McConnell Opposes $1,400 Stimulus Checks Because He Thinks People Could Stop Working

[iguanaman]

Everyone does not think like that!!! Young people have their entire lives ahead of them... they want to begin to build their future, but they need this help "Now". They don't expect to get these checks for the rest of their lives.

I think when the Pandemic is over, The Government should "tax corporations for every full time employee, who is not earning enough to pay the basic living expense such such as median rental rates established by HUD, and the HUD researched work of what it cost to cover the basics.

Corporation should not be allowed to underpay people, FULL WELL KNOWING their employees will have to rely on government assistance to make up the difference. That's a constructed means of corporation pushing their responsibility on the Government, so they can claim astronomical profits for the wealthy investors.
It's criminally insane for corporations to claim $Billions and $10's of Billion of profit, while not paying employees wages that meet the standard of living cost.

Yes. The real "giant sucking sound" comes from corporations sucking the life out of our middle class by systematically underpaying them with the blessing and help of the govt. This underpayment is the source of the growing income inequality that threatens to destroy the world economy. The money from increased profits has not been shared since Reagan.

 

[buck]

Yes. The real "giant sucking sound" comes from corporations sucking the life out of our middle class by systematically underpaying them with the blessing and help of the govt. This underpayment is the source of the growing income inequality that threatens to destroy the world economy. The money from increased profits has not been shared since Reagan.

Its going to get a lot worse as companies outsource office jobs to the Phillipines and india.

Then as AI starts making even bigger in roads.

You ain't seen nothing yet.

 

[RealityNow]

A lot of people are thinking like me. They're enjoying their govermnment funded time off. I have no doubt there are some that really need the assistance, but I don't believe its many as you think and definetly not as many as are receiving the assistance.

Go check out Wallstreet Bets and other stock related sites to find out what many plan on doing with their stimulus checks and how others plan on playing that reality. Gamestop and other reddit fueled stocks, pumped up as people threw their stimulus into it.

You keep using the word "many" and "lot".... I don't buy into your usage of the "many" and "lot" word... regarding what people will do with their money.
Trump may have used the "many" and "lot" word on Republicans... but it denotes no specific quantity that can be verified and certainly not in relations to 100's of millions of people.

Look at stats based on sampling size regarding you assert about who invest in stocks.

Across the nation there are 1000's upon 1000's in "Food Distribution Lines", I don't personally think those people will be spending their money in the stock market, nor the 10's upon 10's of thousands who are unemployed and unable to pay their rent. People have many expense, and they also don't know how long they need to stretch that money to cover bare necessities.
How many people who are more cash fluid, and what they may do with their money, we simply don't know.

 

[RealityNow]

Biden knows that 'America has to build from the bottom up. Trump actually spent 4 Trillion in 4 yrs and we got nothing but the money that went to COVID,
We had no major infrastructure, no major investment to promote retraining America. We got no major funds to cities to help with rebuilding the water and sewer systems, not major program to update the electrical grid, no major money to renewable energy and renewable energy technology. Those should have been front and centers... because it was not just college age people who needed a new skill set, it was people all the way up to retirement age workers who needed new updated skill training.

Obama tried to promote access to education for everyone, and Republican fought it, He tried to help return America to the same program that helped white society during segregation, where community colleges were free, and State University were low cost... and at every point republics attacked it.
Even now, when it is wide spread public knowledge that colleges have caused great debt on young people and they are not trained and skilled for the jobs of tomorrow, but they were sold a bill of goods, that was worthless as for as developing competency and proficiency... they simply sold "degree's based on yesterdays world of the past. The result of such debt, has put shackles on them and made them "indentured" for decades.

That paradigm has to change!!!! We can no longer support programming that turns young people into "indentured persons" to the profit game of Universities and the Financial Institution that profit from the games of "selling worthless degrees". It got so crazy, they started seeing the Alumni as nothing but profit avenues, by claiming they needed a higher label of degree... just to get a simple job as an Administrative Asst. and they groomed Human Resources to play that game of asking for such insidiousness levels of degree's, for the simplest of jobs. It turned America against respecting the hard working mentality of the average person who did not attend a university or get a degree. Only now, Tech companies have started to respect the 'personal capabilities people develop without having to go to a university".
America has a high volume of people who can perform a great many of the jobs, without the need of a degree, but America only gives OJT to people who have degree, then they are willing to "train them for what they want them to do" and we all know there is a vast number of people who don't even work in fields related to their degree.

maybe we need to get back to "Degree's actually being about a person committed to a defined course of study'... Not selling degree's as the basis of being used as nothing more than a "Preferred Get A Job Pass".. because that's what its become, because a vast number do not work any job related to their degree.

During the 1970's, it was the carry over from LBJ's great society programs, that were the components that supported the retraining that took place to lead us to the data processing, because companies also invested in helping promote that training. Union also supported OJT programming.

A great number of people are so frustrated, because they are counted out, simply because they don't have a 'degree'.

 

[buck]

You keep using the word "many" and "lot".... I don't buy into your usage of the "many" and "lot" word... regarding what people will do with their money.
Trump may have used the "many" and "lot" word on Republicans... but it denotes no specific quantity that can be verified and certainly not in relations to 100's of millions of people.

Look at stats based on sampling size regarding you assert about who invest in stocks.

Across the nation there are 1000's upon 1000's in "Food Distribution Lines", I don't personally think those people will be spending their money in the stock market, nor the 10's upon 10's of thousands who are unemployed and unable to pay their rent. People have many expense, and they also don't know how long they need to stretch that money to cover bare necessities.
How many people who are more cash fluid, and what they may do with their money, we simply don't know.

True, I don't know the exact numbers. I only know it was a "lot". "Many" people, increased trading and broker funding after the stimuluses were paid. It was among the most common use of the stimulus funds. Much of that money ended up being gambled away on GameStop (for example).

How many stimulus checks ended up in the stock market? (NASDAQ:TSLA) | Seeking Alpha

In fact, securities trading was among the most common uses - across nearly every income bracket - for the government stimulus checks issued in May, according to software and data aggregation company Envestnet Yodlee. For many consumers, trading was the second or third most common use for the funds, behind only increasing savings and cash withdrawals. In fact, Americans that earned between $35,000 and $75,000 annually traded stocks about 90% more than the week prior to receiving their stimulus check.

GameStop stock surge fueled by stimulus checks: Billionaire Gundlach | Fox Business

Government stimulus checks aimed to cushion the U.S. economy from the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are mostly to blame for the volatility taking place in the shares of companies like GameStop Corp., according to billionaire bond-fund manager Jeffrey Gundlach.

The first batch fueled a day-trading craze that has yet to let up as Americans have more time to monitor their investments while working remotely.

 

[bongsaway]

McConnell Opposes $1,400 Stimulus Checks Because He Thinks People Could Stop Working


Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday explained that he's opposing the $1,400 stimulus checks in President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion economic relief bill due to concerns that the payments could stop Americans from working.

In an interview with Fox News, McConnell predicted that Democrats will unite and soon push the American Rescue Plan through Congress.

"At the end of the day, my guess is they all fall in line and it'll pass, with every single Democrat for it and every single Republican against," he said.

Asked by host Martha MacCallum whether he thinks the $1,400 would prevent "some people from wanting to work," McConnell said that was a concern that informed his position to oppose the direct payments.


"There is a concern about making it more advantageous to stay home rather than going back to work," the Republican leader said. "If we could do it all over again, we—meaning Republicans—may offer an alternative that we think fits the situation. And it's considerably less than $1.9 trillion. Five, maybe $600 billion, which is still an enormous amount of money."

Source


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Yes I'm sure having one month of rent or less paid out in a check will make everyone stop working. What a clown.

Who doesn't think fourteen hundred dollars isn't enough to retire on? McConnell makes it sound like that amount of money will last forever. I think he's a bit touchy because that's less money he can wrangle out of the government.

 

[Atomic Kid]

McConnell Opposes $1,400 Stimulus Checks Because He Thinks People Could Stop Working


Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday explained that he's opposing the $1,400 stimulus checks in President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion economic relief bill due to concerns that the payments could stop Americans from working.

In an interview with Fox News, McConnell predicted that Democrats will unite and soon push the American Rescue Plan through Congress.

"At the end of the day, my guess is they all fall in line and it'll pass, with every single Democrat for it and every single Republican against," he said.

Asked by host Martha MacCallum whether he thinks the $1,400 would prevent "some people from wanting to work," McConnell said that was a concern that informed his position to oppose the direct payments.


"There is a concern about making it more advantageous to stay home rather than going back to work," the Republican leader said. "If we could do it all over again, we—meaning Republicans—may offer an alternative that we think fits the situation. And it's considerably less than $1.9 trillion. Five, maybe $600 billion, which is still an enormous amount of money."

Source


++++++++++++++++++++

Yes I'm sure having one month of rent or less paid out in a check will make everyone stop working. What a clown.

Under McConnell's stewardship the only thing in America that has really 'stop working' is the US Senate.

 

[Hatuey]

Why not give them a million dollars so they can go stimulate the economy?

To people struggling, a 1000$ may as well be a million, but to realists, a million dollars may be impossible to manage economically.

It certainly is better than prayer and bullshit, dont you think? Lol, wait, what am I saying? You are that Christian guy who can't wait for poor people to default on their houses so you can profit. Aint no saving you.

 

[The Hairy Fiddler]

I side with Mitch on this one. People making 75K have no business getting welfare checks. I'm all for the low enders getting needed help. But this is ridiculous.

The national debt is a major problem.

Making less than 30k 2 grand
Between 30k and 40K 1 grand.

And that's it...No more welfare for those that don't need it.

 

[OrphanSlug]

Hmm... that (bolded above) means that a household with two, full-time, entry level (federal MW) workers would have a gross annual income between $87K and $99K. That is considerably above the current annual median household income of about $63K - essentially saying that well over half the country is currently underpaid.

I am not making a political argument here, just an economic one.

If we are going to agree that there should be a minimum wage (and I get that there are those who think that should not be the case,) then on a timeline with consideration the raw math of the common basket of goods and services then and now, inflation throughout the time period we have had a minimum wage, and lastly considering cost of living variations then you end up with a number higher than $15 per hour.

I am also not necessarily saying it should be $21 to $24 per hour, but I am saying that $15 per hour is just as arbitrary a number as $7.25 per hour that we see now. And that makes it a political distinction, not an economic one. I take issue with it because no one can take that politically picked number and give me an economic explanation for agreeing to it.

 

[j brown's body]

I was reading about the child tax credit included in bill. Romney offered one that was even more generous than Biden's. In denounving it, Rubio makes much the same point as McConnell, basically calling it welfare and saying, "an essential part of being pro-family is being pro-work.”

I find this perplexing. Who is really "pro-family", those that support families unconditionally like Biden and Romney, or those like Lee and Rubio who put conditions on it?

 

[ttwtt78640]

I am not making a political argument here, just an economic one.

If we are going to agree that there should be a minimum wage (and I get that there are those who think that should not be the case,) then on a timeline with consideration the raw math of the common basket of goods and services then and now, inflation throughout the time period we have had a minimum wage, and lastly considering cost of living variations then you end up with a number higher than $15 per hour.

I am also not necessarily saying it should be $21 to $24 per hour, but I am saying that $15 per hour is just as arbitrary a number as $7.25 per hour that we see now. And that makes it a political distinction, not an economic one. I take issue with it because no one can take that politically picked number and give me an economic explanation for agreeing to it.

Which past year’s federal MW value and inflation calculation method is your (bolded above) assertion being based on?

History of Federal Minimum Wage Rates Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938 - 2009

www.dol.gov

CPI Inflation Calculator

www.bls.gov

 

[Crosscheck]

It is funny when congress critters complain about stimulus checks for the citizens when for decades they have individually been given "stimulus checks" from the lobbysts.

And once they got those "stimulus checks" the congress critters didn't stop working.

 

[OrphanSlug]

Which past year’s federal MW value and inflation calculation method is your (bolded above) assertion being based on?

History of Federal Minimum Wage Rates Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938 - 2009

www.dol.gov

CPI Inflation Calculator

www.bls.gov

Productivity and adjusting the basket of goods and services is probably what you left off. CPI calculations alone tend to leave out everything but the basis inflation without any consideration for what is in the basket then vs. now.

In terms of economics it is a complex process, in terms of politics it is one aspect with no consideration for anything else.

CPI alone leaves someone below $10 per hour.

 

[RealityNow]

True, I don't know the exact numbers. I only know it was a "lot". "Many" people, increased trading and broker funding after the stimuluses were paid. It was among the most common use of the stimulus funds. Much of that money ended up being gambled away on GameStop (for example).

How many stimulus checks ended up in the stock market? (NASDAQ:TSLA) | Seeking Alpha



GameStop stock surge fueled by stimulus checks: Billionaire Gundlach | Fox Business

I simply can't agree to saying "most of that money"... because people had gone months "with NO MONEY"... I don't know what segment of Americans you are speaking for or of, but in many areas of the country, people were without food, unable to pay their bills, and people have cars that are behind in payments, among many many things.
What I saw among working people, who received monies, I've seem a lot of improvements to their homes, from fixing their lawns, repairing things that needed to be repaired, even repair to their vehicles which needed repair.

I can't see basing the premise on the well to do, and those who had saving and fluid cash, as being the measure of what people did with that money. I've been in the stores, and what I've seen was people buying things they needed.

I've seen in my community, many people improve the appearance of their homes, but I've also seen a lot of people who have had to move out of home and across the city, I've seen many places where the remains of what is left when people moved, stacked up on the curb.

I've seen much take place across the city, and the challenge and devastation is real. Every food distribution center has extremely long line, I've seen people try to offer their services as handy man and handy woman services of all types, yard sales and even seen people sell older cars they had which were classic valuable vehicles, its so many yard sales and people using parking lots to do massive group sales of items they owned.

 

[VySky]

Checks should only go to those out of work. And not by choice. 160K threshold is waaaaay to high. And they railed Trump for helping the rich lol.

 

[VySky]

McConnell Opposes $1,400 Stimulus Checks Because He Thinks People Could Stop Working


Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday explained that he's opposing the $1,400 stimulus checks in President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion economic relief bill due to concerns that the payments could stop Americans from working.

In an interview with Fox News, McConnell predicted that Democrats will unite and soon push the American Rescue Plan through Congress.

"At the end of the day, my guess is they all fall in line and it'll pass, with every single Democrat for it and every single Republican against," he said.

Asked by host Martha MacCallum whether he thinks the $1,400 would prevent "some people from wanting to work," McConnell said that was a concern that informed his position to oppose the direct payments.


"There is a concern about making it more advantageous to stay home rather than going back to work," the Republican leader said. "If we could do it all over again, we—meaning Republicans—may offer an alternative that we think fits the situation. And it's considerably less than $1.9 trillion. Five, maybe $600 billion, which is still an enormous amount of money."

Source


++++++++++++++++++++

Yes I'm sure having one month of rent or less paid out in a check will make everyone stop working. What a clown.

If they’re working, why do they need a $1400 handout?

 

[RealityNow]

If they’re working, why do they need a $1400 handout?

You do realize some people have suffered scaled down hours and I'm fairly sure there is enough date within the crafting to have determined how to come up with the figures they arrived at.
That money goes to do many things, and within those things, it provides stimulus spending by people into and unto the economy, that means the people who are working can continue to work without getting laid off due to lack of sales, because so many people are out of work.

(If People Think Things Through, - much can be seen and if people think critically, they can come to learn and understand more, rather than resenting others getting benefits assistance, which in turn benefits the entire system of society and the economic viability of companies to stay in business and keep people working.

 

[Dayton3]

McConnell Opposes $1,400 Stimulus Checks Because He Thinks People Could Stop Working


Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday explained that he's opposing the $1,400 stimulus checks in President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion economic relief bill due to concerns that the payments could stop Americans from working.

In an interview with Fox News, McConnell predicted that Democrats will unite and soon push the American Rescue Plan through Congress.

"At the end of the day, my guess is they all fall in line and it'll pass, with every single Democrat for it and every single Republican against," he said.

Asked by host Martha MacCallum whether he thinks the $1,400 would prevent "some people from wanting to work," McConnell said that was a concern that informed his position to oppose the direct payments.


"There is a concern about making it more advantageous to stay home rather than going back to work," the Republican leader said. "If we could do it all over again, we—meaning Republicans—may offer an alternative that we think fits the situation. And it's considerably less than $1.9 trillion. Five, maybe $600 billion, which is still an enormous amount of money."

Source


++++++++++++++++++++

Yes I'm sure having one month of rent or less paid out in a check will make everyone stop working. What a clown.

He's right.

 

[buck]

I simply can't agree to saying "most of that money"... because people had gone months "with NO MONEY"... I don't know what segment of Americans you are speaking for or of, but in many areas of the country, people were without food, unable to pay their bills, and people have cars that are behind in payments, among many many things.
What I saw among working people, who received monies, I've seem a lot of improvements to their homes, from fixing their lawns, repairing things that needed to be repaired, even repair to their vehicles which needed repair.

I can't see basing the premise on the well to do, and those who had saving and fluid cash, as being the measure of what people did with that money. I've been in the stores, and what I've seen was people buying things they needed.

I've seen in my community, many people improve the appearance of their homes, but I've also seen a lot of people who have had to move out of home and across the city, I've seen many places where the remains of what is left when people moved, stacked up on the curb.

I've seen much take place across the city, and the challenge and devastation is real. Every food distribution center has extremely long line, I've seen people try to offer their services as handy man and handy woman services of all types, yard sales and even seen people sell older cars they had which were classic valuable vehicles, its so many yard sales and people using parking lots to do massive group sales of items they owned.

I've provided cites that confirm what I indicated. I have provided real life examples from my friend group and myself that confirm what I indicated - anecdotal evidence isn't great, I know.

But, I am enjoying my government paid time off. Thank you, taxpayers. Keep the cash coming. Maybe i'll never have to work again!

 

[ALiberalModerate]

Checks should only go to those out of work. And not by choice. 160K threshold is waaaaay to high. And they railed Trump for helping the rich lol.

160k a year is rich to you?

 

[j brown's body]

He's right.

Not sure how he can be right since it hasn't happened.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Productivity and adjusting the basket of goods and services is probably what you left off. CPI calculations alone tend to leave out everything but the basis inflation without any consideration for what is in the basket then vs. now.

In terms of economics it is a complex process, in terms of politics it is one aspect with no consideration for anything else.

CPI alone leaves someone below $10 per hour.

What you seem to be ignoring is that CPI inflation is based on a basket of goods and services. One should also consider that the federal MW is essentially an on-the-job training wage afforded to (reserved for?) entry level, low skilled workers (currently less than 3% of the US workforce - that temporary condition is not intended to be a career condition of employment.

Productivity is very difficult to measure and depends on many factors other than the skill or effort of a given worker.

For example, a cashier is much more productive using a computerized cash register system (provided by their employer) which “knows” the price and identity of each item by incorporation of a bar code scanner compared to a cashier who is deprived of that (employer provided) system, yet that deprived cashier must be able to recognize each item purchased and enter its price making their job much harder (requiring more skill and effort). In addition to being a cashier, the cashier using the (employer provided) computerized system is also (indirectly) updating inventory records, but requiring no more effort (work?) on their part to become much more productive.

That may not have been a perfect example, but was intended to show that working “smarter”, rather than “harder”, increases production, but may not require a more skilled worker or more effort by that worker. In fact, the opposite may be true - the worker needs fewer skills and less effort to take advantage of the (investment made in) tools and/or equipment provided by their employer.

 

[VySky]

You do realize some people have suffered scaled down hours and I'm fairly sure there is enough date within the crafting to have determined how to come up with the figures they arrived at.
That money goes to do many things, and within those things, it provides stimulus spending by people into and unto the economy, that means the people who are working can continue to work without getting laid off due to lack of sales, because so many people are out of work.

(If People Think Things Through, - much can be seen and if people think critically, they can come to learn and understand more, rather than resenting others getting benefits assistance, which in turn benefits the entire system of society and the economic viability of companies to stay in business and keep people working.

I disagree with your premise. Let the economy run unassisted which in turn will change the current political environment

 

[VySky]

160k a year is rich to you?

Yes