Families on the brink fear what's next as pandemic benefits expire
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The pandemic has pushed millions of Americans to the cliff's edge, with the ground crumbling at year's end without further stimulus action by Congress.
When federal emergency coronavirus relief protections expire, some as soon as the day after Christmas, 13 million Americans will lose their jobless benefits. Many more face eviction, or will find student debt has come due.
Nine months in to the pandemic, the latest jobs report showed the economy in November gained a paltry 245,000 jobs out of the 10 million yet to be recovered, underscoring the need for swift remedy.
It "confirms we remain in the midst of one of the worst economic and jobs crises in modern history," President-elect Joe Biden said in a statement released Friday, noting that the "grim" snapshot of the economy comes "before the surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths in December as we head into a dark winter."
When the CARES Act was signed, there was enough money flowing so that workers could stay home while still paying their bills. It was an unusual sight: Amid the mass layoffs, people were still paying their rent and credit card bills and were protected from losing their home. That's exactly what the bill's signers calculated for. They knew how much money it would take to keep the economy on life support.
But with the coronavirus dragging on for longer than anyone had imagined, the appetite for protection measures developed inconsistently across America, and full bipartisan support for further spending withered.
Lawmakers hit an impasse earlier this year when Democrats pushed for $2.2 trillion in aid, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., sought a smaller package of $550 billion.
"It's another fiscal cliff when families have already gone over a fiscal cliff," Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, told NBC News. "It really means we're allowing the wounds triggered by Covid to fester and become scars."
According to an analysis by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, if the pandemic unemployment insurance benefits were reinstated and the virus was brought under control, over 5 million jobs could be created or saved.
Half of America is working from home and insulated from the sight of wraparound lines at the food banks and growing homeless tent encampments in some parts of the country like Austin, Chicago, and Charlotte, that might normally stir their concern.
"With the vaccine coming, it's going to be worse before it gets better," Swonk said. "Anyone waiting for the economy to reopen, you can starve in that period."
There have been some signs of support for a new $908 billion stimulus package. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday that there is "momentum" on Capitol Hill to reach a deal on coronavirus relief, further optimism that legislation could be approved before the end of the year.
"I am pleased that the tone of our conversation is one that is indicative of the decision to get the job done," Pelosi told reporters Friday.
The deal would provide for additional unemployment payments through March, but would not include another round of stimulus checks.
Relief can't come soon enough for millions of families.
Rachel Alvarez, 44, a single mother of three in Naples, Florida, was making $6,000 a month as a server. Laid off in March, her unemployment benefits — which expire on Dec. 26 — barely cover her rent. That leaves her scrambling daily in food lines to fill the fridge.
"We need that federal [supplemental unemployment benefit]," Alvarez told NBC News. "Here we are in the pandemic, highest numbers and death rates and no relief before the holidays? It's crazy. It is not okay."
Next month, if things don't improve, Alvarez said she will have to seek restaurant work again, even though she hasn't fully recovered from a recent bout of pneumonia and one of her sons has a lung condition.
"I'm worried I might be dead" from coronavirus, she said. "But I'd rather work and provide for my family and put myself at risk than not provide."
Desperate families keep falling down the ladder, uncertain of what comes next, after the fumes they've been running on start to dissipate.
Kelly Ann Hotchkin from Hamilton, New Jersey, was out of work for 7 months and went back to work for a month and a half, only to be furloughed again. Her husband is out of work too. They have four kids from ages 2 to 13. She only gets $231 a week in unemployment.
"We've gone through every penny of our savings, my husband is going through the appeals process for unemployment now," Hotchkin told NBC News in an online message. "I have zero ability to provide even one gift for our kids' Christmas this year and apparently the government's gift to us is to completely screw us the day after Christmas."
The nationwide public health eviction moratorium implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expires on Dec. 31. However, there has already been a surge of people living in their cars and tents, said Vanessa Brito, 37, a Miami political consultant who has voluntarily been helping thousands of people navigate Florida's glitchy unemployment filing system. The eviction freeze still requires tenants to attempt to make minimum payments to their full ability using what government benefits they have.
"Imagine what comes Dec. 26. People are already living in their cars," Brito said. "They're going to be out on the street."
Desperation has set in for many families, she said.
"We'll take $100 extra. We'll take anything. So please, sign off on something."
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The blame rests squarely on Pelosi's stooped shoulders and her appetite for pork.
She could have compromised months ago, but apparently would rather play politics with peoples lives
The House passed a bill in May that McConnell ignored.
Then the House passed a 'compromise' bill in October, which McConnell ignored too.
Ya but it's Pelosi's fault. /s
Too much unrelated pork, as you well know.
Which, if true, could be address via Amendment or in Conference, as YOU should well know.
Yet the Senate hasn't even TRIED to work on the bill and McConnell has refused to negotiate.
But ya, it's all Pelosi's fault. /s
List the pork Greg. You claim it is there, let's see it.
Haven't you heard? She will accept far less now because - "we have a new president now." And he will get the credit!
Conversely, it could be that it's 7 fucking months later and it takes a lot less to hold people over for the next 4 months.
All Pelosi need do now is go along with legal protections for small business.
What bill is that Vic? Was it filed in the House or the Senate?
How about the $916 billion coronavirus relief deal that Mnuchin offered Pelosi, but she turned down?
So you feel that Pelosi should accept whatever Mnuchin offers her, and to be thankful for what she gets? Is that what you are saying Vic???
I'm saying she made a huge political mistake and deep down she knows it.
In a certain section of Boston they might just say "She done fucked up!"
That's not what you said. Come January, 1 of the 2 will be out of a job. Guess which.
The rest of the country has said that " They done fucked up! " Difference is that the country said it with their votes, you said it with only your opinion.
They =
Almost a dozen House democrats have lost their seats. Why do you suppose?
you said it with only your opinion.
Speaking of opinions, it's refreshing to see you discuss topic. Only over here, eh?
How about it Vic?
Is it a BILL? Has it gone through committee or been vetted in ANY way?
Scribbling some bullshit wish list on the back of a napkin isn't legislating Vic.
We all know that McConnell is holding up negotiations demanding the corporate get out to jail free card.
It's pretty ironic that the GOP insists that Trump has 'every right' to litigate his ass off to 'stop the steal' but they want the 'unwashed rabble' to pound sand if their employers policies or inaction cause them to get Covid.
How the fuck do you or anyone else 'out here' know whether it was a mistake or not?
Pretending that anything that comes out of Mnuchin's mouth is credible is delusional.
Where is this 'offer' documented?
If Mnuchin actually had a viable plan, he would have taken it to McConnell and the GOP and sent them in to negotiate the details with Pelosi. Trump and McConnell took a hands off approach after the first bill passed and threw Mnuchin out there with unattainable demands and those demands flip flopped almost daily. The Senate is broken and McConnell is fiddling...
McConnell, NOT Pelosi has been the road block on further relief package.
Look who's getting off topic now???
I'm just trying to keep up with you. Just like your previous sentence being off topic.
But the stock market is at it's all time high, where is that trickle down thingy that the GOP keeps talking about?
Where is the Democrats plans to combat it?
I can't remember Obama or Clinton or Carter doing anything different.
So the house burning down is not the fault of the person starting the fire, it is the fault of the people not putting it out quickly enough?
Why should Obama or Clinton or Carter have any responsibility for a plan to combat the failure of the GOP's trickle down economics bullshit?
Oh and BTW, Obama and Carter lowered the deficit and Clinton balanced the budget. Selective memory?
Creative accounting...................proving that figures don't lie but liars figure.
wtf did YOU read?
I didn't blame anyone. just pointed that your fucking party. all the while bitching about our economy. have done nothing. absolutely nothing. to change it. and yet you think they fucking care about you
I beg to differ. When my employer said, "... two weeks ..." I said, "Yeah, right." Watching the world news about a virus in China as early as December 2018, and how fast it was spreading... I knew it would be longer than many assumed.
There are places that have had wrap-around lines at food banks long before COVID-19. And if people are naïve enough to believe this isn't happening now, they need to be taken to those places for a good eye-opener.
There are programs that help with both food and Christmas gifts. I've used them myself. A local Good Fellows is a good place to start. When I contacted Wyandotte Good Fellows in 2008, I told the organizer that I was far more worried about food than I was gifts [my daughter was only 5 and my son was only 6 months old at the time and have plenty of grandparents that were buying gifts], but he came by later that evening and gave me a $100 gift certificate for a local grocery store and gave my daughter a few gifts. I told him that he didn't have to do that, but he insisted. There are good people and donation-based organizations out there that can help... one simply must search for it. Local libraries are currently open [at least they are in MI] where free computer and internet use is available.
Personally, I would shut off any subscriptions [cable, internet... unless working from home, prime, hulu, Netflix, etc.], narrow down the cell phone bill to a single phone, and sell everything I could before I lost my home. Too many people have gotten comfortable with their previous lives with all kinds of amenities that nowadays appear necessary to some / many / most, but the reality is, there are several ways to live with a lot less... just ask those people in the food pantry lines or those that have been strapped to the point of filing bankruptcy, seeking out local assistance, no money in the bank, and eating nothing but cans of soup and PB&J or if lucky... grilled cheese.