United States approves new rescue in the face of economic devastation from the pandemic
The United States Congress approved on Monday night a new $900 billion (?735 billion) bailout to address the economic devastation caused by months of pandemic without government assistance.
The two houses of the legislature gave their approval with comfortable majorities to the stimulus package announced on Sunday night by the Republicans and Democrats after long and tough negotiations that wrecked at different times.
Its ratification by outgoing President Donald Trump is pending for it to come into effect, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has already announced that the benefits could reach the pockets of Americans next week.
The new benefits come months after the previous ones expired, included in the $2.2 trillion bailout - the largest in US history - approved in March, when the pandemic was beginning.
That rescue, which many economists agree saved the US economy from a much bigger blow, created a massive aid programme for small businesses, saved the airlines and provided unemployment benefits at a time when millions of jobs per week were being lost, among many other benefits.
However, most of the funds were exhausted when the pandemic struck again in the late summer in the country, which now has over 319,000 deaths and 18 million infections from COVID-19.
Democrats and Republicans have now chosen to restore the programmes that worked best from the previous stimulus package, albeit in a smaller size.
For example, the new bailout halves direct payments to taxpayers from $1,200 to $600, who will also receive $600 per minor child; it also halves unemployment benefits from $600 to $300 per week.
The stimulus package also includes $325 billion in aid to businesses (including $275 billion for payroll payments), $45 billion to rescue public transport systems, $82 billion for schools, $20 billion for vaccine distribution, or $13 billion for food stamps.
Since the Democrats tried to pass a new $3 billion bailout in the summer that the Republicans and the White House blocked, negotiations between the two parties have failed again and again with the presidential election in the offing.
That is why the Democrats see the current agreement as a minimal compromise that leaves many people disappointed.
In fact, one of the most progressive congresswomen within the Democrats, Rashida Tlaib, a colleague of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the so-called "Squad", opposed the rescue as insufficient. "My duty is to show up & represent my district. The 13thDistrict was already struggling before COVID-19 because they have been told over & over again to wait for meaningful change. We can't wait any longer. I voted no on the "covid" bill. Our folks are dying & we waited enough", she said.
More optimistic was his leader, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, when she said that when US President-elect Joe Biden takes office it will be "a completely different world".
Biden himself has backed the approval of this rescue, although he has warned that it is not enough and that it is only the beginning, as more funds will be needed when it reaches the White House on January 20.
Despite Biden's and Pelosi's optimism, in order to approve new rescues to their liking the Democrats will need to take control of the Senate for the next term and for this they need to win the last two seats in dispute, both in the state of Georgia, on January 5.
Congressional leaders wrapped up the $900 billion stimulus package within a $2.3 trillion bill with $1.4 trillion for the spending bill to fund the federal administration through September 2021.
In total, the proposal occupied 5,593 pages which, according to local media, made it one of the largest pieces of legislation considered so far and caused some congressmen to complain about lack of time to review it, as it did not reach their hands until this Monday.