Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated on Sunday that she thought income levels identified by conservative Democratic senators to limit which Americans receive direct payments courtesy of the Biden administration's COVID-19 aid package were too low.
Yellen remarked she believes individual Americans earning $60,000 annually ought to be qualified for the direct payments. She proposes a higher figure than the one identified by senators, including Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who has called for the payments to phase out at the $50,000-per-year income level.
$60,000 Threshold for Biden's COVID-19 Aid Package
According to Yellen, "If you think about an elementary school teacher or a policeman making $60,000 a year and faced with children who are out of school and people who may have had to withdraw from the labor force in order to take care of them and many extra burdens, [President Biden] thinks, and I would certainly agree, that it's appropriate for people there to get support," reported The Hill.
She stated the United States was still in a "deep hole" with millions of unemployed, but President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion relief plan could generate adequate growth to restore full employment by 2022.
Republican senators contended that the president's proposal was too expensive. They cited denouncement from Larry Summers, a Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, that passage of the measure could be susceptible to igniting runaway inflation. The White House stated the income threshold for the direct payments remains to be up for negotiation.
Yellen also said the White House is discussing with Congress to define what is fair and that struggling middle-class families need financial assistance as well.
CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" asked, "So, you definitely think higher than $50,000 per individual, but you're not necessarily willing to commit to $75,000, is what I'm hearing?" He was referencing the level at which the payments were set in the previous December relief bill, reported DML.
Yellen responded, "Yes. I think the details can be worked out. And the president is certainly willing to work with Congress to find a good structure for these payments."
Without expounding, she said, "President (Joe) Biden is certainly willing to work with members of Congress to define what's fair and he wouldn't want to see a household making over $300,000 receive these payments," reported Yahoo.
On Friday, the Democrat-dominated Senate supported Biden's American Rescue Plan. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote on a budget resolution, paving the path for him to deliver his relief package swiftly without Republican support.
Senate Democrats have remarked they are prepared to push through the president's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package without GOP support after 10 Republican senators proposed a framework the previous week that totaled $600 billion, which is far less than the proposal of Democrats.
Summers argued that Biden's plan would make less funding available for other objectives, including improving the United States' infrastructure.
Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chair, said the central bank had the tools to tackle any possible inflationary threat.
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