Ramin Mazaheri
Press TV, Chicago
After months of waiting it turns out that the United States will not pass a second fiscal stimulus package until after the election.
In late March the United States federal government passed the CARES emergency fiscal aid package - back then almost nobody would have guessed that it would be the only direct economic stimulus to households until after November’s elections, or possibly ever.
Months of negotiations have proven fruitless - Congress just adjourned for next week’s elections, crushing hopes for the widely-expected and long-awaited but desperately-need second stimulus package.
New polls showed that Republicans and Democrats are being blamed in almost equal measure, reflecting how the elite of both parties seemingly intervened negatively whenever a second stimulus package appeared close.
The economic catastrophe wrought by the implementation and handling of the Great Lockdown in the United States has increased the poverty rate nearly 20% since May; almost a million unemployment claims are still being filed every single week; there is no end in sight to unprecedented demand at food banks; the list goes on and on.
The expected second wave of coronavirus has arrived, and many areas of the US are resorting to the same tactic: economically-devastating lockdowns.
More lockdowns plus no governmental assistance equals more economic devastation. The 2nd stimulus failure of the US elite could fuel always-high abstention and a turn to third parties in next week’s election.