Recently, the status of the stimulus checks that many Americans depend on has been unclear. At times, it seems like there will be no stimulus checks, but at other times the government insists that there will be more stimulus checks in the near future. This has left the nine million Americans who rely on the $1,200 stimulus check to survive wondering whether or not they will be able to receive the money they need. Despite all of the uncertainty, one thing has been made clear; politics play a significantly larger role than economics when it comes to the status of stimulus checks. 

When the president first stalled discussion regarding the upcoming stimulus checks, many Americans were understandably worried. It is true that the economy has been recovering, but many Republicans have been using this as an excuse to stop distributing stimulus checks. According to Heather Long of the Washington Post, “Republicans say $600 is so high that people are opting to stay home and collect unemployment instead of going back to work. Democrats say that there aren’t nearly enough jobs for everyone who is unemployed and that it’s better to keep families out of poverty and boost the economy by providing plenty of financial support.” The Republicans place a valid point when they say that there are people who choose to receive financial assistance instead of returning to work; however, they have failed to acknowledge that the economy is not where they would like it to be.

Even now, as America continues to recover from COVID-19, there are still many layoffs in certain hard-hit industries. For example, USA Today says that recently there are almost 800,000 people filing for unemployment. Many large companies have recently had large layoffs. One industry that has been hit particularly hard is the airline industry. Many airline employees have lost their jobs now that airline companies are no longer receiving the financial support needed to pay all of their employees. These recently unemployed individuals are struggling in a time where finding a new job is difficult and financial support is uncertain.

If the stimulus checks truly reflected the economy, not politics, it would recognize that there are millions of struggling Americans. Abigail Lee (9) says that “People should still receive stimulus checks because many of them are struggling. Even though there are some people who have applied for stimulus checks because they are too lazy to get a new job, the majority of people who rely on stimulus checks need the money because the economy is not as stable as many people choose to believe. These people are only in this position because the government wasn’t able to address the pandemic properly, so the government needs to take responsibility and provide people with the support they need.” Right now there are millions of people who have been hurt by the economy. Politicians need to evaluate the current state of the economy, not their political opinions so that they can provide aid to Americans who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic.