- Voters are clear: Americans need $ 1,400 now. The only controversial place is Washington.
- 72% of voters in four main states with moderate senators support payments, a new poll shows.
- Putting money in people’s pockets is extremely popular. Politicians who are opposed to increasing aid can pay a political price.
- Carrie Joy Grimes is chief executive of WorkMoney, a nonprofit organization that helps Americans overcome the economic catastrophe caused by the COVID pandemic.
- This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
- Visit the Business section of the Insider for more stories.
Everyone has seen the surprising numbers that illustrate the number of victims of the COVID pandemic in the United States: millions laid off, hundreds of thousands killed, tens of millions still fighting. But they are not just numbers.
The COVID-19 shutdowns forced Lori Taylor’s husband to stay home after his coal mining job in Morgantown, West Virginia, for part of last year. This lack of income brought their family back, and they still couldn’t figure out how to pay the bills. “It just doesn’t fit,” she said.
In Anchorage, Alaska, Helen Roberts lost her daycare business as a result of the pandemic, putting her family in a hole that is increasingly difficult to get out of. “I am raising three teenagers in a two-bedroom apartment and, without that extra stimulus, I can’t keep the power on, let alone pay the rent,” she said.
There are tens of millions of working and middle-class Americans in the same boat as Taylor and Roberts, and tens of millions more who agree with them. But their voices are not being heard in Washington’s conversation.
At the moment, Congress is debating how to provide relief to millions of Americans who are suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis. The question of who receives relief payments and how much has turned into political football – but only in Washington.
The feelings of the vast majority of Americans are clear: we need more encouragement. It is a symbol of our failed policy that, even as tens of millions of Americans struggle to overcome the economic catastrophe caused by the pandemic, Congress is arguing over the details. Meanwhile, families and workers across the United States are increasingly falling behind.
America wants stimulus checks
An American rescue plan that meets the moment needs to put an extra $ 1,400 in the pockets of ordinary Americans – and it needs to withdraw the money quickly. This is not controversial outside Washington. In every corner of the country, voters who voted for Donald Trump or President Joe Biden support the proposal.
My nonprofit organization WorkMoney recently commissioned a poll of voters in four of the states – Alaska, Arizona, Maine and West Virginia – that can be decisive for Americans to receive much-needed relief.
The survey, conducted by Hart Research, showed that voters in those states could shift the issue back to extra relief money. 72% of voters want Congress to raise exemption checks to $ 1,400 for all individuals in families earning less than $ 150,000. In Alaska and West Virginia, more than two-thirds of voters support payments. In Arizona and Maine, 3 out of 4 voters do so.
The data shows what we hear from our members every day: that putting money in the hands of ordinary Americans is only controversial in the halls of Congress. On Main Street, it is extremely popular. A WorkMoney petition asking Congress to approve more stimulus immediately has already been signed by more than 1 million people.
A recent study found that, up to two months ago, the Federal Reserve had spent $ 2.7 trillion and relied only on direct bond purchases to support the market. Increasing the relief by $ 1,400 for everyone who received the previous stimulus would cost less than $ 500 billion, bringing the total cost of all COVID stimulus payments to around $ 1 trillion. It’s great that retirement accounts are thriving, but isn’t it worth a fraction of what we spend on the stock market to help millions of families and businesses in the real economy?
From Alaska to Maine and everywhere in between, Americans face mountains of debt, bills piling up, sick family members, food insecurity, possible eviction and cannot afford mortgages or cars. They need support – just as they would in an earthquake, tornado or hurricane – and they do now.
‘We need them urgently’
We recently launched a $ 1 million campaign to pressure members of Congress in 12 key states to stop making politics with the lives of Americans struggling to overcome this pandemic.
Members of Congress must understand what is really happening in the daily lives of Americans. Increasing relief payments is not a party issue. Our members who demand higher payments include Trump voters, Biden voters and everyone in between. No matter who you voted for, everyone wants to see things get better. Washington’s focus on taking political sides is a distraction from the real problems: how we recovered from this pandemic and put the United States back on its feet.
Back in West Virginia, Lori Taylor is committed to putting pressure on members of Congress to approve more payments. “We need them urgently,” she said. “I know that many more people in West Virginia suffer even worse than we do.”
COVID-19 brought a unique crisis in a generation. Anyone who thinks the way out is to put less money in the pockets of less Americans will be on the wrong side of history. And if they don’t listen to ordinary Americans now, they will do so on election day.
Carrie Joy Grimes is executive director of WorkMoney, a 1.4 million member nonprofit organization that is helping Americans overcome the economic catastrophe caused by the COVID pandemic.