With Trump's impeachment over, "there is not much news going on." But I recommend paying attention to the bill in Congress because:
(a) it is possible with the filibuster almost nothing else will pass in the next four years, and
(b) this could dramatically help poor people.
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It is impossible to overstate the difference between the people struggling in the United States and those who are doing well. The stock market indices are at all time highs. The constant talk on CNBC is of large and startup companies being so rich there is worry about a bubble.
People who have had money in the stock market in 2020 have reaped massive returns. And rich people have not been able to spend as much money on vacations, entertainment, and eating out so they have been spending it on nicer homes and on saving and investing their cash.
Meanwhile, 15% of workers have been directly hurt by the COVID recession.
https://twitter.com/hshierholz/status/1357692597469253634
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell (nominated by President Trump) says unemployment in January was close to 10%, which is horrendous.
This 10% drop in employment is worse than other recessions.
And jobs are coming back more slowly now.
18% of households with children sometimes or often didn't have enough to eat in the past week in December! And this number was just going up!
See my recent January 26th thread about who to consider learning from with regard to policy solutions.
As Christians, we can certainly jump in as private citizens and churches to meet needs. However, we can also advocate that government assist with helping people through effective means like SNAP benefits (food stamps).
See: @rebeccavallas @laurenlbauer
Biblical support:
See also my Jan 17th thread about the minimum wage.
https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1350877878553083905
and today @wilsonhartgrove tries to explain the plight of the poor who work multiple jobs.
Note too that the estimates by the Congressional Budget Office that raising the minimum wage to $15 would cost jobs is exaggerated.
https://twitter.com/arindube/status/1358888317622755329,
https://twitter.com/arindube/status/1359375749426212864,
For those appalled by the idea of government assistance, note the leading conservative Republican thinkers (Brad Wilcox, Yuval Levin, Ramesh Ponnuru, Ross Douthat) are open to the massive payments Mitt Romney proposed to assist families with children.
Originally tweeted by Andy Rowell (@AndyRowell) on February 15, 2021.