An estimated 12.6 million Americans are currently unemployed and many more are in trouble as the worsening COVID-19 pandemic has shut down numerous companies and industries. The last time Congress gave $ 1,200 of economic forecast to individual Americans was in March. Nine months have passed since then.
When President Donald Trump, members of Democratic Congress, and eleven Republican senators signaled their willingness to give 382 million Americans a new round of checks for $ 1,200, one Republican senator turned down the move twice: Senator Ron Johnson from Minnesota.
On Friday, Johnson voted twice to block a measure that would have written the checks to any U.S. citizen.
“I’m not heartless,” said Johnson, defending his vote. “I want to help people. I voted to help people. I voted for the $ 2.2 trillion CARES bill, but I’m also concerned about the future of our children.”
Johnson said he was concerned that the cost of writing checks would increase the national debt, notwithstanding that alleviating economic worries would help cure the surge in drug use, depression, and domestic abuse that occurred during the economic downturn has increased for almost a year.
On December 10, Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley and the Independent Senator and former Vermont Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders urged colleagues to vote for a second round of stimulus checks. In separate speeches, both senators said the checks should mirror the checks issued at the start of the pandemic, which gave adults $ 1,200 and each child $ 500. The first controls were carried out with the consent of both parties and the President at a time when the pandemic was less severe than it is today.
However, as of Thursday, Politico reported that the last US $ 908 billion stimulus package negotiated in Congress was earmarked only for US $ 600 stimulus reviews.
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