Grasping for a Deal With Trump, House Will Vote on Coronavirus Relief Bill
Source: New York Times
WASHINGTON — The House prepared on Thursday to vote on a sweeping coronavirus relief package, pushing ahead with a measure to provide food security assistance, a substantial national paid sick leave program, free coronavirus testing and strengthened unemployment benefits for people affected by the spread of the pandemic and the resulting economic disruption...
But Ms. Pelosi dismissed concerns raised by Republicans who said they were not included in the drafting, referring directly to the majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a Republican. “Mitch McConnell called me and said, ‘You work with the secretary.’ That’s it,” she said, adding that she believed a bill could be moved quickly and that lawmakers, who are expected to leave Washington on Thursday for a schedule weeklong recess, would not need to extend their time in the Capitol...
The Democratic bill includes $500 million to provide assistance to low-income pregnant women and some mothers who are laid off because of the outbreak; $400 million to assist food banks; food assistance flexibility for low-income workers and children who rely on free and reduced school lunch programs and $250 million to deliver packaged meals to low-income seniors. It also establishes up to three months of emergency paid leave benefits to all workers affected by the coronavirus, as well as an extension of eligibility for unemployment insurance.
“More support is needed to address the impacts on American families,” said Representative Nita M. Lowey, Democrat of New York and chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, one of the architects of the package. “This bill will help ensure the physical safety and financial security of our nation’s working families during this time of crisis.”
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/us/politics/trump-house-coronavirus-relief-bill.html
Not happy with the NYT's headline spin since the House are the only leaders providing the MEANS to implement plans, whatever ones our fellow Americans in government use -- no thanks to this do-nothing president.
Republican resistance and arguments are predictably weak, and included in the article.
There is no other clear leadership today but that of the Democrats.
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