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| Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images |
Raise your hand if you’re surprised that the trillions of dollars spent on COVID-19 relief gave way to billions of dollars in government waste, fraud and abuses. I’m not, but based on recent reporting, you might think this type of carelessness with taxpayers’ money has never before happened. Sadly, such waste and fraud are normal byproducts of most government programs.
Too much focus on waste and fraud misses a more important problem: Lots of the COVID-19 spending that doesn’t qualify as wasteful or fraudulent was nonetheless misspent.
When the pandemic hit the United States in March 2020, people all over the country panicked. Everyone seemed to agree that the right thing to do was pump the nation full of as much money as possible, as fast as possible. As a result, nearly everyone—married, unmarried, employed, unemployed, through businesses small and large—got cash through the $2 trillion CARES Act.
Some people did raise the potential for fraud. We were told that there was no time to put in place measures sufficient to prevent it. However, the CARES Act did create an oversight mechanism called the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. The committee had a difficult task due to the enormous size of the relief bill, a hardship compounded by the fact that the program had to become functional before it could even start looking into the spending. Dollars were pouring forth fast from Washington, and the committee was basically behind from the start. --->READ MORE HERE
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At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the American economy immediately fell into recession, with unemployment spiking to 14.8%, the highest since records began in 1948. In response, the U.S. government passed a series of stimulus packages that, among other things, kept 11 million Americans out of poverty, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
While the immediate effects of the coronavirus pandemic are now in the rear-view mirror, another threat to the economy has reared its head in 2022 — inflation, which spiked to its highest levels in 40 years. To help combat the stress this is putting on the finances of Americans, some are calling for additional stimulus. Here’s the current status of both federal and state stimulus packages for summer 2022.
Some Legislators Are Still Pushing for Additional Federal Stimulus
Although overall the American economy has been very strong over the past year, there are signs of weakness that have some federal legislators clamoring for more stimulus. In addition to the skyrocketing inflation rate, which has significantly raised the basic cost of living for most Americans, assistance such as the expanded child tax credit, enhanced unemployment benefits and mortgage assistance programs have all expired. If the economy is headed for a recession, as some economists fear, many Americans will be thrown right back into a world of economic uncertainty. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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