Last week, President Donald Trump signed a law that directs the IRS to send $600 checks to every child and nondependent adult with incomes below $75,000 (single tax filer), $112,500 (head of household tax filer), or $150,000 (married tax filer). Those with incomes beyond that amount have their total check amount reduced by 5 cents for every dollar that exceeds the threshold.

Since then, the House of Representatives passed a bill that increases the amount to $2,000 and includes all adults, not just nondependents. The bill has the support of 78 percent of likely voters, Donald Trump, president-elect Joe Biden, and the majority of US senators, with at least five Senate Republicans announcing that they support the measure.

Despite this widespread support, the proposal has come under attack. Many detractors, such as the Washington Post editorial board, have been arguing that the proposal is badly targeted from a distributive perspective.