No relief here
Last week, we urged Sen. Ron Johnson and others in Congress to put aside their post-election bickering just long enough to provide some muchneeded relief to Americans still suffering from the economic impact of COVID-19.
The good news is, a bill was passed that includes $600 relief checks to individuals and $1,200 to couples. The bad news is, that amount could have been much higher if it weren’t for Sen. Johnson and others stomping out a bipartisan effort to provide $1,200 checks to most individual Americans.
According to media reports, Sen. Johnson was worried about the impact of a nearly $1 trillion spending bill on the nation’s ever-growing debt. It’s a fair point, if it weren’t coming from someone who can never get enough of tax cuts that drive up the debt while primarily benefitting the wealthiest Americans. Sen. Johnson said there’s “no doubt” that “we have families in need,” but he’d rather see more “targeted” relief funds go to small businesses.
As we stated last week, we support direct relief to small businesses like restaurants that are struggling to keep their doors open. But, those same small businesses need customers with money in their wallets, which is why relief is needed.
Sen. Josh Hawley, the Republican from Missouri who co-sponsored the bill for $1,200 relief checks, said this in response to Sen. Johnson’s objections: “Nothing could be more targeted. No relief could be more important than relief for working people.”
We couldn’t agree more. And you know who would like even larger relief checks? President Donald Trump, the man Sen. Johnson has been working so hard to keep in the White House. The outgoing president threatened to veto the bill on Tuesday unless the relief checks were boosted all the way up to $2,000 per American.
Of course, President Trump has other things he doesn’t like about the bill, including the fact that COVID relief was combined with other spending priorities like foreign aid and domestic allocations. The bill was passed with a veto-proof majority, but Trump’s last-minute objections could stall its final passage.
So, Sen. Johnson, do you support the push for $2,000 checks now that it’s coming from President Trump? Or, are you only a fair-weather fiscal conservative? If you can’t decide, may we suggest you send individually wrapped Christmas gifts to every American. Lumps of coal seem appropriate.
The Tribune-Phonograph editorial board consists of publisher Kris O’Leary and editor Kevin O’Brien
