Joe Biden delivers a Thanksgiving address at the Queen Theatre in
Wilmington, Delaware, on November 25, 2020. CHANDAN KHANNA /
AFP
President-elect Joe Biden will propose injecting $1.9
trillion into the US economy when he takes office next week, as
evidence mounts that the recovery from the sharp downturn caused by
Covid-19 is flagging.
With his fellow Democrats narrowly controlling both houses of
Congress, Biden has a shot at passing what would be the United
States’ third massive pandemic aid package.
Dubbed the American Rescue Plan, the proposal released Thursday
includes a host of measures aimed at revitalizing the world’s
largest economy.
swordpress.ng ojoojoo.com search: We Must
Start Talking About Local Vaccine Production – Osinbajo
Biden aims to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour,
help struggling state and local governments, safely reopen schools,
roll out a massive Covid-19 vaccination campaign and raise the size
of stimulus checks Congress approved last month.
“The return on these investment in jobs, racial equity will
prevent long-term economic damage, and the benefits will far
surpass the cost,” Biden said during a speech in Wilmington,
Delaware. “In this moment of crisis… we cannot afford
inaction.”
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
embraced Biden’s plan, vowing to put it before lawmakers.
“We will get right to work to turn President-elect Biden’s
vision into legislation that will pass both chambers and be signed
into law,” they said in a joint statement.
House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks prior to signing an article of
impeachment against President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol on
January 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. Stefani Reynolds/Getty
Images/AFP
But this is just the first step, and the officials said Biden
intends to present a second “recovery” plan to lawmakers soon after
his inauguration on Wednesday aimed at spurring hiring and fighting
climate change.
“We’ll use taxpayers’ dollars to rebuild America. We’ll buy
American products, supporting millions of American manufacturing
jobs, enhancing our competitive strength in an increasingly
competitive world,” Biden said.
– Uncertain path –
The government on Thursday reported a spike in new jobless claim
filings in the first week of 2021 to nearly a million, its highest
level since August, while official data last week showed the
economy shed jobs in December.
swordpress.ng ojoojoo.com search: Nigerian
Scientists Identify Possible COVID-19 Treatment Drug, Says
Osinbajo
Biden, 78, will take office after a tumultuous transition that
saw a violent mob invade the US Capitol, egged on by outgoing
President Donald Trump, as lawmakers were meeting to certify the
Democrat’s election victory.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
His stimulus proposal builds on two massive relief packages
Congress approved in 2020, both increasing and extending through
September unemployment benefits that have helped tens of millions
of people pay their bills after losing their jobs during the
pandemic.
It additionally calls for devising a way to maintain those
programs if unemployment stays high, and also continues expanded
government food assistance as the country struggles with some of
its highest hunger levels in modern times.
But controversy could await the plan’s provision of $350 billion
in funding to state and local governments, which Republican
lawmakers blocked throughout last year.
Also potentially challenging is the president-elect’s move to
increase the size of stimulus checks Americans received in the
December package to $2,000, which would fulfill a campaign
promise.
But with only the slimmest of majorities in Congress — including
an evenly split Senate where Vice President-elect Kamala Harris
could have a tie-breaking vote — Democrats will have to woo some
Republicans if anyone in their party breaks ranks.
One Democratic senator has already expressed hesitation over
increasing the payments, but earlier this week Republican Senator
Marco Rubio told Biden he would back the additional aid.
The proposal also calls for $160 billion to fight Covid-19,
including through a national vaccination campaign, and $170 billion
for schools, with the goal of getting most institutions with
students in kindergarten through eighth grade open in the first 100
days of his administration.
– Would it work? –
Prior to the release of the specifics, Michael Feroli of JP Morgan
predicted Congress could pare Biden’s plan down to the $900 billion
range, matching the measure approved last month.
Even the smaller amount would boost GDP growth this year to 5.3
percent and in 2022 to 2.6 percent, he said, a “remarkable expected
turnaround” aided also by negligible inflation and the Federal
Reserve’s maintenance of low borrowing rates.
Other aspects of Biden’s plan include expanding tax credits
aimed at fighting poverty and helping working parents afford
childcare, plus extending a moratorium on evictions.
The plan offers flexible credits and grants for the small
businesses that are major employers but have struggled to survive
as states imposed restrictions to stop the virus.
AFP
GLADYS, widow of former military administrator of Lagos and Imo
states, Real Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, on Thursday blamed her
husband’s death on a private hospital that was treating him.
![image](/2020/10/lawreport.jpg")
Mrs. Kanu told newsmen that the family had concluded plans to
fly the former naval officer abroad when the hospital’s medical
personnel said he had recovered.
![image](/2020/10/NWLRland.jpg")
She did not name the hospital.
According to her, the late Kanu had not been sick for so many
years, prior to the last illness.
Asked about the former Milad’s last moment, Mrs. Kanu said: “He
didn’t really have any last moment because he has never been sick
all the years I’ve known him; never been in any hospital.
“We used to go for check-ups near our home in London, like twice
in a year, but not for him to be admitted to the hospital. He was
only sick for about 11 days. At the time I was trying to fly him
abroad with an air ambulance, the hospital where he was, was
telling me there was nothing serious, that he has recovered. They
kept giving false hopes and deceiving us.
“We got admission for him in a London hospital. We were
arranging the air ambulance before they (medical personnel) said
there was no need for that, that he’d recovered, only for them to
send me a message yesterday (Wednesday) that he had passed on.
“It wasn’t long enough. He was in the hospital for only 11
days.”
She said her last conversation with her husband was on
Monday.
She described him as an intelligent man.