President-elect Joe Biden unveiled his first major plan that he will push for legislation within the days after his inauguration.  His proposal is a $1.9 trillion dollar package that is being sold as a means to combat COVID-19, provide economic stimulus, and give Americans much-needed relief.

Some of Biden's proposals are necessary and include more than a few of the red-lined revisions by President Donald J. Trump in the previous stimulus package that were denied. However, another slew of old Democratic 'wish list' items is being included in his $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan.  Yet again, holding the public hostage in the long term.

As Obama Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel stated time and time again, "never let a crisis go to waste".

Despite investing a paltry $160 billion in the national vaccination program and related health policies to stem the pandemic, this less than 10% amount won't nearly provide relief to the public or provide the much-needed supplies to first responders and medical professionals.

Another 10%,  $170 billion in spending, will be allocated for K-12 schools and institutions of higher learning to reopen safely within the administration's first 100 days. However, this small amount must be spread nationwide and when seen through that lens, is not putting the safety of our children and teachers first.

All of this will be coming on the heels of the recently enacted $900 billion legislation that continues to extend unemployment benefits.

Yet, Biden is proposing a $1.9 trillion in mostly superfluous proposals that are not of immediate importance.

One of the most overreaching proposals is to more than double the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour - including for employees who regularly receive additional tips or commissions. While this sounds fantastic on the surface, this has proven to systematically lead to more automated kiosks taking over service positions of actual humans and hard-working individuals losing their jobs due to "downsizing".

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office is already estimating that this jump in minimum wage will account for the killing of 1.3 million jobs and possibly up to as many as 3.7 million by 2025.

Small businesses, which are currently on life support due to the pandemic will most likely not be able to survive these increases. There is no business relief package being created for these imminent consequences.

Next, is the $1,400-per-person relief checks, which - while happily received by many, have proven to not be stimulative to the economy. The typical family has received, on average, over $11,400 over the past year - but there has been little discussion on the tax implications or consequences for families for these irresponsible payments - particularly to those who did not lose wages.

Government analytics and reports have shown that rather than stimulating the economy, much of those "one-time checks" were saved rather than spent. Based on the results of the $1,200 and subsequent $600 stimulus payments that were saved, this new $1,400 is projected to be saved at a much higher rate.

The Biden plan will also extend the emergency unemployment benefit through September which an additional $400 federal add-on that would exceed the lost wages for most laid-off workers. Beyond this, his plan to spend over $350 billion to state and local government, with minimal oversight, could extend beyond what is required.

The bulk of the funding is going towards making short-term government interventions permanent, expanding the child tax credit to $3,000 per child (or $3,600 per child under 6), and make it fully refundable. Additional increases would be to increase SNAP benefits and additional social service benefits for the projected increase of families which will require them due to the potential millions of layoffs just on the horizon within the first Biden-Harris term.

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