“Crisis Package May Help Millions of Desperate Americans Cope with Winter”



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At the last minute, the Washington Congress agreed to a new crisis package, hoping to prevent the collapse of the US economy.

Democrats had to give in to demands for significantly higher contributions. But millions of American homes on the brink of ruin can now breathe a sigh of relief at least during Christmas.

The $ 900 billion crisis package was approved alongside an additional $ 1.4 trillion comprehensive budget deal, which will leave a clear mark on the political landscape of the United States during Joe Biden’s first year.

Crisis package means that the United States government, like this spring, makes direct payments to all American households, at $ 600 per person. The allowance is gradually being reduced for those who earn more than $ 75,000 a year, as well as for married couples who earn more than $ 150,000. According to Finance Minister Steven Mnuchin, these payments could start next week.

The unemployed also receive an additional allowance of $ 300 per week. It can help millions of American households weather the winter.

It’s hard to overestimate the importance of the deal to millions of desperate American families.

$ 300 billion it is also offered in loans to small and large businesses, which is expected to save hundreds of thousands of jobs. The terms of the loan are written so that employers can avoid laying off staff.

The new crisis package also provides broad support for childcare, schools and universities, for crisis-affected public transport in large cities, as well as for other sectors that have been hit hard by the pandemic, such as airlines. , concert halls and restaurants. 69 billion are reserved to speed up the distribution of vaccines.

Republicans in Congress called the agreement a “historic triumph” and highlighted in particular the more than 80 new tax cuts and deductions that were implemented, for airlines, restaurants, the film industry and sports organizers, among others.

But despite the crisis package As Congress passed Tuesday night, it is the second largest in US history, warning many economists that it will not do enough to keep industries hardest hit by the pandemic.

Democrats were forced to accept significantly lower levels of subsidies than they originally demanded. They were hoping that payments to American households would be $ 1,200 instead of $ 600. and big cities.

Unemployment benefits will already be cut in March, likely to create a new conflict between the two parties in Congress this spring.

“This is better than nothing, but it does not have the same stimulating effect as previous crisis packages and many contributions are short-lived,” economist Kathy Bostjancic told the Washington Post.

Even the Republicans gave up various heart problems. At the last minute, Senate party leader Mitch McConnell agreed to drop comprehensive protection lawsuits for businesses, which would prevent them from being sued for exposing employees to security risks during the pandemic. This so-called “liability shield,” a shield against lawsuits, McConnell long described as the most important part of the crisis package.

It’s rare for McConnell, a tough negotiator, to give in to such negotiations, but his commitment reflects the fact that the pandemic has hit the most conservative parts of the United States extremely hard. McConnell also dropped an earlier lawsuit to restrict the central bank’s ability to borrow more money.

However, Republicans have other reasons to be happy with the deal. Among other things, they got a higher deduction for business lunches. The proposal was criticized by both Democrats and economists as irrelevant to the current crisis, but it was a personal matter of the heart of President Donald Trump, who also made McConnell prioritize lunch deductions.

Republicans in the Senate he described the crisis package as a “political triumph,” while Democrats instead emphasized that there must be additional support packages in the spring.

“This was an emergency solution and when we return in January, our main task will be to fill the gaps that this agreement left,” said Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate.

Joe Biden, in turn, called the deal a “down payment” and promised new, more generous crisis packages as soon as he takes office as president in January.

It’s a reminder that the austerity policy that dominated after the 2008 financial crisis is distant now.

When Barack Obama and Joe Biden arrived in Washington in January 2009, there was also an economic crisis in the United States, but then the tone was much more marked by discussions about austerity, cuts and budget balance.

Instead, Biden seems to be convinced that generous support is needed for the millions of Americans, industries and regions most affected by the pandemic. The question, of course, is how eager Republicans will be to vote through generous crisis packages when they no longer have their president in the White House next year.

The fact that the crisis package was prepared in conjunction with a more comprehensive budget policy agreement, covering a total of $ 2.3 trillion, also signifies real changes in America’s military, school, fiscal and energy policy.

In total, it is on a 5,593-page difficult-to-understand bill that Congress only had five hours to read before the Tuesday night vote.

Most surprising was that Congress agreed to a series of broad climate policy initiatives, which Democrats edged out a bit in the shadow of the other negotiations on the crisis package.

There are, among other things, substantial subsidies and tax breaks for solar and wind power, as well as new permits for wind and solar power on federal land. $ 35 billion is also set aside for research and development, as well as investments in green infrastructure and more energy-efficient federal buildings.

Jane Flegal, Climate Researcher at Oxford University, he called the deal “the first serious climate policy package in more than ten years.”

According to Democrat climate policy adviser Nancy Pelosi, the agreement allows Joe Biden “to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the green economy.”

The climate policy reforms were a rare example of cross-party cooperation in Congress. The energy policy proposals were formulated by 36 Democrats and 33 Republicans in the Senate.

The fact that Congress passed a nearly 6,000-page bill in a couple of hours was at the same time a reminder of how shattered Washington is. After negotiations were blocked in Congress for several months, many senators seemed almost terrified to add as many additions and changes to their heart problems as possible in the last minute.

For most members of Congress, it will probably take the rest of the Christmas weekend to understand what the bill they voted on actually contains.

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