Even as the American economy struggles to rein in inflations, the republicans have squarely laid the blame on President Biden and Democratic Party policies on Stimulus Checks. Inflation has risen to almost touch all-time high, touching figures last faced in November 1981. It ended June at 9.1% year-on-year.
The whole issue has turned into an election-year talking point for the GOP opposition with midterms around the corner. This is a golden opportunity for the GOP members to increase their tally in the Senate from equal numbers with the ruling Democrats to finally taking control of the Senate. The second half of the Biden presidency could see him working with both hands behind his back, with the Senate and the House both in the hands of the Republicans.
Republicans Try To Blame Democratic Recklessness For Inflation
The Republicans have squarely laid the blame on the Democratic Party’s policies. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said that inflation figures were out of control due to uncontrolled spending by the President and the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy took to social media and blamed the present economic situation on Democratic wastefulness and recklessness. They said that inflation has skyrocketed as the Democrats took irresponsible and uncontrolled steps on the federal spending and tax policies of the Democratic Party-led government.
Senator Ted Cruz had said that inflation is being driven solely due to spending trillions of dollars and that they tended to ignore the rising inflation rate in the initial stage in the third quarter of 2021.
The Republicans spoke of spending and tax policies but have failed to elaborate on the same. It likely referred to the future policies including the infrastructure bill that President Biden and the Democrats proposed. Biden has said that it would be paid for largely through taxes, though the Republicans have warned that it would further increase inflation.
Experts Say That ARPA And The Third Stimulus Check Had Minimal Impact On Inflation: Blame Other Issues
But economic experts say that the impact of the stimulus checks and other support measures under the American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Biden in March 2021 had minimal impact on inflation. Speaking of future spending, economists say that the forward proposals will have minimal impact on inflation as they are spread out over a long period. This would give the Federal Reserve a lot of time to react. It is also largely paid for through taxes.
While the ARPA was funded through deficit spending, the proposed bill on infrastructure, whatever its final name, would be offset in part through a tax increase. This would mitigate the impact of inflation. Tax increases mitigate inflation, unlike inflationary tax cuts. Thus the infrastructure bill will serve to reduce inflationary figures.
How The Child Tax Credit Stimulus Check Was Sabotaged
The monthly enhanced child tax credit stimulus check came as a lifeline for millions of low and moderate-income families after the stimulus checks came to a halt. And their lapse in the face of Republicans’ obduracy came with devastating consequences for these families.
And it appears to have reached a dead end in the Senate. This is even though President Biden tried real hard to get it expanded through 2025. The negotiations of the Build Back Better Act had turned out different finally, millions of individuals and families were poised to get child support in 2022. That would have to a large extent mitigated the lack of federal stimulus checks for families with children.
Instead, Republicans’ stubbornness ensured that the expanded stimulus checks were not distributed once the initial 50% was paid out between July and December 2021.
The monthly stimulus checks were approved last year as part of the pandemic relief passage. It had turned into a lifeline for many families even as they struggled to recover from the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.
Suddenly 3.7M more American children faced poverty, something that was a distant memory after the stimulus checks and then the monthly CTC stimulus checks. The increase in poverty was disproportionately high among Latino and Black communities.
Progressives within the Democratic Party have continued to lobby for the expanded credit and have insisted that an extension of these monthly payments should be an indispensable part of any social spending package that the Democrats intend to push through parliament.
But the proposal appears to have finally reached a dead end and people have begun looking elsewhere for support.
Citizens Begin To Look Towards States For More Stimulus Check Support
With federal stimulus payments stuck in the gridlock of American politics, it is up to the states to open up. And luckily they have the resources this year to go it alone. The states have been lucky to have faced a resurgent economy which has led to a healthy budget surplus for many states.
State and local body funds under the APRA have further strengthened the ability of states to retund large amounts to residents through tax rebates, gas cards, and direct stimulus checks.
As many as 18 states are at various stages of the process of these payments. Maine and New Mexico are among the states that have already begun sending out stimulus checks to their residents.
California and Florida, diametrically opposite states both in terms of geography and political affiliation, are the latest states to have announced stimulus checks for their residents.
While California is sending out stimulus checks to around 23 million residents, close to 60% of the total population, Republican-controlled Florida has been the more conservative of the two and has announced a stimulus check for only 60,000 of its residents. Families with children will get a $450 stimulus check per child. Even caregivers and non-caregivers will receive a payment of this amount.
California will be giving a generous amount with stimulus checks poised to go up to $1,050 for a family of three with joint tax filers who together earn $150,000 and less. Even families with combined earnings as high as $250,000 can get a stimulus check, though the payment has been reduced to a one-off stimulus check of $200 for each individual, with a family capable of earning $600 maximum if they have at least a dependent member.
