Bailout / Stimulus Discussion (Hints Missed & Shartz Fired)

There is still a realistic chance that it hits another dead-end, imo. If it passes we can give it a name!

I’m submitting this paragraph to the Guggenheim as high art.

Do not cut me a check. I have a good job and my expenses are way down.

Definitely some means testing imo. I think the first round probably got that part right.

If you cut me a check I will give it away. But most won’t. It won’t trickle down.

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The process of figuring out which people don’t want it will exclude too many people unjustly. Give it to someone else if you don’t want it. They can just tax it back anyway. Means testing is a joke

Your shadow is right though.

I disagree strongly. I don’t see any issues with who did and didn’t get the stimulus the first time around.

Are you seriously arguing we’re somehow worse off because people making $400k/year (not me) - didn’t get a check?

I know UBI for everyone is a religion among a lot of people. But I’ve never agreed with that for various reasons. I definitely don’t agree with it for stimulus reasons. Feels like dogma with no real rational basis behind it.

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Lol sizzler reading my posts as predicted. You talk a lot about mythical guys making 400k that don’t need it. Now talk about the freelancers who had a one good year at a high income and then one bad one who got completely shafted in their time of need.

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I had this solution back before the first stimulus when people were freaking about rich people also getting checks, but do checks for everyone, and if someone doesn’t want a check they can decline it and add it back into the pool of funds. Then distribute the checks from that pool and make a website listing and thanking the patriots for their service to their countrymen and Jesus and America. That or hit them with that Amazon digital credit.

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I read it because I figured I owed it to you if I was going to make a shadow joke. You actually made a point so I continued.

Freelancers is a real thin edge case compared to like 99% of the rest of people making over $120k who didn’t lose their job and don’t need a stimulus.

The problem right now isn’t where the line is drawn, it’s which side of the line is getting help. I don’t really care if it gets drawn at 100K or 400K, as long as the people below it are the ones getting the help.

Better not to argue about it and just make it taxable income for anyone making over 100K.

I still don’t get why there was anything wrong with the formula they came up with the first time around. Did anyone really have any serious complaints about it then? I don’t remember reading any sob stories about freelancers.

You always have to graduate these things too, which they did. You never want it to just cut off from $1200 to $0 at $99,999.

Of course working professionals are pissed, they’re mostly smart enough to realize their asshole employers are getting buckets of free money while they get nothing.

This is one of many reasons why means testing is fucking awful. Not great optics on $100 million net worth Pelosi deciding $75,001 (for a family!) is too much income to get a check.

$75,001 got a nice check last time, right? My friends in KC, who aren’t poor - all got something.

The checks, worth $1,200 for individuals with adjusted gross income below $75,000 and $2,400 for couples earning below $150,000, are part of the federal government’s response to unprecedented unemployment levels and financial strain caused by Covid-19.

Yeah, you are wrong about this and it’s not really even debatable.

If Bezos is paying 100,000 a month in new taxes and still gets a UBI check he is not coming out ahead.

Well, technically he is coming out ahead because he will live in a healthier, less stressed, and more educated society but that is a different conversation.

All means testing does is make it tougher for poor people on the margins to get help and cost more money.

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Here’s the graduated part:

If you’re an individual US citizen, head of a household or part of a married couple filing jointly, the most money you could make in a year (your AGI) and still get a check looked something like this, according to the CARES Act:

  • $99,000 for eligible individuals (up to $1,200)
  • $136,500 for head of household filers (up to $1,200)
  • $198,000 for married couples filing joint returns (up to $2,400)

I mean come on. are we really crying for couples making $200k who got no stimulus check? Imagine this in the context of the great “what is rich” arguments on old pol.

There are no poor people getting screwed here unless you want to argue $200k in NYC is poor - and we’ll let the fun begin.

It feels like some kind of religious thing that so many of you are against the idea of means testing - regardless of the reality.

What if they cut it off at $1M income? Would that be ok?

The argument you are making shows you dont understand my argument against means testing.

I’m saying I don’t care if Bezos is coming out ahead, it’s dumb to send him $1000/month of whatever UBI is. Same for me with the stimulus. Put the money to better use.

Why does no one here believe in trickle down, except when it comes to stimulus/UBI?

UBI is literally the opposite of trickle down. It’s a transfer of money directly from the rich to the poor.

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