Conservative Republicans Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Rick Scott (R-FL) didn't vote yesterday, but the Senate finally passed the Coronavirus bill the House passed 6 days ago. I don't think McConnell and his cronies understand what exponential growth means. From Tuesday to Wednesday, Italy reported 4,207 confirmed new cases. German reported 2,0960 and Spain reported 2,920. And then came the U.S. which is not testing anywhere near the other countries-- but still reported 1,609 new cases between Tuesday and Wednesday. The dithering by McConnell and the Republicans who control the Senate is nothing short of criminal.It passed 90-8. So which crackpot Republicans voted against fighting COVID-9? You can probably guess most of them.
• Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)• Jim Inhofe (R-OK)• Ron Johnson (R-WI)• Jim Lankford (R-OK)• Mike Lee (R-UT)• Rand Paul (R-KY)• Ben Sasse (R-NE)• Tim Scott (R-SC)
The $104 billion bill increases unemployment insurance and guarantees free diagnostic testing for the coronavirus and provides up to 10 days of paid sick leave for some workers-- capping that at companies with 500 employees and allowing for companies with fewer than 50 employees to apply for a waiver. Par for the course, Republicans flipped out over the paid sick leave, which they vehemently oppose. Nebraska Republican Ben Sasse, showing his true colors, was opposed to the bill because he thinks it costs too much. "There is a herd mentality around this building right now where a lot of normally smart people are literally saying things like: The most important thing is to be fast, even if the ideas that are being advocated for are not really ready for prime time and can't really withstand the scrutiny of debate. That is a really dumb idea."And yesterday, as you probably know, the first member of Congress to test positive for coronavirus, Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) announced he's feeling better. A bunched Florida lawmakers-- many who have been hanging around Mar-A-Lago, Trump's fecal swamp, have been quarantined, including one of the two senators who didn't vote yesterday, Rick Scott.