Joe Biden’s COVID Relief Bill is Rightfully Bringing Back Government Handouts
The newly passed COVID-19 relief bill will not solve every aspect of the crisis, and it won’t fundamentally reverse our massive wealth inequality. But the bill will make a substantial difference in people’s lives — and in the process create fertile terrain for the Left to organize.
President Joe Biden signs the American Rescue Plan in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. (Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)
The passage of Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill was met by euphoria from the liberal media, along with requisite nay-saying from some on the Left. Undoubtedly, there are, as usual, good reasons to be frustrated with the Democratic Party leadership’s refusal to fight harder for the inclusion of a desperately needed minimum wage increase, and their unnecessary concessions on the size and scope of direct payments and unemployment benefits.
Yet the bill will substantially alleviate the suffering of many, while also signaling a political and economic shift toward the provision of public welfare.
Between the direct payments, the extension of enhanced unemployment, money allotted to states, child tax credits, and other benefits, many poor and working-class people will receive a far-reaching amount of governmental support — and potentially cut child poverty in half. And unlike last year’s relief packages, the bill’s payout will go almost exclusively to the public, not corporations.
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