(Newswire.net — March 2, 2021) — The global pandemic has set significant footprints on our lives. Not only it is personal, but economic and social as well. The pandemic has changed our daily routine for already a year and we are still having a lot of troubles overcoming all of it. The footprints are not set on the companies or businesses, but on the individual and governmental levels as well.
While we might have thought that the biggest countries would have tackled it the best way was far from the truth at this stage. The US, which is one of the biggest and leading countries worldwide, is struggling the same way, if not worse as the small countries, with smaller economies.
The economic collapse has led to a massive crisis, which has a lot to do with individual lives. Because of the global pandemic, most of the companies had to close down, permanently or temporarily. And even worse, almost all of them had to lay off millions of people, leading to massive unemployment.
While there are some guidelines and some plans in order to maintain at least some stability in the region, there is hardly anything the local government can do to support families in need.
Trump was among the number of presidents, who had been severely criticized for his plan and his approach towards the pandemic and the measures he took, and now, we have President-elect Joe Biden, who is planning to implement some of his personal initiatives.
The multi-trillion-dollar aid package
Last week, Biden announced that he is assembling a multi-trillion dollar relief package that would boost the stimulus payment for the American people to $2,000, extent the unemployment insurance, and send billions of dollars to the aid to cities and state governments, moving swiftly to address the nation’s deteriorating economic state and the ongoing pandemic.
The package will include billions of dollars to improve the vaccination process and vaccine distribution all over the country. It also includes the aid to the thousand schools and rent forbearance and assistance to the small business, especially the ones with low income. The news was announced at the conference in Wilmington. He also said that they plan to provide immediate relief for the families and businesses in need right from the moment.
He outlines the importance of avoiding an even bigger economic collapse which is up to come this year. He said that in order to maintain the situation and avoid much much worse consequences, they all have to focus on investing significant amounts of money in people’s wellbeing and relief.
The details of the package will be revealed next week. It would build on some $4 trillion in economic assistance Congress has already devoted to battling the devastating pandemic, including a $900 billion package President Trump signed into law last month.
Bide is aiming to move the package to a cote as quickly as possible. But in the early sign of the changes, Biden may face getting his agenda through the Congress, even with both chambers controlled by Democrats. The official comments about the topic were made by Sen. Joe Manchin III, who remains extremely skeptical about the plan and the possible benefits of the stimulus checks.
He initially fixed his position of being absolutely popped to a new round of checks. He clarified in his interview that he could potentially support more checks if they were narrow in scope and targeted for people who really need this help. Though, in his interview, he also said that he prioritizes the vaccination, over the financial aid.
The unemployment
As the third wave of the pandemic has come and the record number of infected people has hit the scales, the record number of unemployed people was also observed. Because of the third wave and the closure of the businesses which previously hoped to survive, they had to lay off another 140,000 million people. This was the record number of layoffs, stated in December last year.
Those people who were left unemployed and had families to feed had to come up with certain plans and activities in order to at least somehow maintain the income. As the pre-election situation was very inconvenient in the country, no one could really rely on the previous packages of the $300 aid. Thus, some turned their faces to the trading, which was at the moment very promising activity.
The majority of people had to be self-employed in order to overcome the most critical situation. The trading could have been the perfect solution. According to the statistics of the brokerage firms, which show the stats of the previous year, the deposit and the new account numbers increased within the second half of the previous year. Despite the increased competition in the market, and the practical usage of the platforms like MT4 and even more developed version of MT5, cTrader also amanges to remain afloat, even during the critically vying situation.
Those people who were left unemployed during the third wave of COVID-19, have now hope for the best of getting $2,000 payments. Biden promised to the citizens of Georgia, that they would receive the payment if the Democrats won Senate elections. And they did. So now, it turns to complete the promise.
The Senate Distribution
The senate now splits 50 to 50 between Democrats and Republicans, and Manchin is the moderate who will hold the great sway in the Senate. With the slim margins, Biden and Schimer may not be able to lose even a single vote if they have any attempt to move legislation under the special Senate rules that allow bills to pass with the simple majority, instead of their occasional 60-vote margin which is generally required. In this case, Kamala Harris, the incoming Vice President of the US, would have the deciding vote.
Formal discussions between congressional Democratic leaders and Biden officials on the details of the stimulus package are expected to begin in earnest in the coming days. Officials stressed that conversations are preliminary and that no final decision or answer is made about the timing or exact shape of the effort.
At least one leading Democratic senator will push for federal unemployment benefits to be approved at $600 a week, up from the current $300, although the position of the Biden team on that matter is not yet clear. The local-aid component of the package may take the form of additional money for specific needs that local governments face. Those needs should be addressing the educational and child care in the first stage. This is the official statement by the majority of the officials, once again outlining the priority over providing grants for the cities and states.
Jim Kessler, who is the executive vice president at Third Way, said that there is a clear need and urge for aid, as the unemployment numbers are shocking and the highest ever fixed in history. He also said that the state and local aid has to be definitely part of it, together with providing additional stimulus checks.
Enhanced unemployment benefits of up to $300 a week were included in the $900 billion package signed by Trump. That package also included $600 stimulus checks, so approving new $1,400 checks would bring stimulus payments to $2,000, a figure that has attracted widespread support.
Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker is the one to push the stand-alone stimulus-check measure through the House last month. Biden indicated during his initial interview that he would wrap checks into the wide-range package, not try to move them as a stand-alone bill. He is also willing to push the larger legislation bill on the initial stimulus package later in 2021.
This step is expected to focus on spending trillions on infrastructure and clear-energy jobs, which shall play a key role in the post-pandemic world. The former vice president additionally has pushed for significant overhauls to America’s health-care system, which has suffered the most during this trying time. This is another aspect that could also be wrapped into legislation later in the year.
Together with other senators, Ron Wyden, from the Senate Finance Committee said in his interview that he will push for the restoration of the $600 a week aid in federal unemployment benefits approved by Congress in March, during the first wave of the pandemic. Those benefits expired in the summer, although Congress last month approved an additional extension of those benefits at $300 per week. Other Senate Democrats have previously expressed internal opposition to reviving the $600-per-week benefit.
Wyden, unlike Munchin, supports the plan of Biden completely and he sees the idea of pushing the plan further as a major relief for the economy. He has not mentioned any specific dates for the push of the $600 weekly benefits. He also said that this is the main trigger for the federal benefit to general economic conditions, one of which is unemployment in the country.
In his last interview, he mentioned that the well-being of the hard-working citizens is the main priority and the layoffs should be addressed directly. Wyden is very straightforward with his desire to put families at the place where they can get ahead.