11/13/20
It's been 181 days since the House passed the $3 trillion HEROES Act, and 42 days since the House passed a compromise $2.2 trillion bill, both of which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to take up for a vote. The White House has gone AWOL, with the squatter in the Oval Office refusing to do anything beyond tweeting conspiracy theories about a rigged election, while his staff tries to figure out how to cover their asses and find new jobs. The lame duck administration has withdrawn entirely from negotiations. With new infections and deaths from coronavirus reaching crisis levels in every single state in the country, McConnell is still insisting that $500 billion is his absolute limit, and sent Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley out to tell reporters that he "is not going to rely on Mnuchin any more to do the dealing. That economic crisis is far too real for millions of Americans out of work, who are facing food insecurity and homelessness. It's far too real for the small business owners who employ millions around the country. So far, something like 100,000 small businesses have been forced to close around the country. The Paycheck Protection Program loans some got in the spring have run out and there are no other options for them right now, because Republicans want to continue to pretend that this crisis is over.
A big, big deal isn't even what Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are demanding: $2.4 trillion. At this point, it's going to take more along the lines of $10 trillion to really rescue the country. That has a greater chance of happening in January or February, but how many more businesses will be lost by then? Not to mention lives. That will also only happen if Democrats take the Senate with the Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock runoff elections in Georgia. We need a breakthrough, and it’s just not going to happen with McConnell controlling the Senate. There's no way he's going to let a Biden administration save the economy.
