:quality(70):focal(538x281:548x291)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/4ZN3A7QJW35FHCKESYZRXPXTYE.jpg)
To the Editor:
A letter to the editor in the Oswego Ledger of Feb. 18 states that the last stimulus package addressing COVID-19 relief included things such as $1.3 billion for Egypt and so on. I did not think that foreign expenditures were part of the COVID-19 relief bill, but I confirmed my doubts by checking out a fact-check of Facebook posts making those claims.
The $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill that provided $600 to individuals such as myself directly into my checking account on Jan. 4, did not include any expenditures to foreign countries.
A separate $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill under the header “Foreign Military Financing program” says that $1.3 billion is available until Sept. 30, 2022, and should be made available for assistance for Egypt. It stipulates several conditions for the disbursement of those funds. For instance, $225 million will be withheld until the secretary of state certifies and reports to Congress that the Egyptian government has taken steps to improve the rule of law, democratic institutions and human rights.
The Facebook post claiming otherwise had conflated the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill with provisions of a separate, $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill that included foreign expenditures, including Egypt. Both were part of a broader $2.3 trillion package approved by Congress.
I would be alarmed, too, as the writer was, if the COVID-19 relief bill included foreign and other expenditures that would not help Americans in need.
One more thing. President Biden said that he is considering forgiving student loans up to $10,000, not $50,000. No matter how much money is forgiven, it is an investment in Americans for a better, stronger economy; whereas Trump’s tax breaks for the rich in 2017 hiked the deficit by trillions of dollars and benefited only those at the tippy top who received CEO bonuses (who couldn’t buy enough fancy cars or yachts to improve the economy anyway) and bought back their own stocks to benefit themselves, not the people. That’s what I call socialism.
Judy Siedlecki
Oswego