President Joe Biden faces controversy over how to fulfill his pledge to issue another $1,400 each in stimulus checks to Americans.
According to three people familiar with internal conversations, at least two of the President's top economic advisors, Heather Boushey and David Kamin, have privately expressed concerns about the checks' scale and at what stage they will begin to phase out for higher-income individuals.
What concerns the said aide now is that the stimulus checks will cost so much that there will not be enough leftovers for other goals in Biden's proposed pandemic relief bill. The people said the additional unemployment insurance, an increased child tax credit, or assistance to states and local governments.
Neither Boushey, a member of the Council of Economic Advisors nor Kamin, deputy director of the National Economic Council, has replied to comments.
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A party of 10 GOP Senators outside the White House on Sunday proposed a $600 billion stimulus counterproposal that involves $1,000 checks with strict income criteria. Their strategy is the size of Biden's, less than a third.
The concept of stimulus checks was once so popular that Joe Biden vowed at the beginning of January that they would be "immediately" in the mail if Georgia elected two Democrats to the Senate. A month later, in talks over Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package, money emerged as a flashpoint.
The second round of $600 economic benefit grants also raises Biden's package to $2,000 for taxpayers and their dependents. That implies that qualified taxpayers should expect to receive up to $1,400 more per qualifying individual.
This proposal of Joe Biden will provide payments for non-child dependants, including many college students and people with disabilities, unlike the last two relief initiatives. It will also extend eligibility to mixed-status families in which one parent is an immigrant for such payments.
"Even for those who kept their jobs, these checks are very important," Joe Biden said, emphasizing to many workers who have lost hours or had their pay cut amidst the pandemic." $2,000 is going to go a long way."
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The time to deliver Joe Biden stimulus checks
Joe Biden has to deliver or face the repercussions now. The President finds the controls not only a political necessity but a sound policy: a strong demonstration that, according to the people who are familiar with the matter, the federal government will benefit average Americans, far more than a more intangible advantage such as a tax credit.
A White House official said that Biden and his economic advisors have always had a dynamic conversation about his plan's components, adding that the President and his aides are open to input on the Covid package, including the potential for more targeted direct payments.
They are noting back to the transition. These aides of Joe Biden hoped that after his first 100 days in office, a combination of more stimulus checks, reopening schools, and ramping up coronavirus vaccines would win his White House accolades. Many of these targets now look imperiled as new coronavirus strains appear, and lawmakers resist Biden's stimulus.
