Economic Stimulus Over the Last Four Years and the Results of It

Yep! I think the people are correct though about the inflationary actions of Biden during the PANDEMIC when the nation shut down and people were not working. The administration should not have doled out money in multiple Economic Stimulus packages during the pandemic. All those deficit spending and inflation . . . oh my! We probably should have toughed it out . . .

Package 1,2 and 3 involving any funds or money passed to people are all together. I break if out in separate packages starting at Package 3.5. This is where the funds went which resulted in deficits and the inflation occurring over the last two years.

Here is where the Money went for Package 1,2, and three.

– money to state and local governments to fight the spread of the virus
– money for families who rely on free school lunches in light of widespread school closures
– companies with fewer than 500 employees provide paid sick leave for those suffering from COVID-19, as well as providing a tax credit to help employers cover those costs
– Provide nearly $1 billion in additional unemployment insurance money for states, as well as loans to states to fund unemployment insurance
– Funding and cost waivers to make COVID-19 testing free
– implemented foreclosure and eviction moratoriums for single-family homeowners whose mortgages were FHA-insured or backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
– direct cash payment of $1,200 per person plus $500 per child
– Expansion of unemployment benefits to include furloughed people, gig workers, and freelancers
– Additional $600 of unemployment per week
– Waiver of early withdrawal penalties for 401(k)s for amounts of up to $100,000
– $500 billion in government lending to companies
– $349 billion in loans and grants to small businesses through the PPP
– $175 billion for hospitals and healthcare providers
– $150 billion in grants to state and local governments
– $30.75 billion for schools and universities
– PPP lowered the requirements for loan forgiveness. Businesses now had to spend only 60% of their PPP funds on payroll instead of the 75% previously required.

Package 3.5

– It allowed businesses that received PPP loans to delay paying payroll taxes, and
– Allowed businesses loan forgiveness if they didn’t rehire workers who refused good-faith offers of reemployment. Or were unable to restore operations to levels before the COVID-19 pandemic.
– It gave businesses until the end of 2020 to restore their payrolls to pre-crisis levels and
– Increased the loan maturity of PPP loans taken out after June 5, 2020, to five years
– It extended the time borrowers had to pay back unforgiven parts of the loan

Here is Package # 4

– Direct payments of $600 per person, including for dependents ages 16 and younger, to individuals making up to $75,000 per year
– Eleven weeks of expanded unemployment benefits starting on Dec. 27, 2020. The benefits expanded by $300 a week. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program for self-employed and contract workers was extended, as was Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) for people who exhausted their unemployment assistance. These programs expired on Sept. 5, 2021
– $325 billion in help for small business loans, including $284 billion in forgivable PPP loans, $20 billion for EIDL grants for businesses operating in low-income areas, and $15 billion for live cultural venues
– An extension of the CDC eviction moratorium through Jan. 31, 2021, that expired on Aug. 26, 2021
$45 billion for transportation funding, including $15 billion in airline payroll support, $14 billion for transit, and $10 billion for state highways
– $69 billion to public health measures, including $22 billion in aid to states for testing and tracing, $20 billion to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), $9 billion to the CDC and state governments for vaccine distribution, and $9 billion to support healthcare providers
– $82 billion in education funding, including a $54.3 billion K–12 Emergency Relief Fund and a $22.7 billion Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund
– $25 billion in emergency rent assistance
– $26 billion in nutrition and agriculture funding, including a 15% increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and food bank funding

Package 5

– Direct cash payments of up to $1,400 for individuals earning less than $75,000 a year, plus $1,400 per dependent. The payment decreased for those with income over $75,000, phasing out entirely for individuals with an income of $100,000 a year
– Increasing the maximum annual Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $3,000 per child ages 6 through 17 and $3,600 for each child under age 6. The increase lasted through 2021, and payments began phasing out for couples making over $150,000 a year and individuals who are heads of households and made more than $112,500 a year. Legislation to extend the increased credit for 2022 was not passed
– $300 a week in expanded unemployment insurance through Sept. 5, 2021
– $10,200 in unemployment benefits were free from federal taxes in 2021 for households with incomes less than $150,000 a year. That figure was doubled for married couples filing jointly
– $121 billion in funding for K–12 schools
– $50 billion for the CDC to administer and distribute vaccines, diagnose and track COVID-19 infections, and purchase testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies
– $39 billion in funding for higher education
– $30.4 billion in funding for public transit
– $21.5 billion in emergency rental assistance
– $25 billion for the Small Business Administration to make grants for “restaurants and other food and drinking establishments”
– $40 billion in funds for childcare—$15 billion in childcare assistance and $25 billion to help childcare providers continue to operate and meet payroll
– $15 billion to support airline industry workers
– $7.25 billion in additional PPP funding, expanding which nonprofits can benefit from the program.
– Any student loan forgiveness passed from Dec. 31, 2020, to Jan. 1, 2026, as nontaxable income

Yep, the orange faced freak, republicans and the bobbly-head voters nodding and agreeing with the former are right, none of this should have happened because it was inflationary in the end. It took a couple of years to ride the impact of these programs doled out in the first three packages of economic stimulus. There were three more stimulus packages to come (which I now included), much of which dealt directly with people and without would have led to a full-fledged recession just short of a depression.

You are right Biden caused the inflation saving your asses. Sure there was inflation afterwards. What was the alternative? Get sick and end up in a covid infested hospital, die, etc.

It is hard to believe people fall for a narrative which comes from the orange-faced freak, a Republican party, and a bunch of naive voters who benefited from these programs during the pandemic. Oh yeah, dems are the party of spend. Don’t drink the kool-aide.

One more comment, similar inflation occurred in 2008 because companies decided to increase their prices only because they could. I remember those conversations with my supply base. There was nothing to be done other than accept it and move on to a real negotiation with a different supplier.

I say BS.

President Biden: U.S. COVID-19 Stimulus and Relief

The national debt has grown by over $7.29 trillion since Biden took office in 2021, largely driven by COVID-19 relief measures. If we measure from the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, 2021, the debt has grown by over $6.69 trillion under President Biden.