Joe Biden’s Change of Heart on $2,000 Stimulus Checks Shows Power of Bernie Sanders Works – By David Sirota, Andrew Perez and Walker Bragman (Newsweek) / January 5 2021
This story is being co-published with The Daily Poster
After weeks of progressive pressure, president-elect Joe Biden on Monday promised to immediately deliver $2,000 stimulus checks to millions of Americans if Georgia Democratic senate candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win their races this week. The comments come a month after Biden reportedly told congressional Democrats to accept stimulus legislation that included no checks.
“One state can chart the course—not just for the next four years, but for the next generation,” Biden said in a Monday evening speech in Atlanta. “By electing Jon and the Reverend you can make an immediate difference in your own lives, the lives of people all across this country because their election will put an end to the block in Washington on that $2,000 stimulus check, that money that will go out the door immediately to people who are in real trouble.”
Biden’s change of heart comes only a month after he helped persuade congressional Democrats to support stimulus legislation that did not include the checks, according to The New York Times. At the time, Biden suggested he did not oppose checks, but he pushed Democrats to accept a deal without them, raising concerns that he may revert to his past support for budget austerity.
Biden’s shift from endorsing legislation with no checks to now promising $2,000 checks follows a relentless campaign from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has pushed the wildly popular idea of $2,000 checks for most of the last year. His crusade was boosted by House progressives who also supported the measure—and their effort received a late, unexpected boost from President Donald Trump, who threatened to hold up stimulus legislation without more direct aid for workers.
