Biden signs American Rescue Plan

President Biden on Thursday signed into law the sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that Democrats muscled through Congress without any Republican support, securing the first big legislative win of his presidency.

“This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving the people of this nation, working people, the middle-class folks, people who built the country a fighting chance,” Biden said.

The measure includes a $1,400 check for many Americans and an extension of a $300 weekly unemployment aid supplement through Sept. 6, as well as a generous one-year expansion of the child tax credit. It also provides hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for state and local governments, vaccine distribution efforts, and small businesses still reeling from the pandemic.

BIDEN’S CORONAVIRUS RELIEF BILL INCLUDES $60B IN SURPRISE TAX HIKES

Biden had initially been scheduled to sign the bill on Friday, but the White House moved up the timeline to Thursday afternoon in order to distribute the aid “as fast as possible,” Ron Klain, the president’s chief of staff, wrote on Twitter. Klain added: “We will hold our celebration of the signing on Friday, as planned, with Congressional leaders!”

Biden’s signature caps off a two-month sprint by Democrats to unleash another torrent of federal money intended to bolster the economy‘s recovery from the pandemic nearly one year after the crisis began.

Democrats have touted the law as one of the most progressive pieces of legislation in history, pointing to some estimates that suggest it will slash poverty by a third this year and potentially cut child poverty in half and have argued it’s needed to revive the virus-battered economy. More than 20 million Americans are collecting some type of jobless aid, and there remain about 9.5 million fewer jobs than there were one year ago before the crisis began.

SOME FAMILIES COULD RECEIVE UP TO $14,000 FROM BIDEN’S RELIEF BILL

But Republicans, none of whom voted for the bill, have blasted the bill as a wasteful spending frenzy that does more to address liberal wishlist items than the dual health and economic crises.

“The American people already built a parade that’s been marching toward victory,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday. “Democrats just want to sprint to the front of that parade and claim the credit.”

The sheer size of pandemic-related spending in the U.S. is entirely without precedent: Lawmakers already approved about $4.1 trillion in relief measures under former President Donald Trump, according to a COVID-19 money tracker published by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, bringing total federal spending on the crisis to roughly $6 trillion.

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The exorbitant level of spending has pushed the nation’s deficit to a record $3.1 trillion for the 2020 fiscal year (which does not include the $900 billion relief plan approved in December). The national debt is on track to hit $30 trillion by the end of 2021.

Biden signed the measure in the Oval Office just hours before he is set to deliver a primetime televised address, during which he said he plans to “talk about what we’ve been through as a nation this past year.”

“But more importantly, I’m going to talk about what comes next,” he said. “I’m going to launch the next phase of the COVID response and explain what we will do as a government and what we will ask of the American people.”

From here, the president is set to kick off an aggressive travel campaign to sell the relief plan to American voters and convince them it’s responsible for the economy’s recovery.

“Help is here,” Biden tweeted Wednesday. “And brighter days lie ahead.”

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-signs-coronavirus-relief-bill-first-major-legislative-win

The post Biden signs $1.9T coronavirus relief bill in first major legislative win first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said Congress must quickly pass his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package to counter the economic effects of the ongoing pandemic as a new government jobs report showed hiring had stalled.

Biden told a meeting of House Democratic leaders Friday that at the current pace of job creation, the United States would not return to full employment for 10 years.

The jobs report, released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor, showed employment growth rebounded less than expected in January, and job losses in December were worse than initially thought.

It said the U.S. economy added 49,000 jobs in January but also revised the number of jobs lost in December to 227,000, up from the 140,000 losses reported in the early January report.

“It is very clear our economy is still in trouble,” Biden told lawmakers.

“We have more than 10 million people out of work, 4 million people have been out of work for six months or longer, and 2.5 million women have been driven from the workforce,” he said.

Biden’s coronavirus relief proposal includes new $1,400 stimulus checks for many Americans, as well as additional funding for food and nutrition, and an extension on unemployment benefits.

The Biden administration has said it is willing to lower the threshold for qualifying for the $1,400 stimulus so that it better targets lower-income Americans, however, it has said it is not willing to lower the amount of the checks.

The Senate passed a budget resolution early Friday, marking a key step that would allow Democrats to pass a relief package without the threat of a filibuster from opposing Republicans, who say Biden’s relief plan is too expensive. The House passed the resolution later in the day Friday.

Republican lawmakers have pushed to scale down the package, arguing that $1.9 trillion needlessly increases the federal deficit.

Biden’s push Friday for his relief package comes in the same week that he met with 10 Republican senators who proposed a slimmed-down, $618 billion alternative relief bill. Biden has said he is willing to work with Republicans, however, on Friday he said that aid at a lower level would only prolong the economic pain.

“I’d like to be doing it with the support of Republicans … they’re just not willing to go as far as I think we have to go,” Biden said.

The Senate budget resolution passed 51-50 Friday morning, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting her first tie-breaking vote.

Passage came after a marathon overnight session dubbed “Vote-a-Rama,” in which more than 800 amendments were proposed. Despite the amendments, Biden’s plan remains largely intact.

“We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech before voting Thursday. Many Democrats feel the government did not provide enough stimulus during the 2008 recession.

The resolution then went to the House of Representatives, where it passed 219-209 on Friday afternoon, also without a Republican vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she hoped the House would send the final package to the Senate in two weeks.

Democratic lawmakers have said they want a final bill passed by mid-March when extra unemployment assistance and other pandemic aid expires.

Source: https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/biden-pushes-quick-passage-relief-bill-jobs-report-shows-weak-growth

The post Biden Pushes for Quick Passage of Relief Bill as Jobs Report Shows Weak Growth first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.