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Pelosi Returns from Vacation to Scuttle Coronavirus Relief Bill
Leaders from the White House and both parties of the Senate spent days negotiating a $1.4 trillion “Phase Three” stimulus package to alleviate the economic effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi flew in from her vacation to scuttle the entire agreement Sunday.
“The build-up to this is that we had a high level of bipartisanship over the last 48 hours,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. “And then, all of a sudden, the Democratic leader and the speaker of the House shows up … and we’re back to square one,” he said, referring to Schumer and Pelosi.
“I want everybody to understand that if we aren’t able to act tomorrow, it’s because of our colleagues on the other side, continue to dicker.” The House has been in recess for a week, while the Senate canceled its recess.
.@senatemajldr: "We had a high level of bipartisanship in 5 different working groups over the last 48 hours, where members who were participating were reaching agreement. Then all of a sudden the Democratic Leader & the Speaker of the House shows up and we're back to square one." pic.twitter.com/8ADBn8Tcj9
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 22, 2020
The roll call was 47-47, and two-thirds are required to advance the measure. Five GOP senators could not vote since they are in self-quarantine. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is the first senator to announce he tested positive for the virus.
Despite the mammoth price tag of $1.4 trillion, Democrats complained the aid package was too small. They demanded food security aid, small business loans, and more unemployment insurance. Democrat Senators Schumer, Durbin, Cardin, Cantwell, Shaheen, Stabenow, Wyden, and Reed were in the room negotiating the bill since Friday. All voted against it Sunday.
Futures markets are spooked at the impasse. McConnell decided to vote against the package in order to bring it back for a vote soon. “Hopefully some adults will show up on the other side of the room and understand the gravity of the situation before the markets go down further,” he said. “We’ve never been confronted by anything like this before.”
After Democrats blocked the vote, the National Republican Senatorial Committee [NRSC] released a statement accusing Pelosi, Schumer and Senate Democrats of “partisan fervor to thwart a critical coronavirus relief package while our country faces a crippling pandemic.”
“DSCC-backed candidates last weekend had no problem throwing partisan barbs at the same Republican senators working day and night to find solutions to the complex problems facing their constituents at home,” NRSC Communications Director Jesse Hunt said. “Those same candidates should prove they aren’t beholden to their chief benefactor Schumer and disavow Senate Democrats’ unthinkable decision to filibuster.”
Published in General
Jon,
You’ve got to really understand the Democratic Party’s attitude to the Federal Budget. It’s not the people’s money, it’s their money! Like a junkyard dog with a bone. Try to get him to share and you’ll get bit.
Regards,
Jim
Pelosi backed off a week ago in her effort to relax Hyde Amendment rules of abortion funding as part of an earlier COVID-19 bill. No surprise here that she and other Dems will try again, where the question is the public reaction — the abortion rider got scuttled because even Democrats knocked Nancy for tying that into coronavirus legislation. Here, the Dems are betting the size of the bill — and their and the media spin that the Senate GOP isn’t doing enough — will be more important to the public than the speed of the bill, where McConnell and other Republicans already are attacking the Democrats for their delaying tactics. We’ll probably find out in the next 48 hours who the voters are siding with, based on which side gets flooded with complaints.
They need to amend the rules of the Senate to allow remote voting. This is ridiculous.
No excuse. McConnell could have (and should have) set up a mechanism to allow a vote.
As for Pelosi, she scuttled the whole thing because she needs another Article of Impeachment for the next trial – Trump’s failure to stop the spread of the virus. Heck, one article may be Trump was secretly working with the Chinese to develop it . . .
Judging from last night’s headline (since tweaked) on The New York Times’ website and the various media reports this morning, the slant here is not on Pelosi’s side, probably because the majority of the media lives in New York, the city’s being harder hit than other places in the U.S. by COVID-19, and those same media people see Pelosi and Schumer playing with their lives, by delaying the bill in order to extract more spending.
It’s one of the rare cases where the media’s siding with Cocaine Mitch in wanting speed over spending, because they see themselves being put at risk by the Democrats’ pressure tactics. Another 12-24 hours of this, and I don’t think Pelosi and Schumer are going to be able to hold out, since if thy lose the media, they’re going to lose a lot of the liberal urban Democrats who still trust the media, and also due to location are at higher risk of COVID-19 infection.
I hope you’re right.
Shameful….. Guy Benson reported on twitter that Pelosi/Schumer’s demands include:
Not only does this list NOT have anything to do with the current crisis, these items could actually make the situation worse by increasing, not decreasing, costs to businesses.
It galls me that almost every emergency bill that’s ever passed had things in it that had nothing to do with the emergency. There’s no excuse to use an emergency bill as a vehicle to pass something that ordinarily wouldn’t see the light of day.
I agree but instead of hearing about how McConnel is visibly angry about the ‘lack of bipartisanship’ – why doesn’t he start kicking ass and taking names? Lindsey Graham does the same thing, Mitt too. Doe these guys still, after all this time don’t know who they are dealing with?
I’ll get outraged when they genuinely do. I read three stories about this now and I haven’t found McConnell to be compelling or persuasive at all.
I agree. Rush doesn’t call him “The Turtle” for nothing . . .
Stad & Concretevol,
Once again the Democrats prove themselves less than useless. These idiots don’t help they wreck.
Regards,
Jim
Right now I fear our government much more than the virus.
From the data I’ve seen, there is little risk to young (under 60), healthy people. If they contact the virus, their symptoms will be mild. Likely not requiring medical attention. Let them go to work while isolating the old and those with other contributing risks.
Our government is going to push us into a depression, just like they did in 1930-1931. Then their meddling will keep us there for years.
I really don’t think Mitch is gonna forget about this one. He has repeatedly called them out over it today. Since they aren’t in his party I’m not sure how he is supposed to “kick ass and take names” other than beat the dems over and over like he has been doing
on #2—I don’t have much sympathy for the airline industry, but really? Nothing like kicking them when they’re already on the ground….
The democrats seem to have forgotten that the people are at home. They’re paying attention. They can’t pull this kinda maneuver under cover of a friendly press. The people have seen it happen in real time – as they watched. They knew the truth before the media could cover it up.
Dr Karlyn Borysenko, who came to national attention as a liberal who attended a Trump rally, a few weeks ago. (a month ago?) It seems like a different era… Like pre-9/11…