COVID relief bill

President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill is in the U.S. House this week, while Senate staffers tackle the minimum wage provision. Your take?

Spend baby, spend! If histor y has taught us anything about economic recessions/depressions and financial disasters, the only way to get out of it is through massive government spending. For the most part, the national debt is irrelevant; if you could live forever and print your own currency to pay off your debts, would you care that much about how much debt you incur?

I have come to believe that these socalled deficit hawks only care about the deficit when it is funding things they don’t like (such as Social Security and Medicare), other wise, they know the “deficit” is just a ruse. Conservatives and libertarians can talk about free markets until they are blue in the face, but they are usually the first ones with their hands out when the markets have failed.

The fact is, a well-funded and functioning government is important to regulate market failures. (See Texas’ power grid.) Adam Smith’s invisible hand is ver y good at efficiency when things are going well, but when there isn’t a profit do be made, you will likely find his hands in his pockets. Can you imagine how much we would pay for the COVID-19 vaccine if it were left to the “free market”?

Last year’s spending was a good start. Now, President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package is moving through Congress and a “sticking point” is a provision to move the minimum wage to $15 hour by 2025.

How insane is it that we are discussing the merits of a provision of the bill that has a nearly 70% approval rating among Americans (Republicans and Democrats alike)? How is that even a debate? To me, it is just a stupid red herring that our media likes to chew on instead of taking a bite out of more serious issues.

Raising the minimum wage is a rising tide that will raise all ships. (They should also include a provision that ties it to inflation.) Sure, I will pay slightly more for some goods and ser vices.

But people will make more, and they will spend more, too. That is, when we give $100 to a poor person, they will likely immediately put it into their local economy. When I give that same money to a rich person, it will probably stay in their bank account and provide little impact to the community.

My take, raise the minimum wage and tie raises to inflation. While were at it, let’s pass an infrastructure bill that spends $6 trillion on infrastructure, forgive some student debt and find a way that we can provide everyone affordable access to quality health care.

Doug Hamilton, hamilton1801@aim.com

My take? My take is $0, which is appropriate, as I never lost my job during the pandemic.

I have friends though, who also never lost their jobs, and they still got checks. I also have friends who got furloughed and took home more than they did when working. While I’m happy for my friends, even they question the money. With the $2.2 trillion CARES act last March and $900 billion more just this past December, do we need another so soon? So large?

Biden’s campaign platform was refreshingly clear. He stated, “Vote for me and I’ll send you a bigger check than the Republicans will.” Kudos to him for delivering on that campaign promise, but it comes with a staggering $1.9 trillion price tag.

There seems little doubt that, even in these grave times, it’s too much. Why give people an incentive not to work? The bill is contentious enough that Democrats can’t pass it through normal legislative channels, but will use the budget-reconciliation trick, as it only requires a majority vote in the Senate.

Speaking of budget reconciliation, Biden tried to tack on a job-killing doubling of the minimum wage, showing that no crisis evades politics. What a dirty game they all play in Washington. The Senate voted 99-1 on an amendment to specifically not raise the minimum wage during the pandemic, knowing that it would diminish economic recover y, putting small businesses in greater peril. We have enough poverty-reducing levers to avoid such market distortion. The Senate parliamentarian rightfully threw this out.

At some point sending out checks will cause egregious inflation, but it hasn’t so far. Inflation remains low. While Republicans

morph into budget hawks whenever a Democrat sits in the Oval Office, at least the Democrats are consistent. There is no spending bill they don’t want to increase. Though they’ve gone too far here, it won’t matter. The bill will pass, and the national debt will grow ever larger.

When it comes to the climate, we worry about the world we’ll leave to our kids. At some point, we should worry about the debt we leave them as well.

Bill Wright, billwright510@gmail.com

Throughout the course of this pandemic, we’ve continued to witness the federal government fail its citizens and bungle attempts to provide adequate direct support. It’s surreal to watch President Joe Biden order airstrikes in Syria this week while so many Americans are houseless, facing evictions, drowning in debt and struggling to meet their basic needs.

Until we can have an honest conversation about our bloated militar y and policing budget, I don’t want to see any handwringing about how providing workers with a livable wage is what is plunging us further into debt. We need a $15 minimum wage, we need student debt cancellation, and we need these things yesterday.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how a budget is a moral document; it is a reflection of our collective values. Our hesitance to alleviate poverty and willingness to continually invest in militar y technology speaks volumes about our national priorities. The working class should not be made a scapegoat for exorbitant spending.

The $15 minimum wage is absolutely a dimension of COVID-19 relief and a part of long-term economic recover y. This provision should be included in the bill. It’s Kafka-level absurdism for legislators to squabble over whether the federal minimum wage should be raised to $11 or $15 — or even whether it should be raised at all.

This sluggish process has not inspired a lot of faith. I’ve seen grassroots mutual aid networks do more for individuals impacted by COVID-19 than the system we pay taxes into to support us.

All I can say is, Congress get your s&%t together! A $15 federal minimum wage is completely doable.

UEmily Passos Duf fy, duf fylala@gmail.com

nfortunately, it looks like the Senate will not be able to address the minimum wage through this bill, but it needs to be a priority for President Biden before the midterm elections.

Personally, I believe that no one should live in poverty, period, but it should be uncontroversial that people working full time should not live in poverty. Far too many of the working poor are the essential workers who put their lives at risk to continue working through the worst of the pandemic. The people most critical to keeping our society functioning should not be earning a poverty wage.

The federal minimum wage of $7.25/ hour equals $15,080 annually, and that’s assuming that the worker is able to work 40 hours a week and takes no unpaid sick days or vacation days. In Colorado, our minimum wage is a bit more generous at $12.32/hour, or about $25,600 annually before taxes.

Imagine living on about $20,000 a year. Even in low cost of living areas, rent is at least $500 a month, or $6,000 a year. Utilities and groceries are at least $400 a month, so let’s say $5,000 a year. Public transit is rare in low cost of living areas, so assume another $250 a month for car expenses, or $3,000 a year. We’re already up to $16,000 a year for just the bare minimum expenses to stay housed, fed and able to transport yourself to work. You still have to pay taxes and health insurance. Without employer-provided health insurance, you can probably only afford a plan with a deductible of $5,000 or more. One major illness or injur y, and you’re likely homeless.

Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos has been “earning” about $13.4 million per hour. He wouldn’t be able to spend his fortune in 10 lifetimes. It’s unconscionable that we allow an elite few to hoard that much wealth while the people we had the ner ve to call “essential workers” live on the brink of financial ruin.

Jane Hummer, janehummer@gmail.com