It’s official: The United States Treasury Department is ordering that physical stimulus checks being sent to millions of Americans must have Donald Trump’s name printed on them.
The move means that Americans in desperate need of cash in the middle of a severe economic downturn will have to wait even longer to get it, all so the president can score political points.
According to The Washington Post, “The Treasury Department has ordered President Trump’s name be printed on stimulus checks the Internal Revenue Service is rushing to send to tens of millions of Americans, a process that is expected to slow their delivery by several days, senior agency officials said.”
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The unprecedented decision, finalized late Monday, means that when recipients open the $1,200 paper checks the IRS is scheduled to begin sending to 70 million Americans in coming days, “President Donald J. Trump†will appear on the left side of the payment.
It will be the first time a president’s signature appears on an IRS disbursement, whether a routine refund or one of the handful of checks the government has issued to taxpayers in recent decades either to stimulate a down economy or share the dividends of a strong one.
While some people receiving the checks — the centerpiece of the U.S. government’s economic relief package to stave of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic — may not care, or observe, whose name appears on them, the decision is another sign of Trump’s effort to cast his response to the pandemic in political terms.
While Americans struggle, Trump remains focused on himself
As tens of thousands of Americans die and millions lose their jobs as a result of this global health crisis, Donald Trump remains focused on himself.
He knows his response to this pandemic has been an unmitigated disaster that has cost thousands of lives and sent the U.S. economy into a free fall. He’s hoping that slapping his name on $1,200 checks to the American people will paper right over it.
But Donald Trump’s damage has already been done, both from a public health and economic standpoint.
When the American people open their checks, they’ll be seeing the name of the man who deserves blame, not thanks.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
