Trump calls Covid relief bill unsuitable and demands Congress add bigger stimulus payments

[Integrityrespec]

The rest of the article can be found here.

Wow! Kudos on the President for this one. However, he's just stuck a knife in the back of Moscow Mitch and the overwhelming majority of the GOP. Not only have they refused to pass anymore covid stimulus, but they actively worked to reduce the amount of funding going directly to the American people be it in direct payment or unemployment supplement. Nanci Pelosi and the rest of the Dems in Congress just got a baller 2020 Christmas present from the POTUS.

Politics aside, this only delays financial help going to the American people. Yes, it is true that $600 is a ****ing joke. Things are started to get interesting in Washington.

To be clear, Trump has been saying the relief checks needed to be large. Nancy Pelosi refused to negotiate prior to the election because she didn't want to help Trump win the election. In fact Pelosi settled for a smaller bill now than Trump was offering before the election. Pelosi threw the American people under the bus for the sake of a democrat presidential race.

 

[Objective Voice]

The problem is that his timing makes it uncertain that anything will get done. The Senate all went home. They won't be back till January and they'll have to start all over again. At best Trump has delayed relief. At worst he's killed it entirely.

I think that is his plan. He knew Congress would go home for the holiday (not recess...Congress never fully "closes for business" anymore). So, by torpedoing this bill publicly, he'd make a mess of things knowing it was highly unlikely Congress would return before the next session to do anything about it. So, this bill will sit on his desk until after the new year and no 2nd stimulus will get done until after Biden becomes POTUS. Thus, the priority will be the electoral college vote in Congress. Meanwhile, the nation's economy will go into decay for the next 1.5 months - exactly as planned.

While Trump said he’ll immediately restart talks in November if he wins reelection, a Biden victory could mean the economy would go without further stimulus until February.

The economy has recovered more quickly than most economists had expected, so far, largely because of the stimulus Congress approved in a $2 trillion package in March. The $1,200 stimulus checks, supplemental $600 unemployment benefits each week, and aid to small businesses boosted household incomes and enabled many low-income Americans to pay bills and rent and maintain their overall spending, according to data from Opportunity Insights.

But the recovery has slowed and certain sectors such as restaurants, hotels, theaters and airlines remain in bad shape, shedding jobs and risking permanent realignment. Without more stimulus, economists expect growth will slow significantly in the final three months of the year.

Source: Trump halts COVID-19 relief talks until after election, (AP: October 6, 2020)

 

[Threegoofs]

Just thought I would lighten things up.
What part of being independent confuses you?

So you are all for increasing national debt, is that correct?

In this instance, absolutely.

Although it would be better if it was targeted.

 

[Cardinal]

Which would be a fantastic end to an absolutely miserable Presidency.

I don’t know the right way to think about this.

You’re desperate and need help right now. So do you take $600 now or wait for much more money in a couple months? Keep in mind you need help right now, but if you take it you don’t get much more later.

 

[Logophile]

Yeah, but who coupled both the 2nd stimulus bill and the Omnibus spending bill together? I'm reading what I believe to be the text of the bill (HR 133, as amended) and it would appear the last amended version came out of the Senate.

Thanks for the link. What convoluted legalese. Just scanning through the details, it's almost as if individual lawmakers kept indiscriminately throwing crap at it until something stuck. There seems to be a disproportionate emphasis on pet projects versus broad based economic aid. Here's an example:
SEC. 114. The Secretary is authorized to dispose of or divest, by any means the Secretary determines appropriate, including an agreement or partnership to construct new Job Corps center, all or a portion of the real property on which the Treasure Island Job Corps Center is situated. Any sale or other disposition will not be subject to any requirement of any Federal law or regulation relating to the disposition of Federal real property, including but not limited, blah, blah, blah.

Happy holidays. Thanks!!

 

[Objective Voice]

and this makes sense to you, God bless.

A complete failed species.

Why doesn't it make sense to you?

Whether or not this is political wrangling by Trump, it doesn't make what he said any less true. And him making it public will at least give him some credibility since none of the other majority or minority leaders in Congress had publicly aired their displeasure with the bill yet. So, considering that Trump has rarely ever gone against his party, I give him credit for doing it now ever IF the only reason he's done it is to back the Senate Majority Leader into a corner OR purposely bring stimulus #2 talks to a grinding halt ahead of the next Congress, the Electoral College vote and Joe Biden's ascendency to the White House.

I mean, really...where's the confusion? (I though AI was suppose to analyze this stuff and figure it out before humans?)

 

[ElChupacabra]

The rest of the article can be found here.

Wow! Kudos on the President for this one. However, he's just stuck a knife in the back of Moscow Mitch and the overwhelming majority of the GOP. Not only have they refused to pass anymore covid stimulus, but they actively worked to reduce the amount of funding going directly to the American people be it in direct payment or unemployment supplement. Nanci Pelosi and the rest of the Dems in Congress just got a baller 2020 Christmas present from the POTUS.

Politics aside, this only delays financial help going to the American people. Yes, it is true that $600 is a ****ing joke. Things are started to get interesting in Washington.

I'm curious to see how this works out in the end, especially for the GOP. They're going to have to fight against the popular idea of people being given relief when there's the need. I think there are valid arguments about who should receive it (those who actually need it vs. those who don't) but from what I understand, parsing that out is a much tougher proposition.

As an aside though, you have to wonder why this new found generosity didn't manifest itself the first go around when people could have used it as well. That, and the fact Trump did this at the worst possible time in the process of approving a bill.

 

[Objective Voice]

Thanks for the link. What convoluted legalese. Just scanning through the details, it's almost as if individual lawmakers kept indiscriminately throwing crap at it until something stuck. There seems to be a disproportionate emphasis on pet projects versus broad based economic aid. Here's an example:
SEC. 114. The Secretary is authorized to dispose of or divest, by any means the Secretary determines appropriate, including an agreement or partnership to construct new Job Corps center, all or a portion of the real property on which the Treasure Island Job Corps Center is situated. Any sale or other disposition will not be subject to any requirement of any Federal law or regulation relating to the disposition of Federal real property, including but not limited, blah, blah, blah.

Happy holidays. Thanks!!

The bill is full of crap like that. That's why I give Trump partial credit for pointing out the wasteful spending even if I firmly believe he has ulterior motives for doing it.

 

[SkyFox76]

trump is one of those crazed lunatics that once in awhile, turns out to be right, but then you realize there's something off even when he is technically right.

Yes, struggling Americans need more than a $600 check, but donald should have said so weeks ago. He should have threatened a veto of a stimulus that weak weeks ago, if that's what he was planning on doing.

I agree. Yesterday I was dropping off a Christmas meal to a family and they are really struggling. She mentioned hearing a stimulus deal had been agreed on and even though it wasn't going to get them caught up, it was better than nothing. She wasn't sure on the time to receive it though. I said I'd heard as early as next week once Trump signed it. She was at least glad it would be soon.

But now??? After how long this has been going on why the hell didn't Trump state right off what amount he would approve of? It's not like it was a secret the talks were going on. Now this just stalls the money even longer.

 

[Threegoofs]

To be clear, Trump has been saying the relief checks needed to be large. Nancy Pelosi refused to negotiate prior to the election because she didn't want to help Trump win the election. In fact Pelosi settled for a smaller bill now than Trump was offering before the election. Pelosi threw the American people under the bus for the sake of a democrat presidential race.

Possibly the stupidest take ever, but then again, Trump defenders don’t have much else.

 

[Objective Voice]

To be clear, Trump has been saying the relief checks needed to be large. Nancy Pelosi refused to negotiate prior to the election because she didn't want to help Trump win the election. In fact Pelosi settled for a smaller bill now than Trump was offering before the election. Pelosi threw the American people under the bus for the sake of a democrat presidential race.

Ummm......see my post #77 and the accompanying linked articles for some clarity on what Trump really did.

 

[SkyFox76]

I don’t know the right way to think about this.

You’re desperate and need help right now. So do you take $600 now or wait for much more money in a couple months? Keep in mind you need help right now, but if you take it you don’t get much more later.

That's exactly what the family I'm helping is facing. They need money now! Something is better than nothing. Except that something may have gotten sidelined again. He should have been demanding this for at least weeks instead of letting everyone think the deal was reached and that he would agree to and sign.

 

[Kushinator]

To be clear, Trump has been saying the relief checks needed to be large.

This is at odds with the GOP.

Nancy Pelosi refused to negotiate

Nonsense. The Dem's proposal passed the House and the Senate neither took it up or offered an alternative.

In fact Pelosi settled for a smaller bill now than Trump was offering before the election.

Compromise is a foreign term for people who support Republican politics.

 

[Phys251]

Your post remind me of a method used I believe by the Spanish Inquisition. They would attempt to drown a person. If the person didn't make it, sadly the person was deemed innocent and given a Christian burial. If, however, the person DID manage to pull through, he or she must have had demonic help, and was therefore, horribly executed. This business of blaming Trump for NOT saying something, and then constantly deriding him when he DOES say something is bordering on malevolent. For your information, he has in fact maintained that a substantial sum should be given to individual citizens, and has said so in the past. And in August, he signed an executive order to extend basic economic relief when the corrupt politicians wouldn't pull together to draft a package, basically telling three hundred plus million Americans to go scr*w themselves. Apparently, you have a short memory. Thanks!!

 

[Fiddytree]

Just keep in mind that this can lead to the outcome few want: no stimulus package at all until at least February.

The only reason why McConnell cares about this now is that he thinks it is impacting the Georgia races. Otherwise his default response is to do nothing.

President Trump rarely cares about policy, and the thing is, when he does care about policy, there's a substantial chance he doesn't care enough to make it a primary area of focus for legislative negotiations. He frequently said he wanted "bigger" but rarely, if ever, gave a dollar figure for direct payments. He did not give a clear signal to his administration what he wanted, and instead armed people like Mark Meadows, who wanted nothing whatsoever to do with anything "bigger" in a stimulus package (direct payments, unemployment). After those negotiations started, the President didn't care one bit that the stimulus negotiations vanished. He didn't care that the de facto Republican response was to not move closer toward an equally or more generous package than what Democrats wanted (again, this was Trump's line for months). He went about his day and Republicans in power ignored him. In essence, the President says something and drops it and also gives other people in power plenty of reason to believe that they can ignore him, because he signs stuff anyway.

 

[Fiddytree]

Yeah, but if this ends up costing Republicans the Senate then Democrats pass a much bigger assistance bill.

It won't cost them the Senate. Voters aren't that interested in punishing Republicans for being terrible at governing.

 

[Cardinal]

It won't cost them the Senate. Voters aren't that interested in punishing Republicans for being terrible at governing.

True.

 

[W_Heisenberg]

To be clear, Trump has been saying the relief checks needed to be large. Nancy Pelosi refused to negotiate prior to the election because she didn't want to help Trump win the election. In fact Pelosi settled for a smaller bill now than Trump was offering before the election. Pelosi threw the American people under the bus for the sake of a democrat presidential race.

You appear to be incapable of criticizing Trump.

 

[Helix]

Tweety has always been so supportive of the common man. my favorite things that he did for the common man :

1. handing the rich a whole shitload of money via an unnecessary tax cut. this also had the added benefit of removing this from the toolkit which might have been used during a prolonged depression.

2. pissing and moaning about some stupid, useless wall, and teaching gullible xenophobes to be even more afraid of landscapers.

3. mismanaging a pandemic and encouraging the common man to do very dumb things, such as filling stadiums. this means that there will be fewer common men, so maybe he was just trying to make helping common men more efficient.

4. refusing to honor the tradition of peaceful transfer of power after an obvious loss. the common man benefits so much from an environment of instability and artificial political uncertainty, especially during a pandemic. also, using disinformation to turn his loss into a fundraiser intended to benefit him personally really helps out.

what a champion of the common man. a lot of people are saying that, believe me.

 

[iguanaman]

The problem is that his timing makes it uncertain that anything will get done. The Senate all went home. They won't be back till January and they'll have to start all over again. At best Trump has delayed relief. At worst he's killed it entirely.

The good news is that the lack of any aid before the runoffs in Georgia will help get rid of Mitch as majority leader, It's a small hope but better than nothing. I think that is why Trump is doing this. He is pissed at Mitch for not going along with his seditious plots to overturn the election. If he is going down he wants to take him with him.

 

[iguanaman]

To be clear, Trump has been saying the relief checks needed to be large. Nancy Pelosi refused to negotiate prior to the election because she didn't want to help Trump win the election. In fact Pelosi settled for a smaller bill now than Trump was offering before the election. Pelosi threw the American people under the bus for the sake of a democrat presidential race.

That is as clear as mud. It was always Mitch who refused any plan over $500 billion before the election and also refused any more stimulus checks at all for the American people. Trump's "offer" was never on the table in the Senate. The only reason there is even a $600 check now are the runoffs in Georgia and that is half what the Democrats requested. If you want more aid the only hope is to oust Mitch as majority leader. Otherwise it;s this bill or nothing. After the Georgia election the Republicans will be back to the $500 billion for their corporate friends and nothing for everyone else if they are still in control.

Here is what Mitch said in October....

Driving the news: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that he would not put a potential $1.8 trillion+ deal struck by Democrats and the Trump administration on the Senate floor. "My members think half a trillion dollars, highly targeted is the best way to go," he said.

https://www.axios.com/stimulus-nego...ion-cd826d06-b3e8-4518-b2a2-bfa444361754.html

 

[ElChupacabra]

This is at odds with the GOP.

Which raises the question on where was Trump with his higher amounts back in the negotiating process. He could have chimed in much earlier with his current amounts, but didn't.

Nonsense. The Dem's proposal passed the House and the Senate neither took it up or offered an alternative.

Lest we forget that the Democrats were asking for more relief than what they finally agreed to. Where was Trump asking for more in that negotiation?

Compromise is a foreign term for people who support Republican politics.

The other thing too is the poster was pointing to this being a political move, which is if that's the case, we're back at questioning where Trump was with this higher number when the negotiations were going on.

 

[Torus34]

All we need now to put the cherry atop the whipped cream is for the House of Representatives to pass a bill upping the individual check amount to $US2K, just as President Donald Trump desires, and send it to the Senate.

Stay tuned ...

Regards, stay safe 'n well. Remember the prophylactic Big 3: masks, hand washing and physical distancing.

Reminder. I try to respond to all who quote my posts. If you do not get a response from me, it may be that you've made it onto my 'Ignore' list.

 

[iguanaman]

Which raises the question on where was Trump with his higher amounts back in the negotiating process. He could have chimed in much earlier with his current amounts, but didn't.
Lest we forget that the Democrats were asking for more relief than what they finally agreed to. Where was Trump asking for more in that negotiation?
The other thing too is the poster was pointing to this being a political move, which is if that's the case, we're back at questioning on.where Trump was with this higher number when the negotiations were going on

The one term mistake has been AWOL since the election.. He as done virtually none of his duties because all he cares about is overturning his big loss. This thing is all about Mitch refusing to go along with his seditious plans. He's one vindictive SOB you know. Anyone who thinks he has suddenly grown a heart is kidding themselves.

 

[iguanaman]

All we need now to put the cherry atop the whipped cream is for the House of Representatives to pass a bill upping the individual check amount to $US2K, just as President Donald Trump desires, and send it to the Senate.

Stay tuned ...

Regards, stay safe 'n well. Remember the prophylactic Big 3: masks, hand washing and physical distancing.

Reminder. I try to respond to all who quote my posts. If you do not get a response from me, it may be that you've made it onto my 'Ignore' list.

The Senate is on vacation until next year. That takes care of that. The American people will get zero $ unless Mitch is ousted as majority leader in the Georgia runoffs. That has always been Mitch's preference.

Driving the news: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that he would not put a potential $1.8 trillion+ deal struck by Democrats and the Trump administration on the Senate floor. "My members think half a trillion dollars, highly targeted is the best way to go," he said.

https://www.axios.com/stimulus-nego...ion-cd826d06-b3e8-4518-b2a2-bfa444361754.html