FGA Warns Against Biden’s Budget-Busting Stimulus Plan
- BY FGA
President-Elect Joe Biden recently unveiled his outline for another round of “COVID-19 relief” in the form of a $1.9 trillion spending package. The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) warns that it includes several policies that will prolong economic downturn and delay America’s recovery from the pandemic.
The Biden stimulus outline includes more direct payments to Americans ($1,400 each), extends unemployment insurance through September 2021 with an additional $400 weekly benefits, extends the dramatic increase in food stamps spending, and increases the Medicaid FMAP. Recent research from FGA found that the boost in weekly unemployment benefits alone set off a tidal wave of fraud in 2020.
“The President-Elect’s stimulus proposal is more of the top-down government control that led to more than 140,000 small businesses closing in 2020,” said Tarren Bragdon, President and CEO of FGA. “The best bailout is to reopen the economy safely and help people get back to work. Prolonging the downturn and keeping people trapped in government dependency doesn’t help families, workers, or our country move forward.”
“This stimulus plan is a smorgasbord of bad policy that will ensure America falls further behind just as we started getting ahead again,” said Robin Walker, Senior Director of Federal Affairs at FGA. “Bailouts, unemployment boosts, and government control are tried-and-failed policies that deserve no serious consideration in this new year.”
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The Foundation for Government Accountability is a non-profit, multi-state think tank that specializes in health care, welfare, and work reform. To learn more, visit TheFGA.org
