After months of tense negotiations that, at one point, looked like it had ceased altogether, Congress reached an agreement on a second stimulus package that will provide some form of aid to Americans who have been struggling since the start of the pandemic. While the new package will include “enhanced” unemployment protections that were set to expire at the end of December, which is a major help for Americans who lost their jobs due to lockdowns and poor economic conditions, people are zeroing in on the amount of the second round of stimulus checks, which is much lower this time around.
When the first checks went out, the amounts were $1200 for each adult, and $500 for each dependent up to 18 years of age. For this latest package, Congress went with only $600 per adult, but also matched the same amount for dependent. While that’s $2,400 for a family of four, it is less than the first round of checks and really shouldn’t be touted as the highlight here. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Nancy Pelosi did when she described the $600 checks as “significant” to working families. Twitter was quick to latch onto the remarks and note the terrible optics of a millionaire telling low income families that the paltry checks will be a huge boon to their finances.
BREAKING: #Pelosi says $600 is a "significant" amount for working families.#LetThemEatCake #TrillionForBillionaires https://t.co/PjcIV9W1JX
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) December 21, 2020
Nancy Pelosi is a Margaret Thatcher Democrat #LetThemEatCake https://t.co/kmmeOO3EbB
— Revolutionary Blackout Network🥋 (@SocialistMMA) December 21, 2020
https://twitter.com/fridayprayers/status/1341066111421440000
I'm old enough to remember when @SpeakerPelosi called $2500 or so from the Trump Tax Cuts "crumbs" — and now she's bragging about getting everyone $600.
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) December 21, 2020
Nancy Pelosi, who described $600 as a "significant" stimulus for working families, has a net worth of more than $100 million.
— Aren R. LeBrun (@arenrlebrun) December 21, 2020
While Pelosi’s statement was poorly-worded, not everyone was dragging her on social media. Others noted that Pelosi did the best she could while negotiating with Republicans like Mitch McConnell who were content with not passing a stimulus packages and would’ve gladly let unemployment benefits expire. However, with Twitter being Twitter, these voices were few and far between.
McConnell is a supervillain who wants Biden to fail. He'll only sign on to deals he believes will make the incoming administration look bad. Yet the press pretends Nancy Pelosi is the one to blame for that paltry $600 stimulus joke. If Dems win Georgia, we'll see bigger checks.
— Kimberley Johnson (@AuthorKimberley) December 21, 2020
I took a stroll over to alt-left/neoprogressive Twitter and the hatred for Nancy Pelosi continues. Also, there was nary a critical word of Republicans who didn’t want *any* direct payments twotted.
— José (@josecanyousee) December 21, 2020
https://twitter.com/UnitedAsOne2020/status/1341079585480445954