dagblog - Comments for "Congress closes in on COVID-19 relief, funding deal"

The Hill's headline story

artappraiser — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 17:38:34 +0000

In reply to Congress closes in on COVID-19 relief, funding deal

The Hill's headline story right now: Senate GOP looks to stopgap as relief talks drag on

BY JORDAIN CARNEY - 12/17/20 11:36 AM EST

Top Senate Republicans indicated on Thursday that Congress is increasingly likely to need a days-long stopgap government funding bill as talks on a coronavirus package and mammoth funding deal drag out.

Congressional leaders and the Trump administration are working to clinch a massive package that would tie a roughly $900 billion coronavirus deal to a $1.4 trillion government funding package. They need to pass it by Friday night in order to prevent a shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) indicated that Congress would in all likelihood miss that deadline, saying on the Senate floor that a rare weekend session was "highly likely."

"If we need to further extend the Friday funding deadline before final legislation can pass in both chambers, I hope we'll extend it for a very, very short window of time," McConnell said [....]

while the #1 story on their most-popular list is this one from early this morning:

McConnell getting much of what he wants in emerging relief deal

BY ALEXANDER BOLTON AND SCOTT WONG - 12/17/20 06:00 AM EST

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is getting much of what he wants in an emerging coronavirus relief package, after months of digging in his heels against a demand by Democratic leaders to pass a multitrillion-dollar package that would shore up the ailing finances of state and local governments.

The GOP leader isn’t getting liability protection for businesses and other organizations but McConnell himself last week proposed dropping that controversial item along with another large tranche of funding for state and local government.

State and local funding was a top priority of Speaker Nancy Pelosi

(D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).Democrats are getting $90 billion in relief for local governments but it will be distributed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, meaning city and state leaders will have less control. Democrats say that money for housing assistance will also help ease the fiscal burdens on states.

But McConnell is getting a deal a lot closer to what Democrats dismissed as the “emaciated” plan he pushed in recent months than the $2.2 trillion HEROES Act that Pelosi and Schumer said should have been the “starting point” of the talks.

That was quickly leading to some criticism on Wednesday as it emerged the sides were closing in on an agreement, though in Congress, some Democrats taking shots at the package still said it should be approved.

“This is not any place close to what is needed,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said of the emerging $900 billion deal. But Warren said Democrats have little choice but to accept a much smaller relief package than they wanted in order to get a deal.“That makes for a very difficult negotiation,” she said of McConnell’s staunch insistence on a “targeted” package below $1 trillion. She faulted the GOP leader, saying “Mitch McConnell is willing to let American families walk away with nothing.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) similarly criticized the bill while giving his blessing to its outlines [....]

‘It is madness’: Governors

artappraiser — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 17:15:33 +0000

In reply to Congress closes in on COVID-19 relief, funding deal

‘It is madness’: Governors rage over stimulus snub

Months of pressure from state and city leaders failed to secure aid for local governments as part of the deal emerging in Congress.

By STEPHANIE MURRAY and KELLIE MEJDRICH @ Politico.com, 12/16/2020 08:46 PM EST

America’s governors seethed on Wednesday over news that a much-anticipated federal stimulus package will not include a bailout for local governments — and accused Washington of abandoning states and cities.

Leaders across the country pleaded with Congress for months to reach a deal that would deliver hundreds of billions of dollars to plug budget holes and shore up everything from schools to emergency services. But the $900 billion emerging deal, expected to include direct checks to Americans and a weekly unemployment boost of $300 through March, will not provide the state and local aid that was requested.

The stimulus agreement comes just as CARES Act funding is drying up, and as states are taking on two logistical nightmares: weathering a winter surge of Covid-19 cases, and distributing Covid-19 vaccines.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who claims he’s facing a $15 billion budget gap, slammed the news as "hyper-political parochialism" that will bankrupt his state and worsen the burden of responding to the pandemic.

"This is a major problem. It’s also a major disgrace. We have been talking about this for months, since before the election, and then after the election, people were supposed to put their politics aside and actually do their job. Apparently that hasn’t happened," Cuomo, a Democrat and the chairman of the National Governors Association, said Wednesday at a news conference in Albany [....]

grass roots on Twitter:

artappraiser — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 23:29:49 +0000

In reply to Stimulus checks back in the

grass roots on Twitter:

@ImagesByFresh supports #StimulusChecksNOW for Americans in need.

Please use one of these graphics in your tweet. Let's keep #StimulusChecksNOW trending together because #FreshVoicesRise.

RT please. pic.twitter.com/nIBcFUdfLy
— Southern Sister Resister - Wordsmith #WeAreFresh (@ResisterSis20) December 16, 2020

"Consumer spending accounts

artappraiser — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 23:15:42 +0000

In reply to Stimulus checks back in the

"Consumer spending accounts for roughly 70% of total economic growth, so propping up retail sales is central to any plans to stoke a recovery." https://t.co/cTNoYJJPJF
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) December 16, 2020

Stimulus checks back in the

artappraiser — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 23:12:38 +0000

In reply to Congress closes in on COVID-19 relief, funding deal

Stimulus checks back in the mix! (Yang gang lobbying influence?)

Bernie and Manchin got into a heated exchange on a private Dem call Wednesday, with Sanders insistent on more generous stimulus checks and Manchin staying firm in favor of robust unemployment insurance, per sources — w/ @JStein_WaPo @mikedebonis https://t.co/58gyjAOtIS
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) December 16, 2020

Politic version, current

artappraiser — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 05:37:17 +0000

In reply to Congress closes in on COVID-19 relief, funding deal

Politico version, current headline story:

Hill leaders nearing long-sought stimulus deal

They're moving quickly, with hopes of passing a sweeping relief package by week's end.

BY HEATHER CAYGLE, BURGESS EVERETT AND MARIANNE LEVINE Updated: 12/15/2020 11:27 PM EST