Nancy Previews House Stimulus Package
Let's get this past and put pressure on Moscow Mitch....No Corporate Bailouts!
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday offered an early glimpse of House Democrats' sweeping proposal to boost the crippled economy amid the coronavirus crisis, presenting it as a family-focused alternative to the Republicans' package, which Democrats deem too corporate-friendly.
The Speaker said she still intends to have the House return to Washington to vote on the package, but suggested such a step might not be necessary if Senate negotiators can seal a deal that wins the support of her House caucus.
"That's our hope, yes, but we'll see what the Senate does," Pelosi said from the Speaker's balcony in the Capitol.
House Democrats want to expand funding for unemployment insurance, offer student loan relief, extend the reach of food stamps, and bar corporations that receive federal help from buying back stocks or firing employees, among other provisions. The bill would also expand worker safety protections – like those governing the front-line medical workers dealing with infected patients – and require the Trump administration to enforce them.
The House bill, which is expected to be unveiled later Monday, arrives as Senate lawmakers are scrambling to break an impasse over a massive package designed to shore up the economy against the fallout caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has crashed markets, shuttered businesses and sparked mass layoffs across the country.
Senate leaders and White House economic officials had huddled all weekend in search of an agreement, but the sides remained far apart on Sunday, when Democrats united to prevent a GOP bill from advancing toward a final vote. Despite another round of talks Monday morning, Democrats blocked the measure a second time on Monday afternoon.
Democrats in both chambers have raised numerous objections with the Republican bill, saying it leans too heavily in favor of corporations while neglecting more vulnerable populations — including seniors, students, and the low- and middle-income workers — hit hardest by the crisis.
Pelosi summed up the Democrats' objections in a sentence.
"The Senate Republican bill put corporations first," she said.
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of course it does...because that's the voodoo that they do so well...
