Stimulus Bill Wasn't Big Enough to Give Everyone 42K
The Claim
President Joe Biden’s stimulus package could have given every U.S. taxpayer $41,870.
News posted on
Emerging story
As the U.S. Government was signing the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act into law, a number of news sites stated that coronavirus spending had hit $41,870 per taxpayer. Other sites twisted this statement to say that America’s coronavirus relief could have given every taxpayer $41,870.
Many assumed that this meant that the American Rescue Plan Act could have given every taxpayer that amount. Posts either stating or heavily implying this have appeared on social media ever since.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation shows that simple math disproves the claim that the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill was enough to give every American taxpayer $41,870. The most recently released federal tax income data shows that there were 144.3 million taxpayers in 2018. $1.9 trillion divided by 144.3 million is $13,167.
So where did the $41,870 figure come from? That figure derives from the total amount of coronavirus spending to date, including the spending from 2020, when President Trump was in office. The Fox Business article that states that coronavirus spending has hit $6 trillion notes that President Biden’s relief bill has made total spending reach this figure in the headline, and only later acknowledges that $4.1 trillion of the $6 trillion figure comes from former President Trump’s spending measures.
Additionally, The Washington Post reported that by April 2020, America had likely already contributed $6 trillion to fight coronavirus, when money from the Federal Reserve was factored into the equation.
