Ignoring the House of Representative augmented direct payment from $600 to $2,000, 78-year-old Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ga.) practically guaranteed that Republicans will lose control of the Senate Jan 5, when the Georgia runoff election deciding two Senate seats takes place. Instead of pretending it’s not an issue, McConnell decided to not take up the urge vote on increasing direct payments to cash-strapped citizens for whom a $600 payment would do very little. Asking McConnell to act swiftly, 74-year-old President Donald Trump made strange bedfellows with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who’s spearheading the $2,000 payment in the U.S. Senate. Sanders and other GOP Senators don’t understand Trump joining Democrats to back a $2,000 payment. Trump wants to leave office with a bang, something to be remembered in final days in office.
No one expected McConnell to rubber stamp the $2,000 but use it as a starting point for negotiation. When both Houses of Congress passed the $2.2 trillion March 27 CARES Act, they gave citizens $1,200 direct payments, $2,400 for couples or up to $4,000 for families earning $75,000 a person or $150,000 per family. McConnell has no business ignoring clearly what looks like an oversight in the latest stimulus bill that provides $900 billion for a variety of worthy causes including vaccine logistics, $300 a week in extended unemployment payments and billions more in payroll protection. “This week, the Senate will begin a process to bring three issues raised by Trump into focus,” not saying he wouldn’t take up the request for $2,000 payments. Sanders sees urgency of the vote due to the serious hardship under the Covid-19 pandemic, tossing millions out of work into bankruptcy and homelessness.
Trump finally signed the $900 billion stimulus bill Sunday night, realizing that whatever happens with the $600 direct payment, it’s better than nothing to get extended unemployment compensation and more urgent payroll protection for small businesses. Getting more cash into consumers’ pockets would provide stimulus to the economy, according to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jay Powell. President-elect Joe Biden’s economic adviser former Treasury Secretary and Harvard University President Larry Summers said direct payments to consumers would “over-heat the economy.” Both Summers and Powell can’t be right. Summers falls into the Grinch category raising improbable warnings. Most economists think giving stimulus to consumers would help the economy, not lead to inflation, or worse yet, hyperinflation, a fear of the older generation.
Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wholeheartedly backed the $2,000 stimulus payments saying it “could mean the difference between American families having groceries for a few extra weeks or going hungry.” Schumer wants his Republican Senate colleagues to pressure McConnell to take up the matter even if it means negotiating a lower amount. Most Senators would have no problems agreeing to $1,200 payments, the same amount in the CARES Act. “Will Senate Republicans fight for a vote on the House-passed [bill] or will they look some other way?” Schumer asked. All is not lost yet as McConnell mulls over his options in the next few days. When conservatives like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) favor the $2,000 payment you know McConnell can only resist so long until he’s forced to negotiate a bigger amount.
Republicans and Democrats spent over six months haggling over another Covid-19 stimulus bill. Fed Chairman Jay Powell asked Congress to act on stimulus to help the sputtering U.S. economy, no longer looking so rosy heading into 2021. Trump’s backing of the $2,000 check threw Republicans for a loop. Trump wants to leave office with a bang, putting his imprint on the last piece of legislation. Trump let Democrats stew for a few days before signing the $900 billion bill Sunday night. But now it’s McConnell’s time in the hot seat knowing that his future as Senate Majority Leader could ride on bumping up the direct payment from $600 to at least $1,200. No one said McConnell had to settle for $2,000, an arbitrary figure set by Trump and Democrats. Bumping up the payment to $1,200 would make a big difference to the millions of cash-strapped citizens due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Pushing hard for McConnell to play ball on increasing direct payments to $2,000, Sanders wants McConnelll to hold the vote to increase the direct payments right after the National Defense Authorization Act [NDAA] tomorrow, something McConnell resisted. Sanders plans to filibuster the vote on the NDAA until McConnell agrees to schedule a vote on the $2,000 check. “Working families need help now—not next years—but right now,” Sanders said on the Senate floor. “Now is the time for the Senate to step up to the plate and do what the working families of this country overwhelmingly want us to do,” urging McConnell to negotiate a bigger amount. Sanders said because of the Covid-19 recession. hunger in American is at the worst level it’s been in years. “Unless Republicans have a death wish, and it is also the right thing to do, they must approve the $2,000 payments ASAP. $600 IS NOT ENOUGH!” Trump tweeted.
