As the COVID pandemic rages on, both Democrats and Republicans generally agree a second stimulus bill is necessary in order to aid Americans.
The two parties, however, appear to be miles apart on what is to be included in the bill.
Democrats want to sneak in all sorts of socialist goodies, like Medicaid expansion.
They also want to see Democrat-controlled cities and states, like Chicago and California, to receive huge bailouts to combat fiscal mismanagement.
Well, President Trump understands the importance of the stimulus bill and he’s threatening executive action if Democrats don’t shape up and start acting reasonably.
The New York Post reports on Trump’s promised executive action:
President Trump said Thursday he plans to sign sweeping executive orders “tomorrow afternoon” if Democrats won’t agree to a new coronavirus stimulus bill.
Trump says he’s ready to revive a moratorium on evictions and a federal supplement for unemployment insurance, both of which lapsed last month. He also floated a temporary payroll tax cut and action on student loans.
“I’ve notified my staff to continue working on an Executive Order with respect to Payroll Tax Cut, Eviction Protections, Unemployment Extensions, and Student Loan Repayment Options,” Trump tweeted.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows previously gave Democrats a Friday afternoon deadline to make concessions.
On Capitol Hill, talks ground to a halt between White House reps and Democrats.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer held a press conference Thursday and refused to budge on a renewed $600/week federal supplement in unemployment. Republicans want to peg the boost to 70 percent of pre-pandemic pay.
Here’s the latest on Twitter over Trump’s threat:
Of course Democrats want to keep on extending the extra $600 unemployment benefits.
Many people are being paid more to sit at home and do nothing than they otherwise would working.
Republicans understand this and that's why they want to peg unemployment benefits to a worker's previous wages.
Democrats just want to keep people on welfare!
The Wall Street Journal reports how talks to come to an agreement on the stimulus bill are basically going nowhere now:
Talks between White House officials and Democratic leaders on a new coronavirus-aid package ended late Thursday without a breakthrough as both sides edged closer to the Trump administration’s Friday deadline for reaching a deal or leaving the bargaining table.
In postmeeting remarks to reporters, the two sides blamed each other, with White House officials saying that Democrats were unwilling to compromise and Democrats countering that the White House had refused to recognize the severity of the country’s economic and health crisis. Both accused each other of not moving enough in bridging the $1 trillion proposed by Senate Republicans and the $3.5 trillion backed by Democrats.
“We’re still a considerable amount apart in terms of a compromise that could be signed into law,” White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said after leaving a meeting with Democratic leaders. “The differences are still significant.”
“We’re very far apart,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.). Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said that, “They were unwilling to meet in the middle. They said it mostly had to be their way.”
Mr. Meadows said the priority remains reaching a broad deal, but President Trump has also authorized seeking a narrower deal, an approach Democrats have rejected. Mr. Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said they planned to brief Mr. Trump late Thursday on the state of talks.
Mr. Mnuchin cited large differences over the Democrats’ push to appropriate $1 trillion for state and local governments, part of their measure that passed the House in May. “The president is not going to do a deal that has a massive amount of money to bail out state and local,” he said.
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