Normally when I write about Michael Che, it’s been less than flattering. But Che stepped up and did a really decent thing today, so I’m going to give him props for it.
As you’re well aware, because of the shutdowns related to the coronavirus, millions of people are out of work and the government is doing very little to help. While the treasury has started sending out stimulus checks to individuals, most of the bailout money is going to big business and is not trickling down to employees the way it also hasn’t trickled down over the past forty years or so. And one thing that’s been particularly tricky for people is rent.
Che, very much to his credit, picked up a month’s rent for all 160 units in the apartment building his grandmother lives in.
He’s absolutely right here, if people aren’t allowed to go to work, how are they expected to pay rent? One of the major reasons we have a government is to deal with this sort of thing specifically.
And I know what you’re thinking “Oh, the government can’t just print money” but the government absolutely can just print money; it’s called quantitative easing and it’s literally just printing money and giving it to rich people. It’s only giving money or health care to people who actually need it that we can’t do.
It is nice to see that Che realizes this; I thought working at SNL would have given him permanent neoliberal brain but the guy I actually liked when he was on The Daily Show is still in there.