trump sucks, he is an awful human being
Just watching the Ohio daily presser listening to a protestor screaming in the background while the Lt Governor talks about how hard they are working to SCREEN unemployment benefits according to the law. He reassures all of them if you are eligible, you will get all of your benefits from the initial date of application, not when t finally gets processed.
He is whining about how overwhelmed the system is, and he is not happy with how slowly the money is getting out but. those that are deemed eligible, will get all of it eventually.
People have not been able to feed their kids for a week or more BECAUSE OF THIS CRISIS already. schools are handing out 2 meals during work week, but nothing for weekends. Frankly, adults need to eat too, and they can’t even feed themselves right now as well. And unless we want the protests to grow to exacerbate this crisis we must take a different tack moving forward.
Oh, after some reporter questions he noted that he got a text from the jobs and family services that all APPROVED claims are paid, no backlog on approved claims. Meaning ALL of the slow payment is because they are on a person by person basis trying to decide eligibility in the middle of a global pandemic with thousands dying daily from it.
UNIVERSAL BENEFITS ARE THE ANSWER IN THIS CRISIs
Tying most of the direct relief to unemployment has been a mistake. It is taking too long.
Many of us called for a universal benefit to get money out quickly. No screening, no means testing just get it out the door now. My line was Rents due in two weeks, then a week. Well, now the rent is past due and the state has spent probably MORE MONEY beefing up the SCREENING SYSTEM for unemployment than they have actually gotten out the door.
Here is an idea I pitched a few weeks ago that I think Democrats must look at (well the must part is a universal benefit, my idea goes beyond that). Deciding who does not qualify for help is slowing down the system and people very likely will die because of it. Universal programs are what this crisis calls for, we can decide wh should be left out of future programs later.
So here was my idea a few weeks back, we still need to do it or some routine monthly benefit throughout the crisis.
I don’t understand the obsession with trying to fucking decide who isn’t going to get the help they need in this crisis. If you “target” or “means test” that means people that need the backup support WILL NOT GET IT. That is unavoidable.
This is one of the problems with Obamacare. If you earn $28,999 you were eligible for a subsidy. If you earned $29,001, you were not. Your situation is not any different, but one gets support and one doesn’t. There are two problems with this:
- People that need help will not get it.
- Those people just on the outside will probably never fucking vote for you again if they survive this crisis. Maybe that’s the calculation, they are more likely to die, so losing that vote is less of a problem? At least they are less likely to complain about what we did if they are dead? I really do not understand the thinking here.
OK, I might be over the top on bullet 2, but dammit people need help now and rent is due in a week.
I am no bond expert, but it occurred to me a way to approach this might be structured this way.
ISSUE EVERY PERSON A $2,000 TREASURY BOND MONTHLY FOR THE DURATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY.
You may think that seems like a lot, but the median rent in the United States 2 years ago was $1,025. So Romney’s $1,000 is not adequate unless they manage to do something to require employers to keep paying people.
WAIVE ALL PENALTIES IF HE BOND IS CASHED DURING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY.
Obviously, this plan would make no sense if there was a massive penalty for cashing out a 30-year bond next week. But the advantage here is if you don’t cash it during the national emergency you end up with a retirement asset and the government has cash on hand to rebuild after the crisis.
I AM NO EXPERT HERE
This hair-brained idea may not make any sense in the real world. I only have a rudimentary understanding of how bonds really work. Anyone that knows any better I would love to hear what you have to say below. I have already written my congressperson and Senators with this idea, doubting that they will read it, but I think this is an idea worth looking into.