Right now I am part of a book study of the book, The 5000 Year Leap. The book deals with the progress made by mankind after the principles of liberty were put in place that allowed men to be free and to prosper according to their efforts. These are the principles that result in the survival of a republic. The first principle cited as a principle of freedom is the concept on Natural Law. One of the principles of Natural Law is justice by reparation, or paying for damages. Under Natural Law, a criminal who stole something would have to make restitution to the person he stole from. Unfortunately our current justice system does not do that–if the thief is put in jail, the victim pays his room and board in addition to whatever loss he suffered. Congress, in their infinite wisdom, has recently made that system worse.
Just the News reported the following today:
The Senate recently approved the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package which includes $1,400 checks for eligible individuals, but some lawmakers are displeased that prisoners will also receive the monetary payments.
The package, which cleared the Senate on a party-line vote Saturday, must still be approved by the House prior to heading to President Biden’s desk, but according to Fox News inmates will be able to receive the individual payments under the legislation, as they were under prior coronavirus relief bills that included $1,200 and $600 payments for eligible individuals.
“The IRS had tried to withhold stimulus checks from incarcerated individuals, but a court forced their hand to offer the checks in October,” Fox reported. “There was nothing written in the previous two relief bills or the one passed Saturday against inmates receiving checks.”
The article continues:
GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas offered an amendment to the current stimulus bill to bar federal and state prisoners from getting a payment, but the amendment failed on a tight 50-49 vote, according to Fox News. Cassidy’s press release indicated that the proposal would have saved taxpayers about $1.9 billion.
“Prisoners have all their living and medical expenses paid for by the taxpayer,” Cassidy said during remarks about the proposed amendment. “They don’t pay taxes. They don’t contribute to the tax base. They can’t be unemployed. In other words, inmates are not economically impacted by COVID, and inmates cannot stimulate the economy. But under this bill, Democrats are giving prisoners, again sometimes incarcerated for heinous crimes, a $1,400 stimulus check.”
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois argued against the amendment, saying that it would “cause harm to the families of incarcerated individuals.”
There is nothing I can add to that last remark!