2nd US stimulus arrives too late for many on Main Street
Ramin Mazaheri
Press TV, Chicago
The United States is the richest country in the world and yet its political elite has been shockingly reluctant to approve a second household stimulus plan.
Final negotiations on a second stimulus package are finally coming to an end in Washington DC, but only after millions of households across the country have been gutted by instability and poverty for many, many months.
In late March nobody expected that the CARES Act would be the only stimulus package, or that lockdowns would last through the end of the year. Despite widespread uproar both occurred, and the economic impact on the average American has been devastating.
Joblessness, lack of savings, poverty, inequality, evictions, hunger, bankruptcies - America is in its worst crisis since the 1930s and many predict a major backlash is building against the political elite.
For months Democrat Party leaders refused to negotiate on their $2.4 trillion stimulus proposal. They were accused of impoverishing millions of households in order to turn voter sentiment against incumbent president Donald Trump. A few weeks after the election they abruptly backtracked and accepted just a $900 billion stimulus package, giving up 60% of their non-negotiable stance pre-election.
Republicans are also accused of protracting the economic pain on Main Street - in order to strangle local and state governments, which has long been a chief aim of American conservatism.
A key study this week from the London School of Economics confirmed that the last 50 years of right-wing “trickle-down economics” across the West has only “increased income inequality."
The incredible delay in passing a second stimulus does mean millions of households may not receive any payments until mid-February, meaning there is no end to the instability for many Americans.
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