The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
QUESTION: Should people who have continued working at their same salary during the COVID-19 pandemic be eligible for stimulus checks?
Talk about it….
I have to say no. I have not had a reduction in pay or change of hours since COVID-19 so my bills are getting paid and I would rather have the money go to the people who need it to stay afloat until they can get back to work and earn a decent salary.
I agree 100%…I used all of the first one on those in need. I will do the same this time around also.
Patricia & Simonpure~
Ditto!
Yes it’s extra money to stimulate the economy and as if it matters its just a measly 600 bucks. Meanwhile 2/3 of this stimulus package is going to other countries its a total joke on the American people who’s taxes are paying for it.
Sheesh. Do other countries tax their citizens and give that money to the US? …
You two are confusing the annual appropriations bill with the stimulus package. Would you rather we borrow more money with interest (probably a lot of it going to China and other foreign countries) just to get a bigger handout?
Probably not, but how would the IRS know if you’ve lost your job? Until you file taxes, it’s not like they can investigate every American to see if their wages are still intact. We’ve lost money (but not through our salaries), but we’re not eligible for stimulus checks anyway.
I think they can tell that you don’t have a job because they don’t see withholding going into your account each paycheck like they normally would.
and no I don’t think that people that are not affected should receive the stimulus checks. I know people making lots of money and have not been hurt and they just throw that money into a vacation fun for themselves. It should only go to those that are really hurting.
The IRS doesn’t have time to look over every taxpayers account. Maybe loading SSNs by batches? If they analyzed every taxpayer, we wouldn’t have to file our taxes. They could just bill us for what we owed, like PG&E, etc.
YES, . . . They are in many cases risking their health an that of their families by not sheltering in place, by dealing with public and other workers.
Have had to work all year and a dozen coworkers have gotten CV-19.
Am still waitin’ on my up to $25,000 “hazard pay” schumer promised last April.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP2WWSs0LnM
Yes, everybody that paid their fair share of federal income taxes, should also get their fair share of the stimulus check. And those that don’t pay taxes because they don’t have enough income, should also get the stimulus check.
After all, their new cliche is, “we’re all in this together.”
Anybody that believes they don’t need or deserve the money can always donate it to their favorite charity.
How hard is it to understand that those needing help are the unemployed and failing businesses. I don’t understand the controversy. If some lost money on an investment they would be the last if ever to be compensated. Sue China.
Absolutely. Either way this whole is a scam. Loads of people lost jobs which is sad but there are also lots of people out there going under the radar who are too lazy to work and keep getting unemployment and stimulus checks. Which is bogus.
Yes, we will all have to pay the bill when this is due. Money has to come from somewhere. Besides, it is meant to stimulate the economy, meaning spending money. Some will buy food, others material items. Both areas need to be stimulated as it trickles to keep workers in both areas employed/rehired when businesses are allowed to fully reopen.
I have mixed feelings on this because I do feel there are people that need it more than my family, but if the point of the exercise truly is to stimulate the economy – I think it should be sent to everyone that filed a taxes in 2018/2019. I also think $75,000/$150K is very different in the Bay Area than it is in other places and hate that that isn’t accounted for.
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So long as those imprisoned get checks why shouldn’t I?
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Do not forget the arrears.
I’d prefer that the stimulus money go to helping those who are unemployed, helping small businesses keep people on their payrolls, and others adversely impacted. I’d rather that the check money go toward these things AND fund the logistics to get people vaccinated. Right now, that looks to be sorely needed.
Sure as they are called called “stimulus checks.” It does not matter if the money was used for essential stuff, non-essential junk, or left it in your bank/savings account. Nearly anything you do with the money results in additional stimulation for some aspect of the the economy.
The money has never been called “we will make you whole again” money for those that the pandemic has put in desperate circumstances.
We are not eligible for the payment because of our income. So we only get to pay for it, but we honestly don’t mind because clearly some folks are suffering under the conditions and need help.
However I do have some reservations with general stimulus checks. I think the money should be spent more targeted for people really suffering.
Additionally, I believe that the cut off amounts being the same for the entire nation may not be fair. Clearly, based on the cost of living, folks making 75/150k in the Bay Area are not in the same situation as folks making 75/150k in other parts of the country.
On top of that, a $600 payment will not make you a single rent payment in our area abut may actually pay for multiple months of rent in other places.
Lost 2 jobs, including my personal business, fortunate enough to find a new job, with a paycut. I would send the check back in a heartbeat if it meant trimming the pork out of the “relief” bill it’s attached to. Yes, people should be able to keep their stimulus check since the government will ask for it back soon enough.
Taxation is theft.
I am fortunate to be able to work from home for this last year so I do still have an income. However, even before the pandemic, we lived paycheck to paycheck. Now with being home all the time, our gas and electric costs have gone up. And PG&E has raised their rates in the middle of all this! So now those bills have become overwhelming and we are behind. So yes, I could use any extra money.
Being that the money they have from me was taken at the end of an IRS gun and spent to kill babies in the womb, curtail my 2nd Amendment rights, and pay for socialists — all against my will — hell YES! Give me some of my money back!
Yes. The funds are necessary for additional medical costs brought on by the pandemic.
I would think that for most people their medical expenses went down, staying away from the doc this year.
Forget the stimulus package. Take all the handouts to corporations and special interests and fund unemployment. That will help people more than a measly $600 or $2000 one time payment. Please tell me how a family is supposed to survive for more than a month or two on $2000? I’m blessed to have had no impact on my income and I don’t need the money. However, there are many that do and $600 is not going to cut it. Trickle Down Economics is a failure (a 50 year study just concluded saying it doesn’t work) so stop giving money to the rich and help the everyday person.
You do realize, don’t you, that the package included $300/wk in supplemental unemployment benefits? Everyone seems to talk about the one time check but it is probably because almost everyone gets that pork whether they need it or not.
Too late, DC and Every Capital in the United States should have been stormed 6 months ago.
Enjoy your Universal basic income, ownership of NOTHING and monthly anti-virus vaccines. Not the World Any of us want to live in, but your refusal to wake up is what Threw away All of our freedoms.
Yes, for pain and suffering in this Godawful state
If politicians of countries that hate the U.S are getting money, why can’t hard working individuals can’t get a stimulus payment? $600 doesn’t cover the bills. Illegals are getting money one way or another. Those countries that are getting millions of dollars from this stimulus package rely heavily on the U.S and never fix their problems and it heavily impacts this country’s economy and they never appreciate the help they are given nor do anything to fix their countries. Those countries also get millions upon millions of dollars from remittances yet their citizens keep coming to this country illegally and benefit from all types of aid while at the same despising this country.
This country and its CITIZENS should be helped BEFORE AND ABOVE every other country and their citizens abroad and here.
To try and identify only thse hurt by the covid economic downturn would have been a tough logistical exercise and delayed what was designed to be emergency funds. The cap on stimulas at a certain adjusted gross income was the easiest way to limit distribution to higher earners without undue delay. As a retired person whose income was not diminished by Covid, my wife and I agreed that sending a donation to the local food bank in the amount of the stimulas was a way of reallocating those funds to help those who have been hurt by the economic disaster.
Yes to a point. There is a two-fold benefit to the payouts.
1) For those who need it to make ends meet either because they lost their job or had their hours reduced or other economic hardships it has a direct impact (although let’s be real, $600 doesn’t go very far in California).
2) For those who did not lose out on money but maintain a proper perspective on what these stimuli are, which are monies intended to stimulate the economy, then there is the benefit of them spending the money to support small business or passing along the stimulus to others in need. Contrary to most financial advice under normal circumstances, the money shouldn’t be saved but should be spent. Spent on takeout from local businesses, given to family members/neighbors/friends in need, etc.
So yes, it should go to everyone under their cutoff (keeping in mind that 175k seems like a lot in say Iowa, but not so much in NYC/Seattle/SF) but with the hope that those who are not economically suffering use it to prop up local business and their communities and not just pad their bank account.
If this payment is truly defined as being distributed to “stimulate” the economy, everyone should receive it. Higher wage earnings likely wouldn’t use this payment to pay bills but would put these funds into our local economy. If I qualified for these funds I’d go to my favorite local restaurant and tip them $600.
Everyone who pays taxes should receive a stimulus check, simply because they are the ones that are paying for all this. The government shouldn’t pick and choose who they deem worthy of said funds due to their political interests.
I say yes. Even though I’ve been fortunate with continous work, I have also had to financially help family members because your state continues to lockdown and leaving them unable to work. I gladly help where I can but make no mistake about it, people like me have been impacted as well.
Yes. If the purpose is for economic stimulus, then why would it matter what you spend the money on and shouldn’t matter who gets it as long as it is evenly distributed. If someone doesn’t need the money, they can give it away to someone that needs it or donate it.
Yes, this is stimulus money. I spend it locally at places I otherwise wouldn’t to try to keep them afloat. Just don’t go blow it at Amazon, and don’t use it for a new iPhone!
No.
And essential workers who were cheated out of the thousands and thousands of dollars lavished upon unemployed people in the form of covid bonuses ($600 a week for months on end!) should receive that money retroactively.
While society was blowing smoke up our collective rear ends about what heroes we were, us essential workers were being absolutely cheated out of huge sums of money.
It’s a goddamn crime.
If you are calling it a stimulus, definitely. More money = more spending = staving off the recession just a little bit longer. Plus people who don’t get any cash are less resentful and more likely to support giving money the next round. Are people who don’t deserve money going to get some? Yes, absolutely, but there’s no way to fairly distribute money to just the people who need it without creating arbitrary barriers that leave some people out. The people who need the money the most are going to really benefit from $600 (even though it’s not enough). The people who are comfortable will hopefully give it to charity.