Article by Paula Bolyard in "PJMedia":
Senate and White House negotiators reached an agreement early Wednesday morning on a $2 trillion stimulus package to help businesses and families affected by the coronavirus epidemic and to bolster the economy. The agreement clears the way for the package to sail through both houses of Congress on its way to President Trump. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters that Trump will sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk.“Ladies and gentlemen, we are done. We have a deal,” Eric Ueland, the White House legislative affairs director, announced at around 1 a.m., after five days of tense negotiations between leaders of the two parties and the White House.
Not long after, Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer (D-N.Y.) took to the Senate floor to announce they had reached
an agreement after a long day of negotiations with Mnuchin, Ueland, and
others.
"It's good news for the
doctors and nurses around the country who are waiting for more masks and
more funding. It's good news for families across America. At last, we
have a deal," McConnell announced. "After days of intense discussion
the Senate has reached a bipartisan agreement on a historic relief
package for this pandemic."
"It will rush new resources
onto the front lines of this healthcare fight and it will inject
trillions of dollars of cash into the economy as fast as possible to
help American families, workers, small businesses, and industries and
make it through this disruption and emerge ready to soar," he added.
"I"m thrilled that we're
finally going to deliver for the country, which has been waiting for us
to step up," McConnell continued. "I'm relieved my Democratic colleagues
are ready to take yes for an answer. This has been a long week for the
Senate, but it's been a much longer week for the hundreds of millions of
Americans who find themselves in this strange new reality, where every
morning brings new worries about their health, about their loved ones,
about whether their job or small business will still exist at this time
next week." He said he expects the Senate to pass the legislation later
today.
"After five days of arduous
negotiations, after sleep-deprived nights and marathon negotiating
sessions, we have a bipartisan agreement on the largest rescue package
in American history," Schumer said. "This is not a moment of
celebration, but one of necessity. The anguish of the American people
wondering about the future of their health, the health of their loved
ones, and the economy necessitated us to do all we can to help them and
help our country."
Schumer said the agreement "reflects those Democratic priorities and we are proud that they are now part of this legislation."
Schumer lauded his
colleagues, saying that because both Republicans and Democrats "were
willing to do the serious and hard work," the bill is "much improved."
He outlined four "pillars" of the bill:
- A Marshall Plan for hospitals and medical needs
- Rescuing American workers who are affected by the epidemic
- Strict oversight, transparency, and accountability of all loans made to corporate America
- Real resources for state and local governments
"Help is on the way. Big help
and quick help. We're going to pass this package to care for those who
are now caring for us and help carry millions of Americans through these
dark economic times," Schumer concluded.
The bill reportedly includes
- $500 billion in loans to major corporations adversely affected by the crisis
- $367 billion small business loans
- $250 billion unemployment ins benefits
- $250 billion in payments to families
- $100 billion for hospitals
Americans making under $75,000 will reportedly receive a one-time check of $1,200.
This the second in what is
likely to be a series of bills aimed at helping Americans and
stimulating the economy. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)
suggested earlier this week that there may be five packages by the time
they're finished.
White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said that the multi-phase stimulus could top and unprecedented $6 trillion.
“The total package here comes
to roughly $6 trillion: $2 trillion direct assistance, roughly $4
trillion in federal reserve lending power,” Kudlow said. “Again, it will
be the largest main street financial package in the history of the
United States.”
Bo Snerdly on Tuesday night asked the question many of the rest of us are asking:
I understand the need for relief. I understand a stimulus package.
What I don't understand - and can't find answers to - is where the 2 trillion dollars will be coming from. Exactly.
What I don't understand - and can't find answers to - is where the 2 trillion dollars will be coming from. Exactly.
The answer, of course, is that
no one knows. Our children and grandchildren, no doubt, but likely many
future generations as well. Those of us who were around during the Tea
Party glory days remember well the U.S. Debt Clock.
No one talks about it anymore (why is that... have we given up?) but
it's worth revisiting so we can put the $2 trillion package in
perspective:
Two trillion seems like a
drop in the bucket compared to the $23 trillion national debt, but when
you consider that the federal budget is $4.6 trillion and tax revenues
are only $3.4 trillion, you can see that we have a very serious math
problem. "Serious" doesn't even begin to describe the enormity of the
profligate spending that has grown year by year under both Republican
and Democrat leadership. It is now set to explode exponentially in the
hopes that the massive infusion of cash into the economy will keep us
from falling into a recession —or worse, another Great Depression.
We'll have to wait until
later today to find out what's in the bill, but the numbers listed above
only add up to $1.46 trillion. How many concessions did McConnell have
to give Schumer to get him to sign on the dotted line? We can't say at
this point, but one thing is almost certain: bills rushed through
quickly and under the cover of darkness almost always end up being
loaded with goodies for lobbyists, and pet projects like funding the
Green New Deal and Planned Parenthood, none of which have anything to do
with the coronavirus pandemic but both of which were insisted upon by Democrats. That said...
Senior GOP source re Schumer’s take on the deal:
- It’s the same bill “with marginal changes.”
- He’s “trying to take credit” for the structure he filibustered and delayed for “small ball” alterations.
- Face saving exercise, Dems realized this couldn’t drag on much longer.
- It’s the same bill “with marginal changes.”
- He’s “trying to take credit” for the structure he filibustered and delayed for “small ball” alterations.
- Face saving exercise, Dems realized this couldn’t drag on much longer.
It appears that after a week of theatrics and tantrums by Democrats,
including Schumer, that Cocaine Mitch was able to hold the line and
limit the bill (mostly?) to legitimate pandemic relief efforts.
Democrats delayed aid to hurting families for nothing. Let's hope they
pay the price for their cynical attempted power-grab in November.