There has been a public outcry for the government to release a fourth stimulus check. However, if the latest happenings of the fourth stimulus check update are anything to go by, there is a high likelihood that the government will not grant it. In Congress, there has been a push for the same by some Democrats, but as it stands, only four legislators have signed onto the bill sponsored by Representative Ilhan Omar that would allow the Biden administration to send out monthly stimulus checks.
Democrats have a simple majority in Congress, which means that if they were to gather their numbers, this bill could pass. There is however some doubt within the Democratic Party within Congress as some of its members are afraid that passing such popular bills would signal that they are moving to the extreme left, and a shift towards a form of universal basic income, a move that could cost them their seats in mid-term elections.
On the other hand, Democrats have a very slim majority in the Senate, and even if the bill were to pass in Congress, Democrats would have to rally their counterparts from the Republican party, which is very unlikely. The Republicans have on several occasions opposed such a move and with the COVID-19 vaccination moving to its final phase and states reopening, it will be more difficult to convince them of such an expenditure.
The IRS has also been sending millions to families in the form of the child tax credit, which President Biden wants to move to make permanent. If made permanent, the child tax credit parents with children under the age of 6 years old would get $300, while those parents with children between the ages of 6 and 17 would receive $250.
The government is also pushing to implement the $1 trillion infrastructure bill as well as the federal budget of $3.5 trillion once passed by both houses. Despite the suffering that the COVID pandemic has caused and the further spread of the Delta virus, it seems that the struggling American might have to find other means to push through these difficult times.
Online Petitions
There have been two public petitions on the change.org website, one by Stephanie Bonin, a restaurant owner from Denver, and Keri Troehler. Bonin’s petition which started to gather signatures last year aims at making the government give the fourth stimulus in the form of monthly and bi-weekly checks. The petition is currently just shy of 170,000 signatures to meet the 3 million signature goal.
The second petition which is the one most likely to succeed is one brought forth by Keri Troehler which seeks to make the Child Tax Credit permanent. Unlike Bonin’s petition, however, the public appears less interested in this petition as it has only gathered 54,000 signatures with a goal of 75,000. It seems that even Bonin is not confident that her petition will ever make it through to fruition.
Economic Recovery
Though the COVID pandemic has brought suffering and hardship to many Americans, things seem to be getting better. The three economic stimulus checks have been essential to help people who were struggling to get by. With the stimulus reaching over 1969 million people, some who were in a better situation, those who continued to remain employed, for instance, did not necessarily need the extra financial assistance, were able to put some away in savings.
The rate of GDP growth, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis is at 6.5%, which is more than was recorded in the first quarter of 6.4%. The GDP is projected to have surpassed what it was in 2020 at the same time of the year.
With many people working from home, the rate of savings has soared to 33.7% all through 2020 and 2021. The rate of demand for commodities has skyrocketed with a significant boom in eCommerce as people prefer to order online. However, there is still a slow rate of supply, something that could have contributed to better growth and GDP.
The interest rates in the housing market have dropped to 3.1% on average since their 2019 and 2018 numbers, which were 3.9% and 4.5% respectively, this has lead to a boom in the industry. With many people now preferring to work from home while many others have discovered freelancing, the demand for office space has gone slightly down but in turn, demand for homes is now higher. The high demand for houses has led to an increase in prices of homes by 24.4% according to The National Association of Realtors.