President Donald Trump held a press conference yesterday (March 17th, 2020) saying that he’s asking Congress for $1.2 trillion and wants to send direct payments of around $1000 to all Americans affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
“Americans need cash now, and the president wants to give cash now. And I mean now, in the next two weeks,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said during the White House briefing alongside President Trump.
As good as this may sound it is not guaranteed to happen. Congress must approve the administration’s plan in order to officially make this a reality. Many businesses in the U.S. are being forced to close down during the pandemic and it’s leaving thousands (potentially millions) of people with no paychecks to pay their bills.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2784674564961887&set=bc.Abp1SXIh-ewISp1nXFXsfrDasQbFmsSgBo6KfW5hi3IPK-E_uRszJSS5hSEvuCFbk-RaFDoTfD9dXL_Qi0-eGon9aJ9YJkEUc0cjZavB7v2TZLEUPXGYw43_j1aIJDPmI1hBjSYYxsZY_6-YJEinuT7Qy0iBPEsKNWvUtgQUFoRYwg&type=1&opaqueCursor=Abotuttb5iZoaE_k-J3EQbku_hVUWaBnmtz6yfE3lspvSU1FbGpGxL2s9r_tKIMxlyFNFIJeH40nLx6K-0jwARhOrLmMcoM2_ZbFmC-D9nBXK_5RDg5Y9_FImw2I6EhNn0FY7PXZOVEKuYaqPBTlYpdxxxre_pJcqnKHPBIzp3wWhCC-oywGEO9c1efD_LqW5yI_LU3ScTRBvsBZFHPnlsydUOd4xR_GSH2A8Q0VeorK47HBd7cUHLPMhKalR7gNsZOBb7dSNtasB387zDl_H1LRtsmBu4sTJvvTkTt8GsRP1_aCsxE4i6N53aHRkB5xJ7wwNuRJ-VQ7Hlz_fbWq8l9JlTW_rRF40h1YZa-riCXcqnazzVtxETBpQ-Is3B20wjVmO4lh8QjvFRNZLDiRxR4jGdrAJfTxF3xsYg_qYUx104Lf1BOt-Qz8n39tkZh-tnWyslmuVXtxZl9Kxho6ApBmelxOxyZoAWfL-_2WGNGmXtMnY7QCtHlVSF1l8AnnzjiL97braiK9GUdyKcEatEmg2fQhuSS35PDg0QMagi_b8Q&theater
The people mostly affected by this include those who work at restaurants, bars, movie theatres, gyms, zoos, clothing stores and any public establishment that holds a lot of people. Basically, everything that is not a grocery store, hospital or business that is vital for keeping people alive.
Steven Mnuchin said that they are proposing to send people $250 billion in checks by the end of April and would like to do that within the next two weeks. If the outbreak continues, they’ll be requesting a second set of checks four weeks later that will bring that dollar amount up to $500 billion.
The checks are part of a stimulus plan that will give $300 billion for small business loans, $200 billion for stabilization funds, and potentially $500 billion for immediate cash payments to citizens. The plan will also include tax deferrals adding up to the $1.2 trillion. If this passes, many American’s can expect to have some peace of mind during this difficult time.