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12 Feb, 2021 01:05

People looking forward to stimulus checks ‘already screwed,’ financial guru Dave Ramsey tells Fox, kicking up storm online

People looking forward to stimulus checks ‘already screwed,’ financial guru Dave Ramsey tells Fox, kicking up storm online

Radio host and financial pundit Dave Ramsey set off a bout of controversy after arguing that those relying on stimulus checks amid the Covid-19 pandemic were “already screwed” and may suffer from mental issues.

“I don't believe in a stimulus check,” Ramsey told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer during a Thursday interview when asked how much the government should devote to relief payments, comparing the checks to “peeing on a forest fire.”

Because if $600 or $1,400 changes your life, you were pretty much screwed already. You've got other issues going on. You have a career problem, you have a debt problem, you have a relationship problem, you have a mental health problem – something else is going on if $600 changes your life.

While Ramsey noted that he’s been “broke” at various points in his life and wasn’t “talking down to folks,” many observers online took his comments as just that, blasting the multi-millionaire financial adviser for lecturing those struggling to get by, especially in the face of government shutdown policies.

“Imagine being out of work for almost a year, struggling to find a new job cuz of government mandated lockdowns, and now you can't easily get food, and some prick jumps in to tell you that a stimulus isn't important cuz you should have saved money better,”wrote journalist Sophia Narwitz.

Some countered that the critics had missed the point, saying there are broader economic problems at work and that stimulus checks – even the $1,400 payments proposed by President Joe Biden – cannot offer a simple fix.

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