3 Reasons Why You Might Not Get Another Stimulus Check
President Trump signed the COVID-19 stimulus relief package on March 27. As the Trump administration continues to push for reopening, a second relief package is unlikely. | Image: AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File
- While most Americans want another stimulus check, they probably won’t get one.
- The national debt is too high, unemployment is falling, and partisan politics may make a compromise impossible.
- This may be an intentional strategy to incentivize more people to look for work.
Are you sitting around waiting for another stimulus check? Well, it might be time to give up and find a job because a second cash payment is more unlikely than you think. The national debt is ballooning, and the government wants to incentivize people to look for work instead of relying on government stimulus.
Here are three reasons why there probably won’t be another payout.
1. The National Debt is too High
The U.S. national debt currently stands at around $26.5 trillion , which comes out to over $80,000 per person. Taxpayers should ask themselves if it’s worth adding to this already-massive number because we will be the ones paying it back down the line–either through higher taxes or inflation.
The U.S. has already spent $2.4 trillion on pandemic stimulus , which is higher than the entire GDP of Brazil. This massive sum will increase the budget deficit and push the national debt to levels unseen since World War II.
Back then, the government had to increase the highest marginal tax rate to 92% to get the situation under control. Could this happen again in the years to come?
2. The Unemployment Rate is Falling
On a lighter note, we may not need a second stimulus check. Unemployment is falling much faster than expected. Lawmakers don’t want to disincentivize people to look for work by giving out cash payments.
While taxpayers still deserve all the help we can get, the situation is rapidly improving.
The June unemployment rate stands at 11.1% , down from 13.3% in May, and 14.7% in April. While this is still bad in the historical context (we were at 3.5% before the crisis), the positive trend is expected to continue. Lawmakers will be rolling back some of the enhanced unemployment benefits at the end of this month to motivate people to look for work.
3. Politics
Are the Democrats the problem with America–or are the Republicans? It’s an age-old question with no clear answer. When it comes to the stimulus payments, however, the problem is obvious. The left is making some outlandish and “porky” proposals unlikely to be supported by their Republican counterparts.
For example, in May, Senator Kamala Harris, along with Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey, proposed a bill that would give Americans making under $120,000 up to $2,000 per month plus $2,000 per child for up to three children.
While legislation like this would be significant for struggling Americans, it obviously won’t be approved. Unfortunately, some lawmakers are more interested in making political statements than putting cash in our hands, and this makes another stimulus check unlikely.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
