Senator Bernie Sanders warned Sunday about lowering the threshold for Americans to receive checks for coronavirus, saying he agrees with a limit for high earners, but not for workers making $ 50,000 a year.
President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus plan calls for $ 1,400 checks to be sent to eligible Americans, but some Democrats and Republicans have suggested the idea of imposing restrictions on who gets the payments.
Biden has said he would be receptive to it.
Instead of a $ 75,000 cap for individuals, they want to lower it to $ 50,000 – for couples, it would go from $ 150,000 to $ 100,000.
Sanders, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Budgets, said lawmakers must “do the right thing” from a policy standpoint.
It’s absurd to tell working-class people, someone who has a decent union job – they make $ 55,000, $ 60,000 – sorry, you’re not eligible for the program. It doesn’t make any sense to me, and I don’t think it makes sense to the American people either, ”Sanders (I-Vt.) Said in CNN’s State of the Union.
But he said he agrees with a $ 300,000 phaseout for checks.
“When people said we don’t want rich people to get that benefit, I understand that. I agree. And what we need to do is have a strong cliff face so it doesn’t spill over to people making $ 300,000. And that’s what I support. And that’s what I think most people understand, ”said Sanders.
His progressive colleague in the House, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also slammed the thresholds, saying people should get $ 2,000 incentive checks.
“Just help people!” She said.