962「自然と人間の歴史・世界篇」バイデン政権の景気対策へ批判(共和党など、2021.2～3)
まずは、バイデン政権による景気対策案の紹介から、しばし引用させていただこう。
「PolicyDeficit impact, 2021-2031
| Ways & Means | $923 billion |
| Provide $1,400-per-person stimulus checks | $422 billion |
| Extend unemployment programs through August 29 with a $400/week supplement | $246 billion |
| Expand Child Tax Credit, Child Care Tax Credit, and Earned Income Tax Credit mostly for one year | $143 billion |
| Provide grants to multi-employer pension plans and change single-employer pension funding rules | $58 billion |
| Temporarily expand ACA subsidies for two years and subsidize 2020 and 2021 coverage | $45 billion |
| Extend paid sick leave and employee retention credit | $14 billion |
| Subsidize COBRA coverage for laid-off workers* | $8 billion |
| Repeal rule allowing multinational corporations to calculate their interest expenses including foreign subsidiaries | -$22 billion |
| Other policies | $9 billion |
| Oversight & Reform | $350 billion |
| Provide money to state governments | $195 billion |
| Provide money to local governments, territories, and tribes | $155 billion |
| Create paid COVID leave for federal workers and other policies | $0.4 billion |
| Education & Labor | $290 billion |
| Provide funding for K-12 education | $129 billion |
| Provide funding for colleges and universities | $40 billion |
| Increase the federal minimum wage to $15/hour by 2025 | $54 billion |
| Provide support for child care, grants to child care providers, and Head Start | $40 billion |
| Subsidize COBRA coverage for laid-off workers* | $10 billion |
| Extend nutrition assistance in place of school lunch for the duration of the emergency and other food assistance | $7 billion |
| Human services, labor programs, and other policies* | $11 billion |
| Energy & Commerce | $122 billion |
| Increase funding for testing and contract tracing | $50 billion |
| Increase public health workforce and investments | $19 billion |
| Fund vaccine distribution, confidence, and supply chains | $16 billion |
| Increase Medicaid payments to states that newly expand Medicaid under the ACA | $16 billion |
| Allow states to expand Medicaid coverage for prisoners close to release and for pregnant and postpartum women for 5 years | $9 billion |
| Remove the cap limiting how much drug manufacturers must rebate to Medicaid for drugs that have increased quickly in price | -$18 billion |
| Other policies* | $31 billion |
| Transportation & Infrastructure | $90 billion |
| Increase funding for the Disaster Relief Fund and cover funeral expenses related to COVID | $47 billion |
| Provide grants to transit agencies | $28 billion |
| Provide grants to airports and aviation manufacturers | $11 billion |
| Provide grants to communities under economic stress | $3 billion |
| Grants to Amtrak and other transportation-related spending | $2 billion |
| Financial Services | $71 billion |
| Provide emergency rental assistance and assist homeless | $30 billion |
| Provide grants to airlines and contractors to freeze airline layoffs through September | $12 billion |
| Use Defense Production Act to buy and distribute medical supplies | $10 billion |
| Provide mortgage payment assistance | $10 billion |
| Reauthorize and fund the State Small Business Credit Initiative | $9 billion |
| Small Business | $50 billion |
| Provide grants to restaurants and bars that lost revenue due to the pandemic | $25 billion |
| Provide additional EIDL Advance grants of up to $10,000 per business | $15 billion |
| Allow more PPP loans and expand eligibility to certain non-profit and digital media companies | $7 billion |
| Other policies | $3 billion |
| Veterans’ Affairs | $17 billion |
| Provide funding for health care services, facilities, and copays for veterans | $16 billion |
| Fund job training assistance programs for veterans and other VA administrative costs | $1 billion |
| Agriculture | $16 billion |
| Increase nutrition assistance | $6 billion |
| Pay off loans and other programs for socially disadvantaged farmers | $5 billion |
| Purchase and distribute food to needy individuals | $4 billion |
| Testing and monitoring for COVID in rural communities and among animal populations | $1 billion |
| Foreign Affairs (no legislation reported yet) | $10 billion |
| Natural Resources (no legislation reported yet) | $1 billion |
| Science, Space, & Technology (no legislation reported yet) | $1 billion |
| Total* | $1.927 trillion |
Source: CRFB calculations from Congressional Budget Office and House Budget Committee documents.」(「What's in the $1.9 Trillion House COVID Relief Bill?」(2.18.2021))(USA TODAY「Fact check :Break down spending in the COVID-19 relief bill」)
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論評の紹介(1)
まずは、「COVID Relief Bill Losing Focus as Details Emerge」(2.17.2021)の「要約」の記事から、紹介しよう。
“The goal of COVID relief is to end the pandemic, protect incomes, and support the economic recovery. The House bill not only spends far more than is needed to achieve these goals, but also puts too many of these plentiful dollars in the wrong places.
Only about 1 percent of the entire package goes toward COVID vaccines, and 5 percent is truly focused on public health needs surrounding the pandemic. Meanwhile, nearly half of the package will be spent on poorly targeted rebate checks and state and local government aid, including to households and governments that have experienced little or no financial loss during this crisis.
More than 15 percent of the package – about $300 billion – is spent on long-standing policy priorities that are not directly related to the current crisis.
Perhaps most concerning, the House Ways & Means Committee appears to have made space for the pension bailout by only extending expanded unemployment benefits through August, cutting them off a month earlier than President Biden proposed, and many months earlier than they should be. These multiemployer pensions have been on shaky ground for some time and ought to be dealt with transparently, where lawmakers can appropriately finance and reform these plans. The financial status of these funds shouldn’t be addressed in a piece of crisis legislation, and certainly not at the cost of benefits for unemployed workers. Frankly, no member of Congress should be willing to defend this.
In addition to this pension bailout, the bill includes a number of other long-standing priorities, such as expanding the child tax credit and earned income tax credit, increasing Affordable Care Act subsidies, and boosting the minimum wage. These policies don’t belong in a COVID relief package, and should be fully if retained.
This legislation is supposed to be about ending the pandemic, reviving the economy, and providing Americans the financial relief they need to make it through this tough stretch. We support a targeted package that does just that. It is disappointing to see House committees straying from that mission. It’s time to refocus」
そもそもトランプ前政権下で昨年12月に決まった、約9000億ドルの新型コロナ対策のほとんどがまだ使われていないと、の批判のほか、見られるように、狭い意味での新型コロナ禍への対応というよりも、かなりの程度生活全般の再建に重みを持たせた中身となっているようだ。
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(続く)
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