How much is this really helping?
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Washington finally passed another COVID bill.
This doesn't do nearly enough in my opinion, but at least gets us past the possibility of the benefits from the first bill expiring with nothing else in place.
The GOP seems to be staying true to their colors and protecting corporate schmoozing.
https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-19-stimulus-trumps-3-martini-lunch-tax-break-wapo-2020-12
Also, just food for thought, the $3 trillion we've spent so far would be enough to have given every single American adult nearly $12,000. I don't know about you, but I have a feeling $12,000 per person, would have done a lot more to help those hurting and boosting the economy at the same time than whatever we did with that $3 trillion.
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I gotta be honest, I have no need for another $600. I'll take it, but frankly, for those who actually needed the money, it's at best a band aid for nine months of stockpiled debt.
At the same time, I don't think "$3 trillion we've spent so far" is an accurate representation of what's been done so far, as most of it was loans to companies, not a handout. We absolutely could have skimmed 1 percent off the military's budget for the year and given an actual handout to families and probably wouldn't have noticed one bit. The government's done about fuck all the last year to help normal folk.
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It's about a third of what it should be. The US continues to fall short compared to other rich nations in terms of pandemic relief efforts.
WA has better UI benefits than most, and people are still hurting here. I can't imagine what it is like in areas that hate "socialism" or whatnot.
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@fintail Try a tenth. Look what any other developed country has done to mitigate the pandemic's impact, and it's pretty apparent that the US has done close to nothing to serve its citizens.
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@qaaaaa Hear hear.
But hey, Project Veritas can get 500K+ in PPP money, so the system works. Capitalism, bootstrapping.
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@qaaaaa said in How much is this really helping?:
I don't think "$3 trillion we've spent so far" is an accurate representation of what's been done so far
Fair. I was just pulling the "cost" of the 2 bills so far from the headlines. Aren't most of those loans the forgive-able type though?
I'll never understand how so many people fight against "handouts" for people yet have no problem with "incentives" for companies. Want to help companies AND people at the same time, then put money directly into the hands of the people at the bottom. Pretty much every cent goes right back into the economy. Plus, now the government isn't picking winners and losers based on incentives, rather the market will be picking which companies get that stimulus.
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@mastermario said in How much is this really helping?:
Aren't most of those loans the forgive-able type though?
I didn't even think about that. I would not be surprised were that the case.
By the way, I don't know if you noticed or not but the way Elfster sent out Secret Senna emails, we got everyone's real name, but the google sheet with info and such on it has user names, so nobody knows who they have.
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@qaaaaa Yea, I was expecting everyone to put in their username on elfster. I think I will send an email out to everyone to ask their recipient for their username.
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It's probably not enough, but it will definitely help some. Bad cuts are still coming to state and local services, as this bill ended up doing little to help them (most of the money budgeted for that in the initial compromise is instead going to $600 checks). The initial round certainly did help minimize the impact, but I think we'd have been much better off had the GOP acted on the House bill passed this summer instead of ignoring the problem until it became clear sitting around doing nothing might cost them the Georgia Senate races.
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@mastermario said in How much is this really helping?:
Fair. I was just pulling the "cost" of the 2 bills so far from the headlines. Aren't most of those loans the forgive-able type though?
They are, so they're not being paid back. My in-laws also exploited it because they've had no reason to lay anyone off and have more orders than ever to fill as a result of the pandemic. They also got an instant exemption from shutdowns due to their industry.
I don't know what the solution is, because the struggling people/businesses are all screwed. The worst off are those that are most affected by the lockdowns and limitations, while the rest of us are seeing little-to-no effect aside from limited options for entertainment, recreation, etc. We just keep saving money at ever lower rates and buying more investments that return something. There's nothing else to do with our vacation, dining out, etc, money. I also expect that this pattern will result in massive inflation shortly after things return to normal and possibly a market bust, since this rally just keeps going for almost no reason aside from near-zero returns on savings.
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@fintail the best part is all the new proposed taxes to pay for all of this "help" everybody received.
Actually, my personal favorite part of this whole ordeal is Trump's payroll tax holiday, that where employees would have a slightly larger paycheck each month and be hit with a massive unexpected tax bill, while at the same time employers would be held responsible for any non-payment. What's the opposite of a win-win situation..?
2013 Hayabusa
2021 701 Enduro
1998 VFR800
1995 Miata -
@aestheticsinmotion The opposite of win-win is the administration of the 45th president in US history. The biggest accomplishments of this reign of idiocy are the most inept pandemic response in the developed world, and more trickle down lies (mobilized conspiracy theorist and racist shitbags are just a bonus). Almost 4 years into it now, are you tired of winning?
Today's pardons don't even get to me, saw them coming. The kids are next on the list.
