Americans Ponder More Stimulus Checks as Negotiations Stall

When it comes to a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks, there’s good news and bad news.

The good news: Both political parties have said they want to send Americans more direct payments.

The bad news: Congress needs to agree on the next coronavirus stimulus package in order for that money to come through.

Talks between top Democrats and the White House broke down because they could not come to a compromise on how much to spend on that legislation. Democrats have proposed more than $3 trillion in aid, while...

One of the most successful elements of the government’s response to the coronavirus recession — protecting people on the margins from falling into poverty — is faltering as the safety net shrinks and federal benefits expire.

Major recessions are especially fraught for low-income earners, whose finances can veer from tenuous to dire with one missed paycheck. But as the economy cratered this spring, economists and poverty experts were mildly surprised to discover that the torrent of government support that followed — particularly the $600 a week in expanded unemployment benefits...