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- Voters are clear: Americans need $ 1,400 now. The only place where this is controversial is Washington.
- 72% of voters in four key states with moderate senators support the payments, according to a new poll.
- Putting money in people’s pockets is extremely popular. Politicians who oppose increased relief could pay a political price.
- Carrie Joy Grimes is the CEO of WorkMoney, a nonprofit organization helping Americans overcome the economic disaster caused by the COVID pandemic.
- This is an opinion column. The thoguhts expressed are those of the author.
- Visit Insider’s Business section for more stories.
Everyone has seen the frightening figures that illustrate the toll of the American COVID pandemic: millions of laid off, hundreds of thousands of dead, tens of millions still in difficulty. But it’s not just numbers.
COVID-19 closures have forced Lori Taylor’s husband to stay home after his job in the coal mines in Morgantown, West Virginia, for part of last year. This missing income has set his family back, and they still can’t figure out how to pay their bills. “It just doesn’t fit,” she says.
In Anchorage, Alaska, Helen Roberts lost her childcare business to the pandemic, plunging her family into an increasingly difficult hole to get out of. “I’m raising three teenagers in a two-bedroom apartment and without that extra boost, I can’t afford to keep the current going, let alone pay our rent,” she says.
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 heard in Washington’s conversation.
Right now, Congress is debating how to provide relief to the millions of Americans suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession. The question of who receives relief payments and how much has become political football – but only in Washington.
The feelings of a large majority of Americans are clear: we need more stimuli. It’s symbolic of our broken policy that, even as tens of millions of Americans struggle to overcome the economic catastrophe caused by the pandemic, Congress bickers over the details. Meanwhile, families and workers across the United States are falling further and further behind.
America wants stimulus checks
A US bailout that responds right now has to put $ 1,400 more in everyday Americans’ pockets – and it has to withdraw the money quickly. It’s not controversial outside of Washington. Voters who voted for Donald Trump or President Joe Biden across the country are supporting the proposal.
My nonprofit WorkMoney recently commissioned a poll of voters in four of the states – Alaska, Arizona, Maine, and West Virginia – that could prove pivotal in whether Americans get the vote. help they so badly need.
The poll, conducted by Hart Research, showed voters in those states could shift the issue by an overwhelming majority to extra relief money. 72% of voters want Congress to increase relief checks to $ 1,400 for everyone in families earning less than $ 150,000. In Alaska and West Virginia, more than two-thirds of voters support the payments. In Arizona and Maine, 3 out of 4 voters do so.
The data shows what we hear every day from our members: 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 calling on Congress to immediately approve more stimulus measures has already been signed by more than a million people.
A recent study found that two months ago the Federal Reserve spent $ 2.7 trillion and cash only in direct purchases of securities to support the market. Raising the $ 1,400 relief for everyone who got 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 booming, but isn’t it worth a fraction of what we’ve spent 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, piling up bills, sick family members, food insecurity, potential eviction and no are unable to make mortgage or car payments. They need support – just like they would need it in an earthquake, tornado or hurricane – and they need it now.
‘We need it urgently’
We recently launched a million dollar campaign to pressure members of Congress in 12 key states to stop playing politics with the lives of ordinary Americans who are struggling to get through this pandemic.
Members of Congress need to understand what is really going on in the daily lives of Americans. The increase in relief payments is not a partisan issue. Our members demanding increased payments include Trump voters, Biden voters, and everyone in between. No matter who they voted for, they all want things to get better. Washington’s emphasis on the political side is a distraction from the real issues: how we are recovering from this pandemic and getting America back on its feet.
Back in West Virginia, Lori Taylor is pressuring members of Congress to accept more payments. “We need it urgently,” she said. “I know a lot more people in West Virginia have it even worse than us.”
COVID-19 has caused a unique crisis in a generation. Anyone who thinks the solution is to put less money in the pockets of fewer Americans will be on the wrong side of the story. And if they don’t listen to ordinary Americans now, they will on election day.
Carrie Joy Grimes is Managing Director of WorkMoney, a 1.4 million member nonprofit that is helping Americans overcome the economic disaster caused by the COVID pandemic.
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