like a drop in the bucket at this point for themillions of Americansstruggling amid the effects of rising poorness rates , far-flung unemployment , and a baneful computer virus in a country with some of thehighest healthcare costsin the world .
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