President Joe Biden promised America $2,000 stimulus payments as soon as he got into office. Shortly after Georgia voters came out in force and helped turn the red state blue, ensuring that Biden would be playing to a Democratic Senate, Biden noted that $1,400 was on the way. Then, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin began to swell up with power partly because he’s a Republican wearing a Tyler Perry Democratic wig and partly because he knows that in a closely divided Senate, he can fuck things up.
So for some reason, Manchin decided that in regard to stimulus payments to those struggling during this pandemic—which has come uninvited, eaten up all the snacks and spent the night on America’s couch—he won’t vote for a stimulus package unless fewer people receive money. With Democrats using budget reconciliation to jam it through Congress, all of the Democrats would have to vote along party lines in order for it to pass without Republican support. Manchin has decided he just doesn’t want people who have been struggling during a fucking pandemic to receive a funky ass $1,400, so he’s been pushing for limits on who gets the money.
On Wednesday, Biden completely caved to pressure from moderate Democrats and limited the stimulus payments, ensuring that some 12 million Americans and 5 million children who received checks under the Trump administration won’t be receiving anything from Biden.
From the New York Times:
Under the new proposal blessed by Mr. Biden, individuals earning more than $80,000 and households with incomes exceeding $160,000 would be disqualified from receiving stimulus checks. The caps are $20,000 lower than they were in the last round, wiping out payments for millions of Americans.
So let’s get this straight: President Biden’s first piece of substantial legislation, the first piece of meaningful legislation that he will pass in these coronavirus times, the piece of legislation he promised voters, is going to short some 12 million people out of money that they were eligible for under the worst president in American history. And here is the part that really stings: It’s not as if this money has been moved around to fund struggling businesses or to pay off past debt, this is just a cut. A straight-up razor to those who fall outside of the self-imposed limits.
And I don’t know who thought this was a good idea. Did the Biden administration not witness the hellfire that was the Trump administration? Did the Biden administration not see how badly the Trump administration fucked the rest of the country? Part of the reason we are still wearing face condoms is because of the fucking Trump administration and its lax response to this deadly virus. And the first thing that Biden does is cave to moderate Democrats who imposed limits on who receives money in a fucking pandemic?
For all of Biden’s tough-guy bullshit, Biden got punked. He’s been punked throughout this entire process. When Biden met with centrist Democrats a month ago and it was proposed that stimulus payments end at $50,000 a year, Biden was with this, too—until backlash led by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) forced him to change his stance.
Where is the Biden who wants to take guys behind the bleachers and fuck them up? Where is the Biden who told a voter “he’s full of shit and asked him to step outside after he said some shit that Biden didn’t like? Where is the Biden who faced down Corn Pop at the swimming pool?
WTF, Joe?
Is this what we are doing?
Senate Democrats will vote Thursday on this bullshit in hopes of getting the bill onto Biden’s desk before unemployment benefits expire on March 14.
I guess when Biden talked about being a bridge, he meant letting fake Democrats walk all over his back because it’s looking like the president is willing to sacrifice his voters for bipartisanship, which apparently in the Biden administration means kowtowing to those in your own party that don’t share the views of the people.