This week, the US House voted in a virtual whip line 208 to 199, to pass the third Coronavirus Relief Bill, this time totaling some $3 Trillion. The bill represents yet another round of direct cash payments for Americans, and unemployment benefits to the end of January, hazard pay for front-line workers, virus-testing efforts, contact tracing and money treatment. Republicans maintain that the bill contains an unprecedented amount of “stimulus pork” which Democrats are using to buy votes for the coming election.
“This is a very strategically planned piece of legislation that is tailored strictly to meet the needs of the American people regarding the coronavirus pandemic,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “To do anything less would not be responsible.”
However, Pelosi’s package looks dead on arrival in the Senate. Democrats are claiming that the pandemic will worsen, as will the economic and public health toll, and so the bill sets the framework for more fiscal stimulus going forward.
“Instead of going big, it seems you went crazy,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). “This is a political messaging bill that has no chance of becoming law.”
The ideological and political lines are now drawn. Trump has already issued a veto warning if the Democratic bill reaches his desk. “This proposed legislation, however, is more concerned with delivering on longstanding partisan and ideological wishlists than with enhancing the ability of our Nation to deal with the public health and economic challenges we face,” said the White House.
“When the smoke clears, only China will be able to bail us out from our mountain of debt,” says FOX host Tucker Carlson.
Certainly, in partisan terms and with COVID still in full crisis mode, this situation has the potential to go ‘nuclear’. Is Washington heading for major gridlock amidst this historic crisis and an election year? Watch this provocative segment:
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