*SHOW NOTES* Ep. 023 - America, What's It Going To Take?
America, What is it going to take?
1. Most Recent Omnibus Spending Bill (“Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021”):
What the taxpayer gets:
- 2.3 trillion COVID-19 relief and government funding bill that includes $600 stimulus checks
- 5,600-page bill
- Trump's original statement “I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed”.
- Authorizes direct checks of $600 for people earning up to $75,000 per year.
- Decreases for higher earners
- Over $95,000 get nothing
- additional $600-per-child payment
Fun Facts:
- Congress didn't read the giant bill
- The longest bill in US history
- Foreign Aid:
- Egypt is getting $1.3 billion
- Sudan, Israel, and Ukraine get over $500 million each
- $135 million to Burma
- $85.5 million to Cambodia
- $130 million to Nepal
- $10 million for gender programs in Pakistan.
Pork Spending:
- $4 million for Office of Ethics expenses.
- $85 million for Economic Research Services
- $183 million for National Agricultural Statistics Service
- $60 million for the Risk Management Agency
- $21 million for the Central Utah Project - US federal water project that was authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act
- $4 million for the Office of the President
- $14 million for the White House Residence
- $300 million to develop influenza vaccines and prevent a future influenza pandemic
- $4 BILLION for the Gates-funded GAVI, Vaccine Alliance.
- Funding for Vaccine “misinformation”. Bill provides for “PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON THE IMPORTANCE OF VACCINATIONS”. i.e. a vaccine propaganda campaign.
- $1.4 billion for the “Asia Reassurance Initiative Act” - a framework for the development of a long-term and comprehensive Indo-Pacific strategy by the Trump administration.
- stream copyrighted content without permission, you’re now a federal felon, punishable by jail time, fines, losing your right to vote or own a firearm, etc.
- 18,400,000 for the Office of National Drug Control Policy
2. Economy
- Nearly 60 % of businesses that closed nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic are never reopening.
- Small business revenue decreased nationally by over 32%.
- Payroll provider ADP reported nearly 20 million jobs were lost at U.S. companies (more than half at businesses employing under 500).
3. Health
- Researchers surveyed almost 1,500 American adults about their mental health from March to April of 2020, depression rates rose about 28%.
- US mortality rate is forecast to increase 3 percent while life expectancy will drop 0.5 percent over the next 15 years, representing 890,000 more American deaths, according to a working paper from researchers at Duke, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins universities.
- Over a 20-year period, that amounts to 1.37 million additional deaths.
- Deaths by suicide and overdose, increased as much as 60 percent in the U.S. amid the pandemic and recession, according to a research paper from Casey Mulligan, a University of Chicago professor.
Sources:
https://nypost.com/2020/12/27/trump-signs-covid-19-relief-bill-with-600-stimulus-checks/
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/14/us/covid-19-death-toll.html
https://off-guardian.org/2020/12/22/whats-actually-in-the-us-covid-stimulus-bill/
https://thelibertyherald.com/2020/12/21/900-billion-stimulus-bill-packed-full-of-pork/
https://www.news10.com/news/some-businesses-thrived-many-lagged-during-pandemic-in-2020/
https://time.com/5886228/depression-covid-19-pandemic/