House passes $2 trillion COVID-19 emergency bill

-
By Donna Baeck

President Trump signed a historic $2 trillion emergency bill at the Oval Office on Friday afternoon to provide relief during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Washington Post. 

The bill is the largest emergency aid package in U.S. history. It promises to deliver direct financial assistance to American workers, small businesses and health care facilities, said CNN.

"This will deliver urgently needed relief to our nation's families, workers and businesses. And that's what this is all about," Trump said during the signing ceremony.

The pandemic pressed a major pause-button on the country's economy, causing 3.3 million workers to file for unemployment benefits last week, said the Washington Post.

CNN reported the bill authorizes the Internal Revenue Service to send direct payments of $1,200 each to individuals who earn $75,000 in adjusted gross income or less. Married couples earning up to $150,000 will receive $2,400 and an additional $500 per each child in the household.

The Washington Post reported large corporations impacted by COVID-19 will also receive emergency federal aid from the bill. This led to conflict between both parties and pushed lobbyists and corporations to secure a part of the funding.

Information about the virus changes daily and the number of cases is rising rapidly. The U.S. has more than 100,000 positive cases of coronavirus and 1,500 deaths.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pete Buttigieg to drop out of presidential race

-
By Donna Baeck Pete Buttigieg will suspend his presidential campaign on Sunday night in his hometown in South Bend, Ind., according to CNN.  After a disappointing loss in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, Buttigieg said he did not want to further his campaign into Super Tuesday. He canceled his plans to fly from Selma, Ala., to Dallas, Texas for a Sunday night rally but told reporters he would be flying back to South Bend to announce the end of his campaign, according to the New York Times. "He believes this is the right thing to do right now for our country and the country to deal this divided nation and defeat President Trump," an aide to Buttigieg said. CNN reported Buttigieg struggled to win voters of color after his success in Iowa and New Hampshire. He finished significantly behind his other contenders in both the Nevada caucus and South Carolina primary. Buttigieg's campaign still made history and broke barriers. He became the first gay candidate to
Read more

Chinese journalist goes missing after reporting details of the coronavirus to social media

-
By Donna Baeck A citizen-journalist exposing the extreme conditions of the coronavirus in Wuhan through social media has been missing since Feb. 6, according to CNN. Chen Qiushi, a 34-year-old lawyer and journalist, was capturing footage inside the Wuhan hospitals that were crowded with patients and frantic medical staff. When Qiushi stopped responding to messages, his friends and family reported his disappearance, according to CNN. CNN reported Qiushi had taken the last train to Wuhan a day after the city was placed under a lock down to stop citizens from traveling and spreading the virus. "What kind of a journalist am I if don't rush to the front line when there is a disaster?" Qiushi said. Time reported Qiushi's friend and well-known martial-artist, Xu Xiandong, announced in a live broadcast that he had been forced into quarantine by the police. The public and state security officers from Qingdao told Qiushi's parents he had been put into quarantin
Read more