Joe Biden met with Republican and Democrat legislators this week to discuss his extremely controversial COVID19 relief package. In short he said the Republican’s more measured and targeted approach is “not even in the cards” and that he’s “OK with” targeting a “better number” than the $1.9 trillion of mostly pork the Dems already demand. That’s as long as they’ll have “his back”.
“Let’s stick together, I have your back and I hope you’ll have mine,” Biden told House Democrats in his first meeting with the group.
NBC Reports, Biden said he’s “not going to start my administration by breaking a promise to the American people” on $1,400 checks, the source said. “This package gets money into the pockets,” Biden also said, according to the source. “We can’t walk away from additional $1,400 in direct checks we proposed because people need, and frankly, they’ve been promised it. Maybe we can — I think we can better target that number. I’m OK with that.”
According to Politico,
“Biden told Democrats earlier on Wednesday that he’s open to refining key elements of his nearly $2 trillion proposal, while stressing the urgency of delivering a massive relief bill quickly to the pandemic-stricken nation.”
“Biden made clear earlier Wednesday that he would not shrink the overall size of his proposal to meet GOP demands. After a lengthy meeting Monday with GOP senators who pitched a $618 billion plan, Biden told Democrats that offer “was not even in the cards.”
Baynews9 reported that compromise with the GOP on ensuring the aid is targeted might not be off the table, “On the prospect of Republican compromise, Sen. Coons said that “we did have a conversation about the direct payments and how those might be modified in a way to ensure they’re targeted,” but added that Biden is “not going to forget the middle class.”
Chamber of Commerce urges Biden to heed GOP concerns over COVID relief package – https://t.co/VLRasC7M1V #OANN pic.twitter.com/2Xrt6CzqzR
— One America News (@OANN) February 4, 2021
Biden Ignores GOP Offer In Favor of Democrats’ Pork
In spite of urging from the US Chamber of Commerce to seriously consider compromising with Republicans concerns over the $1.9 trillion dollar boondoggle, Biden seems disinterested in hearing any meaningful opposition to his party’s runaway spending spree. OANN reports that, “According to Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley, Biden’s claims of seeking national unity are clearly contradicted by forcing the bill through Congress without GOP input.” and “Despite Republican objections to the bill, Psaki confirmed Biden “supports the efforts” of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to move this package forward.”
According to CNBC the “Democrats’ proposal includes $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, a $400 per week federal jobless benefit through September, and $350 billion for state, local and tribal relief. It also puts $170 billion into K-12 schools and higher education institutions, along with $20 billion into a national vaccination program, among a slew of other provisions.”
Oh, what are the “other provisions” (read: PORK) you ask? How dare you. (It took a lot of digging to find this buried in CNN, very few mainstream articles are linking to the actual details of the proposal. The author feels this is intentional obfuscation)
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Rental assistance and eviction moratorium– $25 billion in rental assistance for low- and moderate-income households who have lost jobs during the pandemic. That’s in addition to the $25 billion lawmakers provided in December. Another $5 billion would be set aside to help struggling renters to pay their utility bills.
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Help for the hungry–Biden would extend the 15% increase in food stamp benefits through September, instead of having it expire in June. He would invest another $3 billion to help women, infants and children secure food, and give US territories $1 billion in nutrition assistance.
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More money for child care and child tax credits-$25 billion emergency fund and add $15 billion to an existing grant program to help child care providers, including family child care homes, to pay for rent, utilities, and payroll, and increased costs associated with the pandemic like personal protective equipment.
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A temporarily increase of tax credits– Boost the Child Tax Credit to $3,600 for children under age 6 and $3,000 for those between ages 6 and 17 for a year. The credit would also be made fully refundable.
And he proposes to raise the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit for a year to close to $1,500 for childless adults, increase the income limit for the credit to about $21,000 and expand the age range of eligibility to cover older workers. - Emergency paid leave– Reinstate the paid sick and family leave benefits that expired at the end of December until September 30.
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Aid for states and schools– $350 billion to state, local and territorial governments to keep their frontline workers employed, distribute the vaccine, increase testing, reopen schools and maintain vital services. Note: This is despite the fact that $60 billion of aid from the previous stimulus remains unspent.
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A $15 hourly minimum wage– Despite reports from the Congressional Budget Office that this would render 1.3 to 3.7 million Americans unemployed by 2025 “The last thing this economy needs as we attempt to recover is the loss of 1.3 to 3.7 million jobs,” Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, said Tuesday.
Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that “Biden does not think the $618 billion proposal contains sufficient funding to provide direct relief to most Americans, safely reopen schools, and ramp up the pace of vaccinations — components of a relief package that “are all a priority to the president,” Psaki said Tuesday. In other words, he wants it all or will take his ball and go play with the Democrats only. So much for his dedication to a “bi-partisan solution”.
