Two days before Christmas, House and Senate Democrats and Republicans reached a $900 billion stimulus relief deal, something long-awaited after the $2.2 trillion March 27 HEROES Act providing $1,200 in direct payments individuals, $2,400 a couple, up to $4,000 a family, including billions in Payroll Protect for small, medium and large businesses, and $600 extended employment benefits. This time around McConnell agreed to $600 payments, something 74-year-old President Donald Trump didn’t like. Trump asked McConnell to pay $2,000 a citizen Dec. 22, throwing the Democrat Party for a loop. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) convened Democrats to pass a stand-alone bill Dec. 28 for $2,000, putting more pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to match the amount. So far, McConnell has done everything possible to avoid a vote.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, defied McConnell asking Senate Republicans for a stand-along vote on $2,000 in direct payments to deal with the extraordinary financial hardship from the Covid-19 lockdowns around the country. With no end in sight to the virus, Graham thought, like Trump, that the $600 payments didn’t go far enough. McConnell acted like the Grinch, calling the suggested $2,000 payment “socialism for rich people.” McConnell gives new meaning to the “pot calling the kettle black.” Mtich’s wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, received up to $1 million in PPP cash for her family’s shipping business. Mitch’s “let them eat cake” attitude probably cost him his Majority Leader job when Georgia goes to the polls Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021 to pick Georgia’s next senators. Acting like the Grinch, Mitch probably sealed his fate.
Defying McConnell’s refusal to take up the $2,000 payment, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called on the Senate to stage a stand-alone vote, bumping up the $600 to $2,000. Graham thinks a stand-along measure to increase payments would pass the Republican controlled senate. Democrats aren’t all that worried now that Georgia’s two Democrat challengers are up in the polls heading to the runoff Jan. 5, 2021. Graham said he “is with the president on this,” separating himself from McConnell. Graham didn’t see any vote happening until Jan. 3, if not after the Georgia runoff. Graham said at least seven Republicans would vote to increase direct payments to $2,000, admitting he needs at least five more to make it happen. McConnell wanted Democrats to agree to a repeal of Section 230 liability protecting for social networking companies, shielding them for third-party lawsuits.
McConnell was willing to entertain a vote on $2,000 if Democrats agreed to repeal social media companies liability protection from third party suits, not to mention legislation to establish a Blue Ribbon Commission to investigate fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Calling $2,000 payments “socialism for rich Democrats,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) took great umbrage to McConnell’s remarks. Bernie remembers all to well Mitch’s wife’s family receiving up to $1 million in PPP cash from the $2.2 trillion CARES’s Act. Unlike McConnell, Bernie sees the suffering of ordinary Americans unable to work because of strict Covid-19 restrictions. McConnell and other fiscal conservatives in the Senate, like Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ak.), worry about the exploding national debt, taking another $300 billion to cover the $2,000 direct payments, adds insult-to-injury.
McConnell knows that only one practicing “socialism for rich people,” is he and his wife Elaine, taking up to $1 million in PPP. “Borrowing from our grandkids to do socialism for rich people is a terrible way to get help to families who actually need it,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. If it’s any consolation to Mitch, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jay Powell wholeheartedly backs the raise from $600 to $2,000 to stimulate consumer spending. McConnell doesn’t get the gravity of economic hardship to ordinary Americans, suffering under the weight of Covid-19 lockdowns, preventing ordinary people from earning a living. Powell made clear he sees not adverse effect to the economy to a boost in direct payments, something disputed by former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Summers said Dec. 25 that direct payments to consumers would “overheat” the economy.
McConnell wants Democrats to play ball to get their $2,000 payments, allowing a vote to repeal Section 230, the legal statute protecting social networking platforms from getting sued from third-party content. McConnell also told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) he wants to create a Blue Ribbon panel to investigate election fraud in the 2020 vote. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said McConnell’s two conditions are a deal breaker for Democrats. Republicans want Section 230 repealed after Facebook and Google censored the New York Post story Oct. 14 to prevent any bad news about 78-year-old President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. Once Facebook and Google went into the censorship business, they forfeited their protection under Section 230. When it comes to a Blue Ribbon Commission to investigate the 2020 vote, Democrat want no part of that.
