Americans criticize congressional subsidy package for covid-19

The changes Trump wants in the stimulus package 1:29

(CNN) -

Pedro Martínez has a simple message for Congress: "HELP US!"

The military veteran and father of four said the $ 600 grants approved this week as part of a second coronavirus relief package are too small to undo the financial damage his family has suffered.

The situation occurs while the covid-19 pandemic has exploded again.

The message was also adopted by President Donald Trump, who released a video Tuesday night conveying his dissatisfaction with the aid bill.

Martinez, the sole breadwinner in her family since August 2020, said $ 600 could cover a month's groceries, but nothing more for her children who are between 1 and 7 years old.

He works for the York County Correctional System in Pennsylvania and says he contracted COVID-19 at work.

And during the time he was ill he was not paid.

"The stress level was very real," he said.

“I was lucky to keep my job, but others were not so lucky.

Frontline workers have had to fend for themselves. '

Martinez told CNN Wednesday that the family had to dip into their savings to stay financially afloat.

The decision has now led the family to delay their hopes of buying a home, which they planned to do next year.

advertising

"They have left us alone while Congress still cashes a paycheck and our 'government' still taxes the American people," he said.

“It is our money that they use for all their businesses.

Pay us and HELP US! ».

• Congressional economic subsidy agreement to mitigate the pandemic gains time, but sows bitter battles ahead

US job creation weakens 1:07

Martinez was one of more than 1,700 CNN readers who wrote in reaction to the new stimulus package, and nearly all expressed deep disappointment with the subsidies, which came after months of end-to-end negotiations.

Trump, in his video Tuesday night, noted that he cannot sign the coronavirus subsidy bill passed by Congress unless he modifies the massive spending legislation to increase the number of stimulus payments.

"I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $ 600 to $ 2,000 or $ 4,000 per couple," Trump said in a video posted on Twitter.

"I also ask Congress to immediately get rid of unnecessary and wasteful elements of this legislation or to send me a proper bill."

This is the subsidy package approved by Congress

The $ 900 billion aid package approved Monday would provide a $ 300 weekly improvement to unemployment payments for 11 weeks, extending two key pandemic unemployment programs through early spring 2021. This would send up to $ 600 In direct payments, it would renew the eviction moratorium, increase food stamps and other nutritional assistance, and provide more help to struggling small businesses.

But this aid is too little, too late, say many Americans who have struggled to make ends meet amid the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus.

The $ 1,200 subsidy checks from the March package have long been spent, and the $ 600 federal push for laid off workers ended in July.

Mallory Ware, a resident of northern New Jersey, feels that Congress has abandoned her, her family and all Americans struggling amid the recession and the worsening pandemic.

• Trump calls into question the stimulus package by asking Congress to amend it

Trump threatens to veto the second economic stimulus 1:05

She had to take responsibility for most of her mother's $ 1,600 monthly mortgage to keep a roof over her heads, preventing her from paying off her student loans and saving for her future.

His mother, who works in a nearby hotel, now works only eight hours a week as the pandemic has reduced tourism and conferences.

The family was able to stay afloat in the early months of the pandemic, thanks in large part to the $ 600 weekly increase in unemployment benefits that lawmakers approved in late March.

Ware is puzzled about how long it took Congress to provide more assistance despite the growing need.

"I have a deep love for our country, but I really feel like his leadership has failed us," said Ware, who feels fortunate to have a job with a non-profit community development group.

John Ringhisen, a psychiatric nursing resident in Syracuse, New York, said the economic fallout from the pandemic has "exacerbated existing conditions like depression, anxiety and substance use."

"Over and over again I sit and listen to patients furious at the departure of American leaders too caught up in party politics to pass the life-saving relief from overdoses and suicides," Ringhisen wrote in an email.

“People felt trapped by their plight, desperate for their future and abandoned by all levels of government when the first round of relief expired in July.

This second relief bill is a regrettable attempt by Congress to save face before the holidays.

Ringhisen also worries about the possible consequences once the pandemic is over and how Americans will be helped at that time.

He told CNN that the financial boost helps some, but those already struggling to cope with the stress of the pandemic are going to need continued help as the economic recovery begins slowly amid vaccines.

"I need a way for patients to pay for the care they will need in the next legislative gap between care and recovery once our leadership decides to declare victory over covid," he added.

At a year-end press conference Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden said the package provides "vital relief at a critical time" but is "far from perfect."

He said he plans to go to Congress early next year to ask for more help for the "millions of injured families who can't put food on the table, pay rent or mortgage," as well as others who need help.

"As I have said all the time, this bill is only the first step, an initial payment to address the crises, more than one, in which we are," he said.

"There is much more work to do."

- CNN's Kelly Mena contributed to this report.

covid-19 unemployment benefits