President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who was inaugurated last week, proposed a $1.9 trillion relief package to both help Americans get through the pandemic and to provide extra funding for COVID-19 testing and vaccine distribution across a United States that has been crushed by the virus. His plan calls for $1,400 checks for each person in most households, $400 per week for the unemployed through to December, expanded paid leave, and increases in child tax credit.. This package along with the smaller one released in December would mean that most Americans will be receiving a combined total of $2,000 each. Unlike past packages, all dependent adults, such as college students, will be eligible for payments since Biden has emphasized that he believes that these people, whether they have kept their jobs or not, are in need of help. This portion of the package that directly supports households makes up about half of the plan’s total cost, with much of the other half of it going to vaccine distribution and testing in local and state governments throughout the US. In addition to expanding eligibility, this package will also raise child tax credit from $2,000 to $3,000 for this year as with $600 additional dollars for children under 6 years old. The plan will also provide the poorest households with the full benefits of this. The child tax credit currently provides parents with a credit of up to $2,000 per child under 17 years old on their taxes. Simply put, it means that if you are a parent of two children under 17, you would pay up to $4,000 dollars less in taxes when it is time to pay them. The package will also focus on extending student loan forbearance, which will pause loan payments, provide $350 billion for state and local governments, and dedicate $50 billion to increasing testing and vaccine distribution. Overall this enormous plan covers a lot of issues in the United States that this pandemic has either created or exacerbated. However, this enormous plan is still the starting point for the new president and his attempts to fight a pandemic and an economic recession simultaneously. Mr. Biden has said that he plans to outline another proposal dedicated to economic recovery and combating climate change in February.
Tag: US
President Biden’s Inauguration
This past Wednesday was Trump’s last day in office. He became the first US President to leave the White House before his successor’s (Joe Biden) inauguration. Biden became the 46th President of the United States and Kamala Harris officially became the first woman and person of colour to take up the position of vice president. Since then, President Biden has already released a national pandemic response plan.
US accuses China of Genocide
The US State Department declared on Tuesday — former US President Trump’s last full day in office — that the Chinese government is committing genocide and crimes against humanity. There has long been criticism of China for suppressing Muslim minority groups, including Uyghurs, in the region of Xinjiang. US officials later said that they hope that other countries will follow in their footsteps.
Other News:
- Armin Laschet was named the next leader of Angela Merkel’s CDU Party. Elections will take place in Germany in fall.
- On Thursday morning two bombers wearing explosive vests killed at least 32 people in an attack at a busy market in central Baghdad, Iraq.
President Trump’s Second Impeachment
On Wednesday night, the House voted to charge President Trump with inciting insurrection over the breach of the Capitol just last week. This means that President Trump has now become the first President in the history of the United States to be impeached twice. The vote was 237 to 197, with 10 Republicans voting for his impeachment along with the Democrats.
Russian Opposition Leader Aleksei Navalny Returns to Russia
Aleksei Navalny returned to Moscow on Sunday and was arrested shortly after his arrival. He has accused the Kremlin for trying to murder him. Previously, he had been treated in Germany after suffering a near deadly nerve-agent attack in August.
Navalny was detained at a passport control and — according to Russia’s penitentiary service — is waiting for a court hearing. He is wanted for “violating the terms of a prior suspended sentence.”
Other News
- China’s currency, the yuan, reached its strongest level against the US dollar in more than two years
- President-elect Joe Biden announced plans for a rescue package worth $1.9 trillion for the US
- Elections in Uganda. Read our detailed article here: https://econir-web.com/2021/01/17/elections-in-uganda/
Categories
27th of July – 2nd of August
US to withdraw troops from Germany
The United States announced that it will pull out 12,000 troops from Germany. Some of these troops will be relocated to Belgium and Italy, while 6,400 troops will return to the US. As a member of NATO, Germany committed to spend two percent of its GDP on defense. However, Germany has not kept its word. This decision is of significance as American military has been stationed in Germany since the end of World War II.