Mitt Romney Proposes Giving $1K To Every US Adult Amid Health Crises

Mitt Romney, the Republican senator for Utah, on Monday proposed for the U.S. government to give $1,000 to every American adult to help stimulate the U.S. economy during the coronavirus health crises.

Romney threw his support behind a proposal published in the Wall Street Journal by Harvard professor Jason Furman, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) under President Obama, which calls for direct government payments of $1,000 to every American adult.

“We also urgently need to build on this legislation with additional action to help families and small businesses meet their short-term financial obligations, ease the financial burden on students entering the workforce, and protect health workers on the front lines and their patients by improving tele-health services,” Romney said in a statement.

According to Furman’s plan, Congress would pass a “one-time payment of $1,000 to every adult who is a U.S. citizen or a taxpaying U.S. resident, and $500 to every child who meets the same criteria.”

Furman adds that the law “should also specify that the payments would continue in 2021 and beyond if the unemployment rate rises to 5.5% and remains there or higher. Hopefully this will not happen, but if it does, the money will be needed.”

Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) on Friday called for creating an emergency Earned Income Tax Credit to send checks of $1,000 to $6,000 to American adults who meet certain requirements to qualify for this tax rebate.

“In order to alleviate the economic fallout of the coronavirus, we must ensure hard-working Americans have money in their pockets and are able to pay their bills,” said Khanna. “We must soften the blow for workers as large gatherings and events are canceled and hours are cut. A payroll tax cut is not sufficient. This plan is about providing real, urgently needed relief to middle and working-class families. If we can afford to pump $1.5 trillion into lending markets, then we can afford this solution to help every American.”