Yes that might end up being the most popular portion of this bill and one that hasn't gotten as much coverage as other parts. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/07/...tion=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage In the Stimulus Bill, a Policy Revolution in Aid for Children The $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package moving through Congress advances an idea that Democrats have been nurturing for decades: establishing a guaranteed income for families with children. WASHINGTON — A year ago, Anique Houpe, a single mother in suburban Atlanta, was working as a letter carrier, running a side business catering picnics and settling into a rent-to-own home in Stone Mountain, Ga., where she thought her boys would flourish in class and excel on the football field. Then the pandemic closed the schools, the boys’ grades collapsed with distance learning, and she quit work to stay home in hopes of breaking their fall. Expecting unemployment aid that never came, she lost her utilities, ran short of food and was recovering from an immobilizing bout of Covid when a knock brought marshals with eviction papers. Depending on when the snapshot is dated, Ms. Houpe might appear as a striving emblem of upward mobility or a mother on the verge of homelessness. But in either guise, she is among the people Democrats seek to help with a mold-breaking plan, on the verge of congressional passage, to provide most parents a monthly check of up to $300 per child. Obscured by other parts of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which won Senate approval on Saturday, the child benefit has the makings of a policy revolution. Though framed in technocratic terms as an expansion of an existing tax credit, it is essentially a guaranteed income for families with children, akin to children’s allowances that are common in other rich countries. The plan establishes the benefit for a single year. But if it becomes permanent, as Democrats intend, it will greatly enlarge the safety net for the poor and the middle class at a time when the volatile modern economy often leaves families moving between those groups. More than 93 percent of children — 69 million — would receive benefits under the plan, at a one-year cost of more than $100 billion. The bill, which is likely to pass the House and be signed by Mr. Biden this week, raises the maximum benefit most families will receive by up to 80 percent per child and extends it to millions of families whose earnings are too low to fully qualify under existing law. Currently, a quarter of children get a partial benefit, and the poorest 10 percent get nothing. While the current program distributes the money annually, as a tax reduction to families with income tax liability or a check to those too poor to owe income taxes, the new program would send both groups monthly checks to provide a more stable cash flow. By the standards of previous aid debates, opposition has been surprisingly muted. While the bill has not won any Republican votes, critics have largely focused on other elements of the rescue package. Some conservatives have called the child benefit “welfare” and warned that it would bust budgets and weaken incentives to work or marry. But Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, has proposed a child benefit that is even larger, though it would be financed through other safety net cuts. While the proposal took center stage in response to the pandemic, supporters have spent decades developing the case for a children’s income guarantee. Their arguments gained traction as science established the long-term consequences of deprivation in children’s early years, and as rising inequality undercut the idea that everyone had a fair shot at a better life. The economic shock and racial protests of the past year brought new momentum to a plan whose reach, while broad, would especially help Black and Latino families, who are crucial to the Democrats’ coalition. Mr. Biden’s embrace of the subsidies is a leftward shift for a Democratic Party that made deep cuts in cash aid in the 1990s under the theme of “ending welfare.” As a senator, Mr. Biden supported the 1996 welfare restrictions, and as recently as August his campaign was noncommittal about the child benefit. The president now promotes projections that the monthly checks — up to $300 for young children and $250 for those over 5 — would cut child poverty by 45 percent, and by more than 50 percent among Black families. “The moment has found us,” said Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat who has proposed a child allowance in 10 consecutive Congresses and describes it as a children’s version of Social Security. “The crystallization of the child tax credit and what it can do to lift children and families out of poverty is extraordinary. We’ve been talking about this for years.” More at link.
Interesting portion of this bill, would love to get the thoughts of others: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/07/...action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage I'm all for individuals getting their pensions, but I am disturbed that our taxpayer money will be bailing out these unions and their bad choices in how they've chosen to leverage the retirement money of their workforce. I dislike this notion that the government will continue bailing out everybody, therefore, corporations do not have to make good decisions because ultimately the government will bail them out one way or another. I certainly don't want workers that were promised their pensions to go without that money, but how the hell is this fair for us as taxpayers to be bailing out these pension plans. We are already paying for social security via payroll taxes. We already asked to fund our own retirement. Now we have to bail out ******* pension plans that are playing with people's money and losing a lot of it?!?! I'm not opposed to paying back money that was cut from individuals pensions, but once again, crazy that we have to bail the pension plan managers out due to poor decisions. Maybe I'm outraged over nothing which is why I wanted to get other's thoughts on this.
It's Morning Joe so take it with appropriate grain of salt. From the charts that Ratner provides though shows that this bill could potentially be one of the most progressive bills anticipated to cut poverty by a third. Even more noteworthy in how it compares to the Trump tax cut in regards to how much it helps those not wealthy.
Trump tax cut for the wealthy - 30% public support, 100% congressional Republican for it Biden covid package - 70% public support, 100% congressional Republican against it Republican are for elite donors, not the public
Families making over 200,000 sure get the short end of the stick with these stimulus checks and child credits. I may ask my wife to stop working if the government wants to keep handing out this free money.
To play devil's advocate here, the 2 charts show different things. The second shows 'reduction in tax change'. Clearly folks on the low end of the income spectrum will have significantly less reduction in taxes since they pay significantly less. Or am I misreading it?
The calculation Republicans are making is that even if it's popular it's not worth the risk of going against the rest of the caucus or die hard supporters and instead hope that there are problems with the rollout or even that by November 2022 people have forgotten about it. It wouldn't surprise me if people like Collins and Murkowski who have stated they support much of what's in the bill figure it will pass anyway and them voting for it won't bring them any major benefit while inviting being primaried and fund raised against.
You think a 1400 dollar stimulus check and some child care credits is making low income families have the lifestyle of a family with 200+ grand income? If you are struggling on a 200 grand income, you probably mortgaged a house above your means or car payment like a new Porsche that is above your means. The government doesn't need to bail out that. They need to help families who work full time that still struggle paying rent and child day care services because they can't leave their kids home alone.
If you make over 200k why would you need any stimulus? We’re in the middle of a pandemic so if there was ever a time for the government to spend money it’s now and on the people that need it.
