One of the greatest insights into human nature came from Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said the more a politician insists something is true, the more his listeners should know it’s a lie. “The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons,” wrote Emerson. The same principle applies to every government policy, as President Joe Biden’s administration has proved with his stern defense of paying Americans a federal bonus to stay unemployed.
The policy, known as enhanced unemployment benefits, did not originate with President Biden. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which passed Congress in March 2020, gave people who were unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic an extra $600 a week over and above what they would have earned from standard unemployment benefits. It also broadened eligibility for unemployment benefits. That policy came to an end in August 2020. The stimulus package signed by President Donald Trump in December 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, reinstated higher unemployment benefits but reduced them to $300 a week through March.
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