Although we have heard from many people regarding the prospect of more stimulus checks, we have not heard a lot from President Trump in the last few weeks.
But this morning he reiterated his interest in seeing stimulus checks go out. And not only that but he stated that he wanted to see them go out with more money than others are talking about.
“Right now, I want to see checks going for more money than they’re talking about going to people,” Trump said.
Since the summer, Trump has not been very shy to show his support for more stimulus checks.
In fact, it’s been reported that he has privately endorsed sending out $2,000 stimulus checks which is of course more than most of the proposals are considering.
The different proposals currently getting attention call for different amounts for stimulus checks ranging mostly from $600 to $1,200.
So perhaps Trump is implicitly calling for $2,000 stimulus checks?
Trump also told reporters that he is pushing hard to get more checks and called out the Democrats for holding things up.
“I’m pushing it very hard, and to be honest with you, if the Democrats really wanted to do the deal, they do the deal,” Trump said.
At this point, it’s difficult to know what is truly holding up more stimulus checks.
But I think it is the bipartisan proposal.
The bipartisan proposal which is valued at around $900 billion has gained a lot of interest and support among lawmakers but it of course leaves out stimulus checks.
A lot of lawmakers feel that this proposal worked out the foundation for the next stimulus bill and they don’t want to operate outside of that framework for fear of undoing progress.
That’s understandable considering how long it took to make the progress that has been made.
So I think there is pressure to not depart from the bipartisan proposal which is going to hinder progress for more stimulus checks.
If lawmakers could decide to make modifications to that proposal’s framework then they could have more budget to work with and not have to trade off important items like unemployment benefits for more stimulus checks.
The problem is that there just is not much time to get something done if the goal is to get something out by the end of the year.
The self-imposed deadline is the end of next week and although lawmakers could extend that there just isn’t a lot of time.
So unless we see lawmakers rapidly rework the framework they have been relying on for the past few weeks, more checks may have to wait until 2021, likely after Inauguration Day.
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Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.
