Despite heated opposition from Democrats, President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders providing relief to Americans amid COVID-19 are enjoying massive support.
A Thursday report from Breitbart revealed that the latest Economist/YouGov poll found a majority of Americans are happy with Trump’s decision to suspend payroll taxes and renew unemployment benefits at a reduced rate, two of four measures enacted by the president after Congress failed to negotiate a deal to help Americans recover from the coronavirus pandemic before its scheduled August recess.
Another win for Trump
Trump’s orders, signed last weekend, were designed to provide financial relief to Americans struggling to tread water after a stalemate on Capitol Hill over similar relief measures. In addition to the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, the orders look to extend eviction moratoriums and provide student loan relief, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Democrats have opposed the orders, arguing that they trespass on Congress’ enumerated powers and that they don’t actually do that much to help Americans.
But according to a poll from The Economist and YouGov cited by Breitbart, a 55% majority of Americans said they support the orders, with 26% strongly approving of them. Twenty-seven percent of respondents disapproved; 18% weren’t sure.
Poorer and less-educated Americans supported the orders more, according to the pollster’s data. Half of respondents earning over $100,000 — the cut-off for the payroll tax deferral — supported them, compared with 62% for those earning between $50,000 and $100,000, and 58% for those earning less than $50,000.
Those with a college or post-grad education disapproved by larger margins, with a total of 35% of post-grads and 34% of graduates disapproving of the measures, compared with 22% for high school graduates and 27% who had some college education.
Dems left fuming
According to Forbes, the Senate adjourned Thursday until September without reaching a deal, weeks after Republicans made a $1 trillion counter-offer to a $3 trillion-plus Democratic plan that the GOP rejected. As CNBC reported, Trump laid out on Friday a series of policy proposals that he claims Democrats have opposed.
“I am ready to send more money to States and Local governments to save jobs for Police, Fire Fighters, First Responders, and Teachers. DEMOCRATS ARE HOLDING THIS UP!” he tweeted, according to CNBC.
The president has been eager to portray Democrats as getting in the way of desperately needed assistance, but Democrats have assailed his orders as a hollow gesture of executive action taken to boost his electoral campaign.
For example, they have argued that Trump is being stingy with a $400 unemployment enhancement, a decrease from an expired $600 benefit, and they claim that the payroll tax cut will endanger Social Security, Breitbart notes.
But it looks like the people are with Trump on this one.
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