Dems in Disarray Over COVID Relief

Nancy Pelosi continues playing games with the livelihood of Americans.

Posted on Sep 17, 2020

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is again defying the majority of her party to delay taking necessary action on COVID relief legislation.

Pelosi has wasted time and multiple opportunities to negotiate a deal with the White House, and now members of her party are speaking out against her. Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) said, “Get something done. Get something done!”

 

For weeks Pelosi has tried to peddle a message justifying her stalled efforts, but those paying the real price are working-class Americans who are out of a job or in need of extra financial assistance due to the Coronavirus.

 

Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) said, “We can‘t wait around forever for the proposal we think is the perfect proposal and that obviously won’t be helpful to anybody. Time is of the essence here.”

 

Bloomberg reported:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected calls from some House Democratic moderates to hold a vote on a new, smaller stimulus bill and doubled down on her push to get the White House to agree to a $2.2 trillion package.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Wednesday that President Donald Trump wants to get a stimulus deal and it is Pelosi who has been “fundamentally unserious.”

Centrists in the Problem Solvers Caucus, which includes 25 Democrats, on Tuesday backed a $1.5 trillion compromise plan that would automatically rise to $2 trillion if the pandemic persists. Pelosi also rebuffed this idea.

Why is Pelosi playing politics with relief money that many Americans require? Because it would be coming from the Trump Administration.

Unlike Pelosi, President Trump is not standing in the way of families receiving more stimulus despite Democrats’ games. He has passed a series of executive actions to help put money back into the hands of taxpayers, waive loan interest, and delay evictions and foreclosures.

In August, the President signed:

President Trump has consistently said facing job insecurity or financial hardship is at no fault of the American people, therefore the government should step in and provide temporary assistance to push through this time.

Politico reported:

[…] Pelosi has roundly resisted calls from some Democrats to negotiate a smaller coronavirus deal or put targeted bills on the floor addressing specific aspects of the pandemic including testing, unemployment aid and small business loans.

Talks between Pelosi and the White House, led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have been stalled for weeks, even as the coronavirus continues to devastate the U.S. economy, leaving millions without jobs and at risk of losing their homes. More than 6.5 million Americans have been infected with the virus and more than 194,000 have died.

Pelosi should work with the Trump Administration to pass a smaller relief bill while larger negotiations take place to provide stimulus to unemployed Americans.

Getting assistance to the most vulnerable populations should take precedence, and legislators need to promptly pass legislation to help those who are unemployed at no fault of their own.