Back in May, the Democrat controlled House of Representatives voted to extend pandemic relief to January 31, 2021 as well as provide for another stimulus check under the auspices of the HEROES Act. But both President Trump and the Republican controlled Senate oppose the measure because they argue it is a disincentive to work. Of course, Mitch McConnell doesn't bat an eyelash when the family of his wife Elaine Chao (who is Trump's Secetary of Transportation) gets at least six figures from the PPP payments. As I wrote almost exactly two months ago to the day:
For my part, I have applied for over 60 jobs in nearly 7 weeks of unemployment and have studied to be a contact tracer. I'm not sure what else Trump and McConnell would ask of me and millions of others in far worse positions than myself. Well, I doubt we will get an answer because McConnell doesn't give a fuck about you unless you're a millionaire while Trump just doesn't give a fuck.
As of this writing, I have entered my 16th week of unemployment and you can add 100 more job applications to that ledger. This past Friday, I had a job interview with a law firm in Queens. If Trump, McConnell and other Republicans honestly believe bestowing unemployed Americans an extra $600 a week so we don't have to be evicted from our homes is a disincentive to finding work then they have never had to worry about money a day in their lives.
On that subject let us consider what I wrote almost exactly four months ago to the day when Governor Cuomo announced New York Pause, before the CARES Act came to pass and before I lost my job:
Needless to say, I won't be going to work on Tuesday. Nor perhaps anytime soon. Or possibly ever. While I shall get a full paycheck next Friday what happens beyond then is anyone's guess. If this stay at home order lasts more than a couple of weeks two checks of $1,000 a month apart isn't going to do much.
If people do not have the means to pay for food then all bets are off. How long will it be before people are robbed while carrying groceries home? How long will it be before grocery stores are looted? How long will it be before someone is willing to kill someone else for a loaf of bread? The same can be said of medical supplies and the pharmacies which carry them.
Naturally I hope I am completely wrong about this scenario. I hope that if things do get worse that we are governed by the better angels of our nature. Yet I suspect this is wishful thinking. One can feel the desperation as one sees lineups outside Whole Foods and liquor stores and this feeling is only going to get worse.
I believe that if the President and Congress permit $600 a week pandemic relief to expire then the above scenario shall come to pass and cause even further social disorder than we have already experienced. But then again it would appear this is exactly what President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress want given his desire to send more federal troops into the cities. What does he care of us peasants - especially those who live in Democratic cities?
But given that this affects people in both blue and red states, I would like to think that Trump, McConnell and other Republicans might want to extend the $600 a week pandemic relief for no other reason than they are up for re-election. This is still a possibility although it is more likely they'll throw a chewed up bone than a lifeline. In which case, as has so often happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, we must prepare that the worst is still to come.
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