It's going to be a Depression level economic event. While certain actors like the Federal Reserve have taken positive steps and the government is no longer shackled to 19th century ideas like Hoover was, the fact is it's going to get grim for a lot of people.
The last large assistance package from the federal government was considered a down-payment. The direct cash payments were...OK. The real aid was in the form of unemployment insurance. That is the automatic stabilizer built in after the last Great Depression. But the job losses have been so sudden and so profound, the whole system has broken down.
You combine this with two trends: a reduction in the size and competency of state and federal governments and the philosophically sclerotic position of the Republican Party. The contempt for both the poor and a functioning safety net was politically manageable when unemployment was around 3%; it is simply unsustainable at 20%.
The campaign slogan for Democrats every election should be "Elect a Republican; get a recession."
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