In The News Quiz February 15, 2021

Weekly Quiz 5: Monday, February 15, 2021

“COVID Economic Relief…and Partisan Politics”

As COVID’s frightening spread continued across the U.S. last March, Congress passed a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package—the largest in U.S. history. Hospitals and clinics responding to the pandemic; people who lost jobs because of the virus; state and local governments pouring funds into public health and safety; businesses from airlines and bars to restaurants and zoos that had to close temporarily; schools and universities spending millions to protect teachers/staff and pivot to remote instruction: all benefited from this so-called CARES Act.

With the pandemic still raging in 2021, the new Biden Administration—working with narrow Democratic majorities in House and Senate—proposed a $1.9 trillion stimulus focused on financial support for low-income Americans and businesses/non-profits/governments hardest hit by COVID. Ten Republican senators, dubbing themselves the “Mod Squad,” responded by proposing a $619 billion package. Intense discussions continue around how best to provide support: help hourly workers, via a $15 minimum wage? Extend unemployment benefits through September? (Republicans propose June.) Support school reopening and child care? (Both parties agree—but the Administration’s plan would provide tens of billions of dollars more.)

In a hallmark of our polarized age, stimulus politics attracts more media coverage than the policy details. Will the Biden economic team, and Democrats in Congress, negotiate with Republicans—some of whom continue to question the presidential election’s legitimacy? These twin battles, over politics and policy, will swirl for at least another month: Democrats hope to have a bill ready for the president’s signature by mid-March.

Read the following articles that detail some of these issues:


. What might be a reason for media coverage emphasizing the politics (whether Democrats will negotiate with Republicans, for example) more than the policy details of the stimulus? [Select all that apply.]

. Why are Democrats pushing to have the stimulus bill signed by mid-March?

. What is the Capitol Hill insiders' name for the process of holding dozens of amendment votes in a short time to move a bill forward, as happened in the Senate with the Biden stimulus package?

. At $2.2 trillion, the initial stimulus package passed in March 2020 represented about what percentage of the entire U.S. economic output (GDP)?

Back to top