Biden released details of his coronavirus relief plan yesterday, including unrelated items like expanded paid leave and a $15 federal minimum wage. Somehow, that wasn’t enough for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Summary
Leading up to his inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden unveiled his plan for the next phase of coronavirus relief with a price tag of nearly $2 trillion.
- Biden pledged to increase the federal government’s role in vaccine production and distribution via the Defense Production Act.
- Also included in the plan is another round of direct stimulus payments of up to $1,400 to Americans, even those who did not suffer job loss, a point Biden defended on Friday.
- The relief plan also “shoehorns in long-term Democratic policy aims such as increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour, expanding paid leave for workers, and increasing tax credits for families with children”, none of which are directly related to the coronavirus pandemic.
- Financial analysts are concerned Biden’s stimulus plan could cause a short-term hit to the stocks of Silicon Valley’s top companies.
- The New York Times favorably compared Biden’s coronavirus recovery plan to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Biden had a hand in crafting as Obama’s Vice President in 2009.
- Vox notes Democrats and progressives will press the Biden Administration to take even more aggressive steps than what has already been announced.
- Huffington Post criticized the Trump Administration for missing its goal of 40 million doses of vaccines distributed by the end of 2020 while noting Biden wants 100 million Americans vaccinated in his first 100 days in office.
- Breitbart suggested Biden’s criticism of the vaccine rollout implicated New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for confusing implantation and eligibility.
- Despite the drumbeat of criticism in the vaccine rollout, Texas announced it has administered one million doses to Texas residents.
- Not everyone in the Democrat coalition is satisfied with the Biden coronavirus relief plan, as AOC says it doesn’t do enough and that unemployment benefits should be retroactively applied.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
