[burger]

It's not about entitlement.  It's about efficiency.  We do not have weeks and months to figure out how to verify current income.  Even if you could use payroll tax receipts or the like, there are millions of contractors, business owners, etc. who don't have payroll taxes taken out of their income.  

And it's the easiest thing in the world* to recoup excess payments to the wealthy by increasing their marginal taxes a bit next year.

*practically speaking and ignoring the politics

why not just have a cut off at $x of AGI from your 2018 tax return and pay $y/dependent on the return?  I would think that generating that list would be a database query at the IRS.  

Of course this would exclude people who did not file a tax return, not sure how many people are in that group that would be on another list that the government could use to generate checks.

Because even some people who did well in 2018 may need help now.  Admittedly, most of the current shock seems to be in the service sector, but it will eventually bubble upward as people stop spending.  There are probably a lot of restaurant owners hurting now, for instance.

---

Just so we're clear. You're in favor of ransoming hundreds of millions of suffering people to push an agenda.

Nobody is ransoming anything.  This is part and parcel of the legislative process, and roughly what you would expect when congress is divided.  Republicans won't (and shouldn't) roll over for Pelosi's House bill and likewise you shouldn't expect Democrats to roll over for McConnell's bill.  The final bill will contain the elements both sides agree on, and probably a few elements that each side didn't want, but I expect it will pass.

BC

In my opinion, there is a of immense proportions difference between neglecting safeguards in the bailouts (which should go in), and adding in greenhouse gas regulations for airlines. 

And this from the Majority Whip James Clyburn (D., S.C.): The bill was “a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.” 

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” -- Rahm Emanuel. 

Sounds like ransom to me. . . .

Ransom would be "we will not have a bailout unless you pass the green new deal."  Has anyone said that?  Is anyone in House leadership even thinking that?  I seriously doubt it.

If you know of any democrats doing that, let me know.  Writing a bill that has a wish list of projects isn't ransom--it's negotiating.

[burger]

It's not about entitlement.  It's about efficiency.  We do not have weeks and months to figure out how to verify current income.  Even if you could use payroll tax receipts or the like, there are millions of contractors, business owners, etc. who don't have payroll taxes taken out of their income.  

And it's the easiest thing in the world* to recoup excess payments to the wealthy by increasing their marginal taxes a bit next year.

*practically speaking and ignoring the politics

why not just have a cut off at $x of AGI from your 2018 tax return and pay $y/dependent on the return?  I would think that generating that list would be a database query at the IRS.  

Of course this would exclude people who did not file a tax return, not sure how many people are in that group that would be on another list that the government could use to generate checks.

Because even some people who did well in 2018 may need help now.  Admittedly, most of the current shock seems to be in the service sector, but it will eventually bubble upward as people stop spending.  There are probably a lot of restaurant owners hurting now, for instance.

---

Just so we're clear. You're in favor of ransoming hundreds of millions of suffering people to push an agenda.

Nobody is ransoming anything.  This is part and parcel of the legislative process, and roughly what you would expect when congress is divided.  Republicans won't (and shouldn't) roll over for Pelosi's House bill and likewise you shouldn't expect Democrats to roll over for McConnell's bill.  The final bill will contain the elements both sides agree on, and probably a few elements that each side didn't want, but I expect it will pass.

BC

In my opinion, there is a of immense proportions difference between neglecting safeguards in the bailouts (which should go in), and adding in greenhouse gas regulations for airlines. 

And this from the Majority Whip James Clyburn (D., S.C.): The bill was “a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.” 

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” -- Rahm Emanuel. 

Sounds like ransom to me. . . .

Ransom would be "we will not have a bailout unless you pass the green new deal."  Has anyone said that?  Is anyone in House leadership even thinking that?  I seriously doubt it.

If you know of any democrats doing that, let me know.  Writing a bill that has a wish list of projects isn't ransom--it's negotiating.