THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

                                                                                                                                                                                        NOTICE DATE: October 2, 2020

JERRY W & LAURA L KING                          NOTICE NUMBER: 1444

1426 HAINES CT

BATAVIA, IL 60510-9206

Your Economic Impact Payment Has Arrived

My Fellow American:

Our great country is experiencing an unprecedented public health and economic challenge as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic. Our top priority is your health and safety. As we wage total war on this invisible enemy, we are also working around the clock to protect hardworking Americans like you from the consequences of the economic shutdown. We are fully committed to ensuring that you and your family have the support you need to get through this time,

On March 27, 2020, Congress passed with overwhelming bipartisan support the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which I proudly signed into law. I want to thank the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate for working so quickly with my Administration to fast-track this $2.2 trillion in much-needed economic relief to the American people.

This includes fast and direct economic assistance to you.

I am pleased to notify you that as provided by the CARES Act, you are receiving an Economic Impact Payment of $ 2,400.00 by check/debit card. We hope this payment provides meaningful support to you during this period.

Every citizen should take tremendous pride in the selflessness, courage and compassion of our people. America’s drive, determination, innovation and sheer willpower have conquered every previous challenge—and they will conquer this one too. Just as we have before, America will triumph yet again—and rise to new heights of greatness.

We will do it together, as one nation, stronger than ever before…..

Have you received yours yet?  Our pandemic stimulus check arrived a few days ago.  I inserted the text of our letter from the President for your examination.  The document was created on cheap copy paper, not White House letterhead as you might expect from the language.  We are lucky. We did not need the money.   It would have come months too late to forestall us being evicted from an apartment, or to allow us to obtain groceries, — if I had been a laid off hospitality worker, or the employee of a small business suddenly without customers.

“Our top priority is your health and safety..” cannot  be true as the president has done nothing to coordinate a national response to the pandemic.

“…Tremendous pride in the selflessness, courage, and compassion of our people.”  I doubt that is universally true.  The country is deeply divided.  In some states wearing a mask is viewed as “bending the knee” to tyranny.  The president is “the leader of the band” when it comes to misinformation about the pandemic, and shilling for faux remedies.

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Now for a tune, a lyric and melody that is apt for these times.  Under Pressure lyrics by David Bowie and Queen.

And for the true story behind the song….

You can hear the song as a kind of battle of wills between the two men, or at least the characters that they were playing in the song. Bowie is the voice of doom, using strange syntax (“Pressure pushing down on me/ Pushing down on you/ No man ask for”) to get his points across. Mercury plays the pained victim, his hopes for release (“Pray tomorrow/ Gets me higher”) doused by Bowie’s ice-water proclamations (“It’s the terror of knowing what this world is about/ Watching some good friends scream ‘Let me out.’”)

In the quiet bridge, Bowie sneers at optimistic outlooks: “Keep coming up with love/ But it’s so slashed and torn.” At that point, Mercury uncorks a heart-rending cry of “Why?” while Bowie delivers the answer amidst the musical crescendo: “Insanity laughs under pressure we’re breaking.”

Mercury then begins pleading for love’s triumph, which Bowie seems to suggest requires a kind of empathy and self-sacrifice that humanity fears: “Because love’s such an old-fashioned word/ And love dares you to care for/ The people on the edge of the night.” As Roger Taylor’s drums crash all around him, Bowie puts the mirror up to our behavior and its consequences: “This is our last dance/ This is ourselves/ Under pressure.”

— Excerpt, The True Story Behind Queen with David Bowie, “Under Pressure” by Jim Beviglia