On Friday the White House offered a 1.8 trillion dollar deal in negotiations.
$1,200 direct payments to adults plus $1,000 for each dependent child.
$400 weekly federal unemployment benefits (end date unclear, retroactive date unclear).
$300 billion in aid to state and local governments.
$75 billion for coronavirus testing and tracing Aid for airlines and small businesses
If Pelosi and the White House were to come to an agreement, the bill would need to be fully written, go to the House and pass a vote there, go to the Senate and pass a vote there, and then be signed by the President.
Pelosi wrote a letter to House Democrats on Saturday calling the WH 1.8T offer inadequate, primarily citing the lack of a sufficient strategy to stop the virus. She also said Trump's proposal wants "more money at his discretion to grant or withhold, rather than agreeing on language prescribing how we honor our workers, crush the virus and put money in the pockets of workers." She said she is still hopeful for a deal.
Some Senate Republicans had an even stronger reaction against the offer made by the White House. On a conference call with WHCOS Mark Meadows, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, and Senator McConnell, GOP Senators including Senator Alexander (TN), Senator Blackburn (TN), and Senator R. Scott (FL) bashed the offer. Their concerns include too much state and local funding, overall price-tag, and losing their majority in the election because they deflate their base. Senator Lee said if they pass a bill it will overshadow the SCOTUS nomination which "should be their focus." We wholeheartedly disagree about where the focus of our elected representatives should be. Relief is dire and necessary for struggling Americans. It is more important than a SCOTUS nominee and it is most important than re-election. People over politics.
Many other Republicans, especially those in tight Senate re-election races DO support more aid. Most of the Senators we have had meetings with said they will vote yes on a relief bill (including the full $600) if it comes to the Senate floor. Several of those same Senators also tweeted out when the President halted negotiations, telling him that was a mistake.
Mitch McConnell says an economic stimulus package is 'unlikely in the next 3 weeks', showing us all who on the Hill truly continues to not care. McConnell is the largest road block in this fight for relief, despite his office saying in our meeting with them that relief was important to the Senator. His actions consistently prove otherwise.
Trump has been publicly supporting more spending on the bill. He tweeted "Go big" and also said he wanted an even bigger spending amount than the Democrats in a radio interview with Rush Limbaugh. His Communications Director later corrected the statement saying the White House would like to keep the deal below $2 Trillion.
Even the chair of the Federal Reserve has come out and said that we need a robust relief package passed and there is very little risk of over spending. Experts say economic recovery is slowing down. Nearly a dozen major companies are moving ahead with at least 75,000 layoffs if the federal government doesn't provide further relief.
A new analysis released Friday from the Brookings Institution indicated a $2 trillion stimulus package would restore the nation's economic activity to pre-pandemic levels by the middle of next year.
The need for relief is excessively clear at this point. The fact that it hasn't passed is completely due to politics.
Comments