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United States The Almighty Buck

Mitt Romney Thinks Every American Adult Should Get $1,000 During The Coronavirus Outbreak (buzzfeednews.com) 264

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to hit the US, people nationwide are being encouraged to stay inside their homes and states and cities are beginning to close restaurants, bars, and other businesses. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney has a plan he thinks can help: Give every adult in the US $1,000. From a report: "Every American adult should immediately receive $1,000 to help ensure families and workers can meet their short-term obligations and increase spending in the economy," a press release from Romney said Monday. "Congress took similar action during the 2001 and 2008 recessions. While expansions of paid leave, unemployment insurance, and SNAP benefits [the program formally known as food stamps] are crucial, the check will help fill the gaps for Americans that may not quickly navigate different government options." The proposal to give every adult $1,000 is one of several put forth by Romney to try and address the pandemic, and was central to businessman Andrew Yang's Democratic presidential campaign. Yang, who qualified for several debates before exiting the race last month, ran a campaign almost entirely focused on a universal basic income proposal that would give every American adult $1,000 per month. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, another Democrat running for president, has also called for all Americans to receive $1,000 per month for the remainder of the coronavirus crisis.
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Mitt Romney Thinks Every American Adult Should Get $1,000 During The Coronavirus Outbreak More

Mitt Romney Thinks Every American Adult Should Get $1,000 During The Coronavirus Outbreak

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  • So what he has to offer then is... (Score:5, Funny)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @12:47PM (#59835988)

    ....binders full of cash.

    • ....binders full of cash.

      You deserve the funny mod, but it's also insightful. If I cared about Romney I'd check to see if he at least gave proper credit to Andrew Yang (who was my preferred candidate).

      Here is my latest solution approach, but I need to apologize in advance because this is mostly a cut-and-paste from a Slashdot discussion that has already expired. I should rewrite it from scratch, but that would require too much time and effort, especially considering the current state of Slashdot... I'm just going to edit and massag

  • one time 1000 credit != yang's UBI scheme (Score:3)

    by rldp ( 6381096 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @12:48PM (#59835992)

    You'd think that would be obvious but I guess it isn't.

  • Romney the stealth progressive (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Headw1nd ( 829599 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @12:50PM (#59836012)
    First there was Romneycare, now he's advocating UBI? Was Romney the (economic) progressive all along?

  • Wouldn't... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Misagon ( 1135 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @12:51PM (#59836022)

    I'm sure that could help some people if they could get it right now, but over a few months wouldn't that just serve to devalue the US dollar?

    • Considering every other currency on the planet is either currently taking a beating, or about to, do you really imagine the greenback is going to fall in value compared to other currencies?

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Boronx ( 228853 )

      They just injected a trillion + into the stock market. This would be less than half of that.

      • Re:Wouldn't... (Score:5, Informative)

        by DarkOx ( 621550 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @01:26PM (#59836296) Journal

        SIgh, They did not just inject a trillion into the stock market. The made LOANS in that amount; REPO loans by the way that have to be collateralized.

        Its not like the FED is passing out free money. In fact the banks could thru fractional reserve lending create that money supply on their own and they usually do, one bank with excess reserves lends cash to one that needs to meet capital requirements. However when the banks stop trusting each other that system breaks down. It had. When that happens they stop being able to originate commercial loans and companies can no longer roll over debt. When that happens the wheels come off because a decade of cheap money has left corporate balance sheets with just stupid debt to equity ratios.

        Now you can argue that because prime rates are now 0ish banks can just roll debt forever so it is like new free money. That is true until rates creep back up if they do.. However they probably will because Central Banks need a monetary policy tool which they now havent got. So eventually the bill will come due and some badly run banks will fail but at an orderly rate. Yes its unfair but we are at a point now where the wheels fall off otherwise so - yes these aholes get paid a nice salary run their insolvent institutions for a few more months.

    • Don't know, why not look at examples around the world such as in Australia when they did it to provide stimulus to the economy in the middle of a financial crisis avoiding a recession and at the same time strengthening the value of the dollar against foreign currencies.

      The budget deficit in the USA is already just shy of $1 trillion / year. Just looking at historical graphs of the US dollar vs all other major currencies it's clear that simply overspending does not devalue the dollar and that the economy on

    • Yeah, whether in the form of inflation or some other way, it'll need to be paid back. Given that a lot of people are very temporarily unemployed or underemployed, that's probably reasonable. They'll probably be back to work a month from now, and some pent-up demand may even spike the economy a bit.

      That's on a macro, whole-economy level. Of course the pay back will hit different people differently. Probably those who HAVE money, savers and more educated / trained people earning at least average wage, will

    • Re:Wouldn't... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Jason1729 ( 561790 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @01:14PM (#59836212)
      They've announced $700 billion of quantitative easing. That's essentially printing $700 billion in new money and handing it over the the banks to increase liquidity. And of course that does devalue the US dollar.

      Giving each American adult $1000 would cost about $200 billion and likely help the economy a lot more than handing it over to the bankers with the QE money. I vehemently oppose a UBI and even I think this hand-out is a great idea. Even doing it monthly until this outbreak is resolved.
      • I feel like I'm lacking some important context here. Why do you normally not support UBI? Why do you think the normal failings of a UBI would be relatively less significant when implemented during a crisis?

  • Free money (Score:5, Informative)

    by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @12:52PM (#59836034) Journal
    Because Romney thinks deficits don't matter [axios.com], right?

    • Right now, they don't. Any government that institutes an austerity program at the moment is going to turn this crisis into a catastrophe.

    • Re:Free money (Score:4, Informative)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @01:09PM (#59836164)

      Because Romney thinks deficits don't matter [axios.com], right?

      Well two things about that:
      a) America on the whole thinks deficits don't matter. That much is clear from the incredible deficit they have been running for the incredible length they've been going for.
      b) Deficits are only a part of an overall economic equation. Injecting a large stimulus into the economy can have a much greater benefit than the negative implications of the deficit required to do so. The USA wouldn't be giving money away for nothing in return. That money invariably results in boosting the local economy and they are far from the only country looking at doing so.

  • But they are willing to give cash? Which isn't nothing but a glorified tax break! We all know people that are going to have a very hard time with this. Yes, a grand may help them to have food on the table. But what about rent? What about Mortgages? Or credit card payments? I worry more about people being forced into the streets then anything else. Shoot, yes they will get unemployment. But that takes what? 2 weeks to kick in? Or longer!

    • Tax breaks reduce the burden on those who actually pay taxes.
      "Free money" transfers money from those who work and pay taxes to those who don't, so liberals much prefer the latter.

      Conservatives don't want to create permanent dependence, they do know the difference between one-time help in a crisis vs creating a permanently dependent class, so they are fine with a one-time thing.

      Kinda like the big cornona virus bill - conservatives supporter a bill covering all the things needed to handle this crisis; Pelosi

      • Re: Tax breaks help people who pay taxes (Score:4, Insightful)

        by beelsebob ( 529313 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @01:42PM (#59836438)

        The *goal* is to make sure that those who are currently out of work have money to keep the economy moving.

        The fundamental view-point difference in this one is that republicans typically see people who have crap jobs, or no job as lazy bums who are sponging off everyone else. Meanwhile, the democrats typically see them as hard working people who are desperate to find *some* job that will pay them enough to live on, and that their bosses are the spongers who are chronically under-paying them.

        In this instance, itâ(TM)s clear that the employees are not the spongers - lots of people who were working hard and paying taxes have been told âoeto home, donâ(TM)t spread it aroundâ. Thus, even the republicans are saying âoethese people really donâ(TM)t deserve to lose their house over something completely out of their control.â

        • Right, though exaggerated. Plus the new element of the Democrat party says it doesn't *matter* whether people work hard or if they are rhe lazy - they should get the same results either way. Aka Democratic socialism.

          Obviously neither group thinks everyone who is broke is working their ass off, or thinks they are all lazy or all making bad decisions. But each party tends to focus more on one or the other. Democrats tend toward give a man a dish, Republicans tend toward teach a man to fish.

          I tend toward,

    • Re:They complain tax breaks don't help (Score:4, Insightful)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @01:14PM (#59836208)

      But they are willing to give cash?

      They are absolutely right. The economic results and the longer implications of a tax break has a very different result from a short term stimulus payment. Cash payments one off tend to go to short term expenses directly bolstering the immediate economy, and are much cheaper and orders of magnitude more instantaneous in effect on the social system than a tax break.

      A tax break would achieve precisely nothing that the government is proposing this cash payment do.

      • Guess you missed my point about people being tossed into the streets. And no, I am not trying to be sarcastic. I just don't think a grand as a give away is the answer. I would rather see something done to address rent/mortgages. I think their are enough things in place for food. I know that Ohio at least is not shutting off lights/gas/water, and actually are even turning back on these services. No matter how long they have been shut off.

  • And trump wants to cut SNAP / make people work to get it.

    • I guess timing of announcements are too difficult for you to comprehend. Want to post to us a recent comment by Trump about cutting Snap? Can't? I didn't think so. Just bad Trump, no matter when the comment was made. I am sure you worship the ground that Bernie walks on, and forgive his comments about Cuba and Russia. Why? They were made previously. Fuck off asshole

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by meglon ( 1001833 )
        https://secondnexus.com/donald... [secondnexus.com]

        Mar. 12, 2020

        You're right, "you didn't think." The people who have actual trump derangement syndrome are the cultists who follow this pussy grabby narcissistic lying piece of shit no matter what he does, and dismiss any criticism as just disliking the guy.

        This fucking lying sack of shit has minimized this virus outbreak, and caused his cult followers to think that it's not a problem. Interestingly, his cult followers are predominantly the people who are most severely affected by it.

    • And trump wants to cut SNAP / make people work to get it.

      Most conservatives don't like SNAP because of the permanence of it. Which is why they add rules like you can only collect it for 2 years or you have to be looking for a job. This would be a one time check to help people and to help stimulate the economy. No chance of someone getting dependent on it. Also seems like a better use of funds than giving money to the hotel or airline industry to stick in a bank somewhere.

  • "This will never be a socialist country"
    Someone said that. (45)
    I know that Mitt isn't his best friend, but a conservative 'R' he is, and THIS is a socialistic idea. So is "free" corona testing - it isn't free, society pays and that is socialism. I bet that conservative MAGA hat wearing people will be all in favor of socialism when they find themselves in line for covid treatment. Long insurance forms to fill out first? No, just treat me, the government should cover it. Yea, socialism.

    • Re:"This will never be a socialist country" (Score:5, Insightful)

      by SuricouRaven ( 1897204 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @01:23PM (#59836276)

      America has collectively forgotten what socialism means. Now it's nothing but a convenient term to describe any spending you don't like, especially if it's on people you don't like.

      • America has collectively forgotten what socialism means. Now it's nothing but a convenient term to describe any spending you don't like, especially if it's on people you don't like.

        I know, I know!

        Just like racist used to mean something specific, and now it's just a convenient term to describe any political decision you don't like.

        Or how "OK boomer" morphed into "OK doomer" to describe climate change proponents. They hated that one *a lot*.

        English is pliable, and what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by meglon ( 1001833 )
      You won't find any old fascist conservatives sending back their "socialist" social security checks. It's all about them being the real entitlement whores in this country.

  • Romney's idea my ass. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @12:58PM (#59836092)

    Andrew Yang literally ran on the idea of the $1000/month plan as a form of permanent UBI during his run.

    Then Tulsi Gabbard (another presidential candidate) doubled down on that idea, stating we need to institute an emergency UBI plan due to this outbreak.

    How in the FUCK did Mitt Romney end up getting his name associated with this "new" idea? FFS, no wonder people still think Al Gore invented the internet.

    • Because this is highly unusual coming from a Republican and it's also not the same thing as a UBI. This is a one time payment not an ongoing dependency. Obama did something similar and cut a bunch of checks of $250 each to everyone on social security in 2009.

    • Andrew Yang literally ran on the idea of the $1000/month plan as a form of permanent UBI during his run.

      Fortunately this is neither UBI, nor is it a monthly payment. So very much has nothing at all to do with Yang's idea, and isn't even remotely related in purpose to Yang's idea.

      Economic stimulus wasn't invented with the idea of UBI, and unlike UBI has been used all over the world many times.

      • Andrew Yang literally ran on the idea of the $1000/month plan as a form of permanent UBI during his run.

        Fortunately this is neither UBI, nor is it a monthly payment. So very much has nothing at all to do with Yang's idea, and isn't even remotely related in purpose to Yang's idea.

        No, but it is exactly Tulsi Gabbards idea of a temporary stimulus, so again, how the hell did Mitt Romney get associated with this? Just when you thought candidates couldn't get any more dismissed by the MSM. What a joke.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kohath ( 38547 )

      This stuff is super helpful in crisis times. We're all proud of you.

    • A UBI is a permanent redistribution of wealth from everyone (collected unevenly - certain people pay more taxes), back to everyone (distributed evenly). Romney's idea is a one-time payment.

      It's a good idea. The closures and drop in activity (aside from raiding supermarket supplies) means many people's incomes have dropped or ceased entirely. But they still need to buy food, pay the bills, etc. I'm sure most of them don't keep a 3-6 month emergency fund like economists advise you to do. So the money wo

  • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • You underestimate how much money the government prints and how often the dollar is inflated by other means. How else do you think the country gets into $23 trillion in debt? $210 billion wouldn't even make a dramatic difference in our annual budget deficit.

      That is, if it's a one-time payment.

      • You underestimate how much money the government prints and how often the dollar is inflated by other means. How else do you think the country gets into $23 trillion in debt? $210 billion wouldn't even make a dramatic difference in our annual budget deficit.

        That is, if it's a one-time payment.

        It won't be a one-time payment. It will be one of 6 payments, because that's how many months we can expect this to drag out, especially after we start testing in the US, and find we have 100x more infections than previously assumed.

    • No. This is a minuscule amount of money in comparison to the stimulus that has been used in attempts to prop up the stock market during this crash. It would have no effect on inflation whatsoever.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • The problem with just the giving of cash is that most people will not go out and immediately spend it or will use it to pay existing debts. Both of those are not things that are needed.
    Instead what would need to be done is giving out gift cards with a very short expiration date, say two months. If they were to get a lots of stores, mainly brick and mortar, throw in some pre-paid credit cards and randomly distribute them you would have a solution. for $1000 you would need to send each person 10 cards wort

    • Re:Won't work. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by iikkakeranen ( 6279982 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @01:36PM (#59836378)

      Why would most people not spend it on rent and food? Especially the people who live paycheck to paycheck and have lost their incomes because of the pandemic? I mean, those are the people this is meant for, ordinary Americans. I don't see how trying to micromanage which stores they can spend the money at would make things better. That would add a huge layer of bureaucracy, cost overhead and inefficiency if they get gift cards for something they don't need.

      Myself I don't need this money so I would probably donate it to the food lifeline or some such. But I'm not under the impression I'm "most people".

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @01:08PM (#59836156)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Not "keep people safe".

    You only want to keep your profits up, ya cheeky cunt! *Malcolm Tucker noises (swearing)*

    Great con job opener though. "Free money". Classic. Always a winner.

    And using this for your gain is not below your moral standards, we all know that
    Like Mitt Rmoney, kingpin of a vulture capital (= corporate pimp) company, cares about anythig else anyway.

  • I'm sorry, but my wife and I work our asses off to earn what we earn to support our family. Now you want some of the taxes we pay on that income to be a handout to others?

    How about they divert funds from pork-barrel projects like the SLS that will never launch this decade and use those billions on "corona income relief"?

    What we DON'T need right now are new taxes. What we DO need is for the money we've paid in taxes to be spent better.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by MightyMartian ( 840721 )

      You pay for it now, or you pay for it later. This "fuck the poor" mentality is what lead to Louis XVI's date with Madame Guillotine. American individualism is by and large a fantasy, a lovely Protestant myth retold countless times, even as every person in the United States enjoys the standard of living they do because of government action.

    • This $1,000 handout could be the thing that causes people to get tested (do the tests still cost the patient? I read somewhere that the tests were over $1,000 each), or enables someone to stay home, then it could help prevent this pandemic from spreading - this could be much cheaper than the alternative.

  • ... hand sanitizer and toilet paper?

    Oh, and 5.56 NATO.

  • Fuck off. (Score:3)

    by LenKagetsu ( 6196102 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @01:27PM (#59836306)

    Remember that massive bailout years back that could've instead put $20,000 in the pocket of every American at a lower cost?

  • He must be OK, he's one of these preppers who have a 1 year food supply for every person in the household, also known as 'Mormons'.
    They must be thrilled right now.

  • Hey Mitt? The money coming from YOUR bank account? I've penny pinched the past 30 years, and have enough SAVED up, to go without a job for a year, without impacting my life. It's how it USE to be done. But not today! Today, we spend it faster than we make it, run up credit card debt etc. American's use to be RESPONSIBLE for their own lives, but now, we turn to mommy/daddy government for a hand out.
  • Aaaaaand what happens when everything's still locked down a few months from now? $1000 is only a month's rent for some folks.

    Few seem to consider the constancy of such programs/ideas.

  • I was gonna joke this $1000 will only cost the average American $1200. However it will be completely borrowed, and never paid back, so will cost your kids and grandkids and so on tens of thousands through all eternity.

    The math does not lie.

  • Remember when Jimmy Carter lost an election by making this specific promise? Democrats used to be the party that built stuff, and the Republicans used to be the party of fiscal responsibility.

  • This was NOT a Yang idea (Score:3)

    by superdave80 ( 1226592 ) on Monday March 16, 2020 @03:12PM (#59836992)

    The proposal to give every adult $1,000 is one of several put forth by Romney to try and address the pandemic, and was central to businessman Andrew Yang's Democratic presidential campaign.

    Romney is proposing a one time payment of $1,000 to help during this crisis. Yang's proposal was $1,000 EVERY MONTH FOREVER!. Other that both of these proposals having the nice, big, round number of $1,000 in them, they are completely unrelated, and the author of this article is a moron for suggesting otherwise.

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