How Democrats are using the Covid stimulus to fight income inequality
Analysis by John Harwood, CNN
Updated 7:12 AM ET, Sun February 14, 2021
(CNN) - No wonder congressional Democrats remain so united behind President Joe Biden's new administration: Quietly but quickly, they are taking major strides toward their shared goal of curbing economic inequality.
The $1,400 relief checks in Biden's coronavirus rescue legislation have dominated the headlines. But less-familiar provisions in the giant $1.9 trillion package could have a larger long-term impact on the disparities of income and wealth that have animated Democratic politics for decades.
Congressional committees began assembling the pieces last week with public attention riveted on the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. As currently drafted, they would rapidly lift material circumstances for working-class Americans by expanding health insurance subsidies, sending child tax credit checks to parents, defraying child care costs so parents can return to work and further subsidizing employment for low-income Americans without children.
That's aside from the provision more than doubling the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next five years -- though Democratic lawmakers expect the minimum-wage hike ultimately to be stricken under the special budget rules they are using to avoid a Republican filibuster.
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https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/14/politics/stimulus-income-inequality-democrats/index.html