After running on $2,000 stimulus checks for weeks, the current bill being debated by the Senate contains just $1,400 for eligible individuals. The Democrats’ defense for the monetary decrease is simple: The $1,400 stimulus added to the previous $600 stimulus check equals $2,000, thus meeting their campaign promise. 

However, I have a couple problems with this claim. 

Firstly, President Joe Biden and other Democrats are on record promising a new, separate stimulus check worth $2,000. 

It was not until after the Georgia Senate elections that the plan was to add $1,400 to the initial $600. 

Objectively, the people of Georgia were lied to. 

Secondly, if the income threshold is lowered (as is currently being debated), then many people who received the $600 stimulus will not receive the new one. This problem exposes a flaw in the “1,400 plus 600 equals 2000” line of thinking.

I fear that the consequences of this current course of action could be twofold.

In the first and more important matter, people are not receiving the help they need in order to survive. $1,400 is simply not enough to relieve many citizens from their financial worries. 

This problem is directly connected to my second worry. 

I fear that without bold action, the Democratic party will turn away voters, and Republicans will take back control of the Senate and possibly the House following the 2022 midterm elections. 

I paid close attention to the Georgia run-off elections that ultimately decided which party controlled the Senate. 

I watched and listened as the Democratic party leaders committed to providing financial relief to the American people immediately if they won — relief for people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic and cannot pay rent, people who are forced to wait in line for hours to collect food for their families from the local food shelters, people who need the financial relief they were promised. 

Following President Biden’s victory in the presidential election and the realization that Senate control rested solely on the Georgia races, Democrats began promising $2,000 checks in hopes of securing popular support in Georgia. 

On Jan. 4, President Biden pledged that if Georgia elected the two Democratic candidates to the Senate, then $2,000 checks would, “go out the door immediately,” at an Atlanta rally reported on by C-SPAN. 

Their strategy worked; the Democrats won and gained full control of the Senate, House of Representatives and the Oval Office. 

Yet, the people who voted them into power have yet to receive the aid they were promised. The Democrats are failing to fulfill the promises they made on the campaign trail. It has been nearly three weeks since President Biden has been sworn in, and no checks have been delivered. 

Some people defend the president by arguing that he is attempting to unify the divided country by seeking bipartisan support. However, even if this is true, it is still the wrong approach. 

According to a poll done by Data for Progress, 65% of Americans– and even 54% of Republicans– support $2,000 checks. 

$2,000 checks are popular with the majority of the country. 

Instead of building a bridge with the same people who raided the Capitol, President Biden and the Democratic party should be uniting with the tens of millions of people who are struggling to get by. 

People are unnecessarily losing their livelihoods while our elected officials fail to address their needs. Democrats have full authority to send $2,000 stimulus checks to the people. The people who voted them into power in 2020 will not show up for the Democratic party again in 2022 unless the Democrats begin actively working to fulfill their campaign promises.