Those $1,400 checks could go out in days once President Biden signs the final covid relief package (Reuters):
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With plenty of practice sending coronavirus relief payments to Americans, the federal government should be able to launch the delivery of $1,400 checks almost immediately once Congress finalizes the new aid bill and President Joe Biden signs it, tax experts say.
Some Americans might see direct payments as soon as this week if the bill passes the House of Representatives on Tuesday as expected, compared with several weeks’ lag in April 2020. Nearly 160 million households are expected to get payments, the White House estimates.
The Treasury Department’s Internal Revenue Service will have new challenges on its hands, though, thanks to the $1.9 trillion relief bill. Incarcerated people, those with non-citizen spouses and relatives of those who died in 2020 will be eligible for payments.
The bill also includes an expanded Child Tax Credit of up to $3,000 per child, paid monthly starting in July, essentially forcing the revenue collector to act as benefits administrator for the rest of the year
It won’t cure COVID-19, but it couldn’t hurt.
Dan Pfeiffer reminds Democrats not to expect the rescue package to sell itself: “Democrats will only get credit for doing the right thing, and Republicans will only get the blame for doing the wrong thing if people know about it.”
That’s more challenging than it sounds, he adds. So far, few Americans know anything about the plan. It is up to us to make sure they do, Pfeiffer says and offers some tools:
Here are some assets to share on social media to help flood the zone with the good news of the American Rescue Act:
- A video from President Biden discussing the provisions of the American Rescue Plan.
- A chart from the Center for American Progress breaking down what’s in the bill.
- A graphic from Senator Bernie Sanders to share with your progressive friends and family dissatisfied with the final outcome.
- A lot of research from the 2020 cycle showed that the more specific the information the better. This thread from Eric Levitz of New York Magazine has a lot of good information about the impact of the bill.
- A lot of people are sharing images and news about their family and friends getting vaccinated. Let’s include a thank you to President Biden and Democrats and use the moment as evidence that elections matter.
I spent much of 2009 and 2010 banging my head against the proverbial wall because not enough people knew about how Barack Obama had helped prevent the economy from tumbling into a second Great Depression. Let’s not do that again. The dominance of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms since that time has mostly been a disaster for the world. But the one upside is that all of us now have the ability to help Joe Biden spread the word about the American Rescue Plan.
The Republicans and Right-Wing media are going into overdrive to change the subject with apocalyptic tales of gender-neutral potatoes and bigotry about the undocumented and trans community. They have a huge megaphone and may succeed if we pat ourselves on the back and move on. Selling this bill is essential and it’s not just Joe Biden’s job.
My friend Dave Johnson has one, teensy little tweak to add:
It couldn’t hurt.