Trump Asks Lawmakers for No-Nonsense COVID Legislation
President Trump on Tuesday said he is ready to sign legislation that provides much-needed aid to airlines and small businesses as well as another round of stimulus checks.
Problem is, Democratic lawmakers keep trying to insert their pet projects into coronavirus relief proposals.
“If I am sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY,” tweeted Trump on Tuesday. “I am ready to sign right now. Are you listening Nancy?”
Hours earlier, Trump postponed talks with Democratic lawmakers about a broader COVID package until after the election.
‘Walking away from coronavirus talks demonstrates the President Trump is unwilling to crush the virus,” complained House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who described Trump’s preference for stand-alone bills as a “missed opportunity.”
Earlier this month, the Trump Administration proposed a $1.6 trillion aid package as a counter after House Democrats approved a $2.2 trillion aid package. Pelosi rejected proposal as “inadequate.”
The primary difference between the two bills is the inclusion of funds for state and local governments, something Republicans view as a sort of ‘blue-state bailout.’ As Trump has argued, the Dems are just trying to save Democrat-run, high crime jurisdictions in the guise of COVID relief.
The stand-alone bill with the highest rate of success would be one that helps the airline industry.
“[Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin] and I have been talking about what we could do with stand-alone bills to help airlines, small businesses, and the American people with stimulus checks, so hopefully we can convince Speaker Pelosi to do something on a stand-alone basis,” said White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Without federal intervention, airlines could be forced to cut tens of thousands of jobs following the expiration of a $25 billion bailout included in the CARES Act.
“The past week has dealt a crushing blow to the American Airlines team and the aviation industry, and we were hoping that overwhelming bipartisan support for the Payroll Support Program would result in immediate action to protect jobs and service to communities across the country,” said a company spokesperson. “We will continue to make the case in Washington that action is needed to help workers across the country and lead America to the other side of this pandemic.”
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Both sides agree that Americans are in desperate need of financial help. Even the Federal Reserve has called on lawmakers to provide more fiscal support for the struggling economy.
President Trump is ready to sign, but the Democrats would rather pursue their own agenda than approve legislation that gets money into the hands of American workers.
The economic recovery spurred by the reopening of businesses has slowed, and several sectors continue to struggle with the effects of COVID. Job postings are becoming less frequent and some layoffs are becoming permanent. Boosted unemployment benefits have expired and consumer spending has plummeted.
The US economy added 661,000 jobs in September, far less than the expected 800,000. The unemployment rate is currently sitting at 7.9%, the highest it has been prior to a presidential election since we started keeping track of this statistic in 1948. Roughly 10.7 million Americans who lost their jobs due to the pandemic have not returned to work. More than 100 million are at risk of poverty.
Sources:
Pelosi and Mnuchin Discuss Airline Aid as Broad Stimulus Plan Is Shelved
Trump Calls for Some Covid-19 Relief Measures After Shutting Down Stimulus Talks
Trump says he will back specific relief measures hours after halting talks
Trump urges Congress to pass more coronavirus aid hours after breaking off negotiations
Trump is trying to get the aid to the people who need it the most. Pelosi is trying to shore up her pork projects by holding this aid package to the American People as hostage. It is so obvious that Pelosi is still on a revenge kick and trying to hold American Hostage to her hate for Trump. She is no longer in touch with common since nor reality. I can only hope and pray that the people in her California District she has supposedly served in congress for 33 years realize what she is doing and finally say, thank you but no thank you Nancy Pelosi, we need fresh blood to represent us all. Nancy Pelosi needs to be retired and at the very least removed from the SOTH position. The power went to her head and how she is irrationally applying all her “Pork” riders to important legislation in hopes they will pass and give both her and her friends even more wealth.
I am neither Democrat nor Republican, I am a purple independent.
Wow ! You hit the nail on the head ! Thank you , I can only hope her “ erratic” behavior comes to an abrupt end !
When are the dumpocraps and nannygoat going to learn, THE PITK BARRELL GETS NOTHING!! Kind of like why should we the people bail out the blue cities that LET the thugs and crap run wild. Instead of looking in your fridge for ice cream, go take a stroll (massless) in some of these destroyed cities?!! Get yo head outta yo ……..
One point that keeps going through my mind about handing out more stimulus money is where were stimulus checks during the hard times of WWI/WWII and the depression?? My family did not receive any financial aid or stimulus checks from the government….other than food stamps during WWII. My father worked in whatever jobs he could find and we never missed a meal and we always had a roof over our heads.. The government was not so generous then so why should they be generous today to healthy people that could be out doing menial labor to get through these hard times and lost jobs. Even though most people were not financially prepared for these hard times….they are in better shape today than those people of the depression years and there are more job opportunities today for those willing to lower themselves to menial labor and less money until the economy improves. Some people in our area that were making good money have taken up yardwork and other menial labor to keep going. This is what people did in the war and depression days and I applaud today’s people willing to go that extra mile to provide for themselves and their families. It’s time Americans realized that the world is not always a bed of roses and that free money from the government is not going to always be there. Have Americans become dependent on the government’s handouts?? Many have in past years and many others will today if the government keeps handing out free money. Who is paying for all of this free money?? Us taxpayers will eventually. Spending the stimulus money on boats, cars, vacations and entertainment is not my idea of how survival during hard times is suppose to look like. It sure didn’t look like this in those early days of really hard times…but the younger generations of today that are use to getting what they want wouldn’t understand that!!!