AOC Demands Biden Follow Through on Stimulus: ‘$2,000 Does Not Mean $1,400’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., asks a question during a House Oversight subcommitt
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is urging President-elect Joe Biden to follow through on providing $2,000 coronavirus relief checks to the American people following the reveal of his $1.9 trillion spending plan.

Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion spending plan on Thursday evening, which he believes will speed up vaccine rollout and assist states, local governments, businesses, and individuals in the era of the Chinese coronavirus. However, while Democrats have overwhelmingly continued to call for $2,000 direct payments — a proposal President Trump initially backed — Biden’s proposal “falls short,” as Breitbart News detailed:

Instead, it provides for what Breitbart News estimates would be around $320 billion in direct payments of $1,400 for most Americans. Biden’s aides say this amounts to the promised $2,000 when coupled with the $600 included in the aid bill President Donald Trump signed last year.

Ocasio-Cortez, a far-left member of the “Squad,” indicated that such is not enough.

“$2,000 means $2,000. $2,000 does not mean $1,400,” she said, the Washington Post reported.

However, Biden’s team contends that direct payments of $1,400 would still fulfill the promise when combined with the $600 distributed through the $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief and government spending measure President Trump signed last month.

Trump repeatedly called on lawmakers to raise the amount of the individual checks, but the effort reached a dead end in the Senate, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) proposing his own measure that which included $2,000 checks while addressing Section 230 and establishing a commission to investigate allegations of voter fraud. He later railed against his Democrat colleagues’ demands, accusing them of advocating “socialism for rich people.”

As Breitbart News reported, Biden’s proposal also includes:

  • $350 billion in state and local government aid
  • $170 billion for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education
  • Direct payments of $1,400 to most Americans, costing around $320 billion according to a Breitbart News’ estimate
  • Enhanced unemployment benefits increasing payments by $400 per week through the end of September
  • $50 billion for Covid-19 testing
  • $20 billion toward a national vaccine program
  • Raising the Child Tax Credit to $3,000 per child and making it fully refundable for 2021

On Thursday evening, Ocasio-Cortez added that “unemployment benefits should be retroactive too”:

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