The Stimulus Reloaded (blue pill edition)
If stimulus packages were superheroes... Enter: “The American Rescue Plan" — Biden's $1.9T proposal to save the US economy. It’s nearly as big as the first stimulus we got when Covid/lockdowns hit in March and the US lost 22M jobs. It's more than twice as big as the 2009 financial crisis recovery package, and the $900B stimulus that Congress passed last month. Some of what's included:
Part I... This is the first of two big spending initiatives Biden plans to seek during his early days as prez. These proposals align with Democrats’ “bottom-up” economic policy. A quick refresher:
Channeling Schoolhouse Rock... Biden’s proposals still have to be turned into bills and passed by Congress to actually happen. Democrats' slimmest possible majority in the Senate could mean compromises — most legislation needs 60 Senate votes to pass.
This could happen... but the package might be much smaller. Both Dems and Republicans believe more aid is needed: 10M+ Americans are still unemployed, and the US started losing jobs again in December. But some GOP lawmakers are uncomfortable with the $4T+ already spent in response to the pandemic. The national debt increased by almost $7.8T under President Trump, clocking in at $27.8T — larger than the size of the US economy. The Fed has been increasing the money supply to keep interest rates low so that America can keep borrowing $$$. But with interest rates ticking up again, some are concerned about inflation + higher taxes down the line.