As soon as the corona virus pandemic began to heat up, there
was a mad rush to provide support to those affected by the virus and those
whose jobs were impacted by the corona virus shut down.
Nationwide, from even the smallest town to the largest city,
the generosity of the American people began to show. As the unemployment
situation worsened, people of all types and economic situations began to give
money and support to organizations who were helping those affected.
State, local and national governments began to rush in with
support programs culminating in the federal stimulus package that provided
direct payments to a vast number of Americans many of whom were affected
directly and indirectly by the corona virus and unfortunately many who we're
not.
Included in the stimulus package was the expansion of the
unemployment benefit to $600 a week. These unemployment benefits continue to
run until the end of July.
We've already seen a number of small-business people who
employ people 30 hours a week or so and pay at or near the federal minimum wage,
indicating they cannot hire people simply because those they would hire can
make more money staying on unemployment. One of the problems with the
unemployment portion of the stimulus package was the elimination of the
requirement that applicants be actively searching for work.
In addition to all the federal money that is flowing into the
economy, large corporations and some medium-sized ones have been donating millions upon
millions of dollars in cash to organizations like Feeding America and others
that reportedly provide direct support to those affected by the Coronavirus.
I think it's time to take a second look at all of this even
as the corona virus pandemic continues to expand across our country. It is probably
time for an in-depth evaluation of where all of this money and support is
actually going. It is also time to make sure that the donations of well meeting
corporations and individuals are being properly applied and that there are no
multi million-dollar salaried managers and executives running these support
organizations.
In addition, it's simply a fact of life that there are a lot
of employable Americans who would be happy to sit at home and collect the
federal unemployment benefit.
I would like to see the next stimulus package, if there is
one, rollback the unemployment payment provision, provide a work search
requirement, and carefully structure any payments to the public in general to
assure to the best extent possible that these funds go where they are needed. I
also think corporations willing to donate with the best of intentions need to
evaluate how those monies are being spent, to whom they are going, and how much
it's costing to get those funds to their end destination.
I'm not against helping the people that need it.
People whose lives have been disrupted by this pandemic and
by the poor management of it by state, local and federal officials need and
deserve help. However, I am concerned about creating yet another class of
people who are dependent upon handouts for their very existence.
It is a fine line.
Congress has a difficult job ahead of them
between the politics, the money and defining the real need, they will need to do
a lot of work.
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