Americans struggling to survive on federal benefits have waited weeks for word on their share of the $1.9 trillion stimulus.
Some of the country’s …
Americans struggling to survive on federal benefits have waited weeks for word on their share of the $1.9 trillion stimulus. Some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens have been waiting weeks for the next round of promised financial aid from President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion “ American Rescue Plan ” coronavirus relief package, with no indication of when it would come. Chief among those are the millions of elderly Americans who depend on federal assistance to survive. As of March 24, nearly 30 million had yet to receive their portion, largely because the Social Security Administration had “not sent the necessary payment files” to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Despite a March 12 assurance the money would be delivered “shortly,” weeks passed before the IRS had access to the necessary information to follow through. “To me, ‘shortly’ is two to three days, not two weeks,” 65-year-old Floridian retiree Mark Stevens said. “People in my situation are feeling lied to.” In a March 22 letter from the House Ways and Means Committee, they highlighted the dire position of veterans, seniors, and disabled Americans.
