An Economic Survival Package, Not a Stimulus Package

There continues to be enormous confusion about what we should be trying to accomplish in the next pandemic relief package. This is best demonstrated by Republicans’ obsession with getting people back to work, with a mixture of cuts to unemployment benefits and return to work bonuses.

Ignoring the questionable economic logic (there is zero evidence of large numbers of jobs going unfilled), this approach also ignores the reality of the pandemic. At the start of April, both houses voted nearly unan...