Michael Cardinal, FISM News
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President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion “rescue plan” is being met with pushback by both Republican and moderate Democratic lawmakers alike. This package is one of the first priorities that the Biden administration looks to try to push through in an effort to stimulate the economy.
A bipartisan group of 16 Democrats and Republicans met on Sunday to discuss the proposed package and raised many questions about the effectiveness this would have if it were passed as is.
One of the main criticisms of the new package is that the majority of the money from the previous stimulus plan has not been distributed, it is, therefore, too soon to see if additional relief is needed to stimulate the economy. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) stated
There are still a lot of unanswered questions, most notably, how did the administration come up with $1.9 trillion dollars required, given that our figures show that there’s still about $1.8 trillion left to be spent. We hope to get more data documenting the need from them.”
One of the focuses of Biden’s new stimulus plan would be additional money sent directly to Americans in the form of $1.400 checks per adult.
Many economists and congressman alike see this as both wasteful and counterproductive. The consensus of the group of 16 senators that met was that any money from a future package needed to be focused more towards lower-income families and those who are in greatest need.
Senator Angus King (I-Maine) said the proposal’s $1.9 trillion price tag,
isn’t Monopoly money. Every dollar that we’re talking about here is being borrowed from our grandchildren. We have a responsibility to be stewards.”
Chief investment strategist, Jim Paulsen, voiced concerns that the continued pushing of money into the economy, as well as the proposed $15 minimum wage, could lead to inflation and cause an even greater economic downturn. He stated, “This {stimulus plan} may end up hurting the exact people we’re trying to help more than anyone else.”
Despite these concerns, some Democratic officials are looking at strategies to push this plan through without Republican support in what will be a telling sign of how things will work in the 50-50 split Senate.