In order to defeat the threat of COVID-19, those of us in the United States must take seriously the calls for social distancing that we’ve been hearing ad nauseam over the last few days.
This virus is no hoax. It’s not a joke. It’s not even all that debatable. The only weapon we have is the distance that we can put in between one another, physically. If we don’t wield this weapon wisely, there will be hell to pay.
But this isolation will also introduce new economic hardships into the equation, and the government will likely bear a responsibility to keep Americans fiscally safe as well as medically healthy.
One concept that has been floating around is to simply give each adult American $1,000 to mitigate the impact of coronavirus and stimulate the economy. This idea has bipartisan support, first from Republican Utah Senator Mitt Romney, and now former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
Yang is now calling on lawmakers to do just that to help people navigate their way through the pandemic that has resulted in governments ordering schools and many businesses to close.
“What exactly is the political downside of putting money into people’s hands? Get your sh– together Congress and do the right thing,” Yang tweeted Monday morning.
Yang then retweeted a video of Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Fox News, where the Republican said legislation from the House did not go far enough.
“We’re going to do everything we can to get cash into the hands of affected workers and families as quickly as possible so we can all get through this pandemic together,” Cotton said.
For many in the service industry, the sudden closure of bars and restaurants will be an enormous strain. This sudden influx of cash could help them immensely in this trying time.
