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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Congress Passes Covid-19 Relief, Spending Package With Overwhelming Support
It’s passed but smaller than most Americans were hoping for, as last night’s Congress legislation includes $600 checks for many Americans, $300 a week in extra jobless aid, funding for vaccine distribution.
Congress overwhelmingly approved $900 billion of relief for households and businesses battered by the coronavirus pandemic, passing an emergency measure aimed at buoying the country through a difficult winter and into a new year.
The bill now heads to the White House, where President Trump is expected to sign it into law. Both the House and Senate on Monday night also approved a seven-day continuing resolution to keep the government funded until the larger package is signed. Mr. Trump signed the short-term bill early Tuesday morning.
The Senate voted 92-6 late Monday to approve the infusion of coronavirus aid together with a $1.4 trillion spending bill that will fund the government through September. Initially, the Senate’s presiding officer said the vote was 91-7, which was later corrected to 92-6.
The package passed the House earlier Monday evening in a 359-53 vote.
The 5,593-page package approves another round of direct checks of $600 per adult and $600 per child, adds $300 to weekly unemployment benefits.
Congress voted Monday to authorize a second round of stimulus payments to households. There are many similarities to the ones that were paid in the spring but also some important differences. Here is what we know about them, though things could change as the government implements the program.
When will the second stimulus payments arrive? Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday the first batch of payments could go out at the beginning of next week.
That is faster than in the spring, where it took about two weeks after the legislation was signed. The first batches may also be larger than in the spring. That is because the government now has more information about groups that got later payments in the first round, including those who typically don’t file tax returns and those who receive federal benefits. Those who receive paper checks or debit cards instead of direct deposits will have to wait slightly longer. The bill is written so the IRS makes the payments by Jan. 15, meaning that anyone eligible after that date would likely have to get the money as part of their 2020 tax return.
The Trump administration sued Walmart today, accusing the retail giant of helping to fuel the nation’s opioid crisis by inadequately screening for questionable prescriptions despite repeated warnings from its own pharmacists.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit claims that Walmart sought to boost profits by understaffing its pharmacies and pressuring employees to fill prescriptions quickly. That made it difficult for pharmacists to reject invalid prescriptions, enabling widespread drug abuse nationwide, the suit alleges
Walmart has not commented on the suit as of yet.
The country’s largest retailer by revenue, Walmart has been expecting this complaint and sued the federal government in October to fight the allegations pre-emptively.
Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google agreed to “cooperate and assist one another” if they ever faced an investigation into their pact to work together in online advertising, according to an unredacted version of a lawsuit filed by 10 states against Google last week.
The suit, as filed, cites internal company documents that were heavily redacted. The Wall Street Journal reviewed part of a recent draft version of the suit without redactions, which elaborated on findings and allegations in the court documents.
Ten Republican attorneys general, led by Texas, are alleging that the two companies cut a deal in September 2018 in which Facebook agreed not to compete with Google’s online advertising tools in return for special treatment when it used them.
Google used language from “Star Wars” as a code name for the deal, according to the lawsuit, which redacted the actual name. The draft version of the suit says it was known as “Jedi Blue.”
The lawsuit itself said Google and Facebook were aware that their agreement could trigger antitrust investigations and discussed how to deal with them, in a passage that is followed by significant redactions. Stay tuned.
Recognize anyone in a mask?
As the coronavirus pandemic drags on, putting on a face mask has become as second nature to people as putting on pants. While it may be helping to limit of the spread, scientists say it’s also made it much harder to figure out who’s actually standing next to us in public. Researchers (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) say face masks are lowering the brain’s ability to properly recognize and distinguish between different faces.
… In a study nearly 500 people tested their facial perception while looking at masked and unmasked faces. The results reveal wearing a mask decreases a person’s ability to successfully tell who someone is by… 15 percent.
ACTIVITY TRACKERS DO BOOST PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELS
Smartphone fitness apps and wearable activity trackers really do boost physical activity levels. After analyzing data of 7,454 people, researchers (published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine) found smartphone apps or activity trackers increased physical activity by an average of 1,850 steps a day.
FOR XMAS, MANY KIDS WILLING TO CLEAN ROOMS FOR A YEAR
What would a kid do to get everything on their Christmas list? In a survey nearly 7 in 10 kids said they’d be willing to clean their rooms daily for a year. But only 23 percent of kids would eat spinach for a year to get their holiday toys.
… Nagging works! Asked about the most persuasive technique their child uses to get the gift he/she wants for Christmas, the top response for parents is their child asking them repeatedly for the gift. Similarly, when kids are asked what they think is the best way to ensure that they get the toy they want for Christmas, the most popular response was to keep telling Mom or Dad over and over and over again.
MOST OF US THINK WE’RE BETTER THAN WE REALLY ARE
A study (Cornell University) found that most of us think we’re better than we really are and that most of us are fooling ourselves. The study found that while many of us overestimate our own good qualities, we’re pretty good at judging the lack of those qualities in others. Students were asked to predict whether they would buy a flower for a charity cause. Then they were asked to predict if others would. 83 percent said they would buy a flower, but only half did. Students predicted that only 56 percent of classmates would make the donation and that number was right on the money. Researchers expected people to view their peers cynically, but instead we tend to over-inflate our own egos, thinking we’re better than we really are.
SOME CITIES WILL PAY YOU $10,000 TO RELOCATE
$10,000 is a significant chunk of money. But is it enough to convince you to pick up and move to an entirely different part of the country? Some cities and regions in America’s heartland are offering this sum — and more. The idea is to bring energy and vitality to their towns by attracting dynamic workers. Northwest Arkansas launched its program this year, in the middle of the pandemic. Other cities in the nation’s heartland have similar incentives: Topeka, Kansas; North Platte, Nebraska; Hamilton, Ohio; and Newton, Iowa. And Tulsa, Oklahoma, has recently seen a dramatic increase in interest in an initiative it launched two years ago.
‘WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER’ WILL BE ONE OF 2020’s MOST-USED PHRASES
A new study finds that the phrase “”When this is all over” has become part of everyday conversation since the pandemic began. Four in 10 adults believe they start at least one sentence with it every week, while a fed up 13 percent say it every single day.
MOST CHILDREN ARE WASHING THEIR HANDS MORE THAN EVER
Some good news about hand-washing: three quarters of children are washing their hands more than ever. Research of 5- to 11-year-olds and their parents found youngsters typically wash their hands nine times a day, which is a significant increase. And kids are having an influence on the adults, with 41 percent of children saying they often remind moms and dads to wash their hands.
… On a lighter not, little over a quarter of kids believe Santa will do the responsible thing and use plenty of hand sanitizer on Christmas Eve.
RARE LETTER SIGNED BY STEVE JOBS UP FOR AUCTION
An extremely rare letter signed by Steve Jobs is up for auction and could fetch a price tag of $25,000. The letter is a job offer that the Apple founder sent sent to someone 1991 offering him.
MISSOURI LOTTERY WINNER LOST HER WINNING TICKET FOR THREE WEEKS
A Missouri woman said she recognized the winning numbers of a $195,000 jackpot — but she couldn’t find her ticket for three weeks. Perle Erwin (of Waynesville) told lottery officials she has played four sets of numbers representing family birthdays for about 30 years, but she decided to try something different for the June 25 drawing. Erwin bought a ticket with numbers representing the upcoming ages of her grandchildren, and the winning numbers matched her picks. Erwin soon discovered the ticket was missing, and it took some time to find it — about three weeks.
TWITTER STARTS TESTING ‘SPACES’ FOR LIVE AUDIO CHATS
Twitter has begun testing Spaces, its new feature for live audio. The experiment could significantly change how users interact on the platform, though it’s just a small test for now.
… Spaces, which has been widely compared to social app Clubhouse, is a sort of audio-enabled chatroom within Twitter. Users can create a “space” that their followers can join to participate in a conversation. Anyone on Twitter can listen in on the conversation, though only the host can control who gets to speak.
THE WINTER BLUES _ If you’re suffering from the winter blues, you’re not alone. According to some studies, 1 out of 5 Americans feel some blahs thanks in part to Seasonal Affective Disorder, brought on by less sunlight and less activity.