Friend,

While nearly half of all U.S. households are struggling to pay for basic necessities like housing and food, U.S. billionaires have grown their wealth by over $1 trillion since the start of the pandemic.

So here’s what I have to say to Republicans complaining about the cost of sending people direct cash relief as part of an upcoming COVID relief bill: Let’s tax the rich to pay for it. How about starting with reversing Trump’s $1.7 trillion tax cut for the rich and corporations?

No matter how we pay for it, people need direct cash assistance. It’s one of the most effective and most equitable ways to directly support the people who call this country home. And it must be a priority in the next COVID package.

Please sign now to demand Congress include direct payments to people and families in upcoming COVID relief legislation.

Thank you for joining the call from people across the country who are demanding that Congress provide direct, immediate relief. With 7 out of 10 Americans supporting another stimulus check, Congress must act now.

Families are barely hanging on—disproportionately Black families, as the racial wealth gap has widened during the pandemic.

My colleague Rep. Pramila Jayapal pointed out that these are not stimulus checks but SURVIVAL checks, to help families and our economy survive.

Please add your name: Any COVID relief bill must help people survive this crisis, through direct cash payments.

Thanks for all you do,

Rashida

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Rashida Tlaib
Date: Sat, Dec 5, 2020
Subject: Sign now to demand COVID relief include stimulus checks
To: [email protected]

Friend,

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are surging across the country, along with poverty and homelessness rates.

But with aid programs for renters and jobless Americans expiring at the end of the month, momentum is finally building for a bipartisan COVID relief package.

However, the proposal does NOT include a new round of stimulus checks, even though directly giving people money is the best way to immediately address their economic needs.

Please sign now to demand Congress include direct payments to people and families in upcoming COVID relief legislation.

Our communities cannot wait for immediate, direct relief. Nearly 800,000 people are applying for unemployment each week. And as with the public health crisis, our economic crisis is hitting Black and brown communities especially hard.

More than 120 economists have pushed for another round of checks, noting that direct cash payments are "one of the quickest, most equitable, and most effective ways to get families and the economy back on track."¹

Since April, Republicans in the Senate have blocked the many COVID relief bills that Democrats have passed in the House to address these connected crises. Throughout this pandemic, our government has failed to protect the people who call this country home.

But finally, Congressmembers are working toward an agreement that could actually pass the Senate!

It’s not nearly enough, but we can go bigger in January once a new president and Congress are sworn in. For right now, we’re limited to what already has bipartisan support—which includes stimulus checks.

Right now, the proposed plan includes a limited extension of federal unemployment assistance, a continued pause on student loan payments, some eviction protections, funding for COVID testing and vaccine distribution, and funding for businesses, schools, and state and local governments.

Together, we can and we must demand that the proposed COVID relief package include stimulus checks to directly support people in need. Please sign now!

Thank you so much. I hope that you and your family are staying healthy and safe, and I’m grateful to have you by my side as we fight for the urgent changes our communities desperately need.

Always serving you,

Rashida