Under threat of a progressive revolt, the House Narrowly Passes $3 Trillion Aid Package
The House narrowly passed a sprawling, $3 trillion coronavirus-relief package Friday night, capping a weeklong effort by Democratic leaders to quash rebellions from various wings of their party.
The House bill includes about $1 trillion in direct aid to states and localities, including grants and education assistance, to deal with the effects of the pandemic. It would put a new round of one-time cash payments into Americans’ bank accounts, extend the duration of enhanced jobless benefits, help cover some rents and mortgages, forgive some student-loan debt and send premium pay to essential workers in fields such as health care.
The bill overcame a key hurdle Friday night when Democratic leaders were able to beat back a Republican effort to strip out a contentious provision enabling undocumented immigrants who have tax identification numbers to receive direct stimulus payments. Key blocs of liberal and Hispanic lawmakers had threatened to oppose the overall bill if that measure were removed, but voting to preserve it was a political challenge for more centrist Democrats, particularly those in districts won by President Trump.
Republicans made clear that the bill has no prospect of advancing in the GOP-led Senate. “It’s a parade of absurdities that can hardly be taken seriously,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Thursday on Fox News. Mr. McConnell said that he had spoken recently with President Trump and cabinet officials and that they agree another bill is probably necessary but that “it’s not going to be a $3 trillion left-wing wish list like the speaker is apparently going to try to jam down the throats of her majority.”
Undocumented Definition
Undocumented means illegal.
But it is politically incorrect to be correct.
Dead on Arrival
The bill of course is dead on arrival in the Senate.
Heck even 14 Democrats could not stomach the bill, and that’s saying quite a lot.
Undocumented Giveaway in California
Meanwhile, in California, Governor Newsom will give $125 million to “undocumented immigrants” affected by coronavirus.
They can apply for Covid-19 Relief starting Monday.
California is home to more than 2 million undocumented immigrants who aren’t eligible to receive unemployment or stimulus checks from the government.
But the state has set up funding to help support them during the coronavirus crisis, providing $125 million through a public-private partnership. It’s been touted as the first fund of its kind to support undocumented immigrants. The state will contribute $75 million to the fund, with the remaining $50 million coming from private philanthropic partners.
Public-Private Giveaway
California is willing to give $75 million in taxpayer money to illegal immigrants if private philanthropic partners contribute $50 million to the pot.
Lovely.
This Mess Could Have Been Largely Solved
On January 24, 2018, Democrats offered Trump $20 billion for a wall. .
Senate minority leader Schumer went to the White House and told Trump he could have his wall. “The president picked a number for the wall, and I accepted it,” Schumer recalled in the midst of the shutdown. He had agreed to a significant sum of money for the wall—reported to be $20 billion, though the Democrat’s office will neither confirm nor deny that figure—in exchange for Trump’s support of permanent protections for the nearly 700,000 young undocumented immigrants covered under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Negotiation Points
- Dreamers need to verify address
- Dreamers need to have no criminal background
- Dreamers need to have been in the US for x number of years (x negotiable)
- Dreamers need to apply for a Dreamer’s Card and will immediately be accepted if they meet the above criteria
- Dreamers not applying for a card and caught in a crime would immediately be deported
- e-Verify tightened
That was one hell of a great starting point that Schumer threw on Trump’s lap.
Instead, Trump got next to nothing for a wall and we still have an immigration mess.
Some of these illegals have been here 5 years or longer, have kids that are US citizens, and are productive members of society.
Instead of verifying criminal backgrounds and granting a path for citizenship for those who have been her five years or more, the plan is to slosh around money to all the illegals on a first come first serve basis in California, and to all of them in the House Plan.
This kind of progressive nonsense will not help the Democrats in November.
Mish
Illegals are illegals not ‘dreamer’s They shouldn’t get a dime.
Red herring Mr. Purple I’ve heard it ever since I was in social work school.
Why don’t we allow some States to go bankrupt and see who will work for what money.
Pay a fair amount of money for goods made in the United States from Americans.
Virus won’t last because everything in China a throw away.
People won’t pay extra for made in the USA. Oh sure, a few will but not enough to scale factories to make them them profitable. You’d have to heavily tariff overseas products from China, India, Bangladesh, etc. who would then retaliate in kind.
Why did bread used to cost 10 cents a loaf and an apartment $35/month (like my grandfather paid in NYC during the 1930’s)? Why are loaves of bread now $2.50 to $5/loaf? Why does a one bedroom apartment in the SF Bay Area now run $2200/month and up? Why are 17% of the people in CA considered to be at poverty levels? Why are food lines miles long now?
Because prices keep rising but wages never matched rising prices!
You’d probably need to give everyone at least $30/hr to allow them to live comfortably in many metropolitan locations in the USA. The problem with this is that few would want to pay the cost of the products that this expensive labor produced.
The only real solution will be to replace most/all human workers with automation & robots. Cost s can be held steady for machines but not for humans.
And of course:
16 May 20
U.S. Secret Service: “Massive Fraud” Against State Unemployment Insurance Programs
A well-organized Nigerian crime ring is exploiting the COVID-19 crisis by committing large-scale fraud against multiple state unemployment insurance programs, with potential losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a new alert issued by the U.S. Secret Service.
California governor Newsom floated the idea of cutting government salaries 10%. This is to help pay for handouts to illegal aliens the state so graciously welcomed in “sanctuary cities”
I don’t think this bill is dead on arrival. Republican Senators want to get reelected and financially help their States too. House Democrats threw in a bunch of stuff to negotiate away like saving the US post office and helping immigrants, but Republicans always do the same and throw in different things like killing Planned Parenthood or directing public money to private schools. McConnell may let some Senators vote against his version, but the States will receive a massive infusion of cash. Everyone spends money in Washington. Watch what they do, not what they say.
Liberalism does not have to be logical, or truthful, as those who practice it do not understand either…
Swing for the fences. You are either playing offense of defense in life.
The dems are very good at playing offense. That’s why things keep pushing left.
Every State with a huge farming industry (like California) is completely reliant on undocumented labor. One proposed solution is to put an ICE agent at every farm during planting and harvesting season. Our food prices would rise but that’s the trade off. Illegal labor would not exist without illegal employers.
We got this problem in the UK but its a no-brainer if the migrant has a tax number. That means that they are ‘documented’ and have been paying in.
What is incomprehensible is the millions of ‘off the books’ workers in the retarded / backward southern EU. Many are multiple generations working for the same ‘family’ business but none actually exist there; none have ever paid into the system or had any protection from Worker’s Rights. So in a Covid-19 crisis like now getting no help from the State.
Yet the southern ex-fascist EU has several decades of their absurd version of socialism and workers rights politics that specifically apes the longer, more established – century or more old socialism in the evolved EU. So obviously – as these millions of ‘off the books’ workers show – a total, expensive (as their elections get millions in EU funds) irrelevance to the elite business owners!
The local papers here in the SF Bay Area are running daily stories about Newsom and politicians of all stripes crying crocodile tears about CA’s anticipated $54 billion budget shortfall, how many “services” are going to have to be cut and how many civil service workers are going to have to be fired IF Washington DC doesn’t come through with massive $$$! CA chose to shutdown the economy, listening to the white lab coats instead of common sense. Now the price must be paid. Actions have consequences!
May 15, 2020
No Blue State Bailouts: Hold Democrats Accountable for Democrats’ Policies
By William Sullivan
Every State has the same financial problems. Please name me a State that isn’t in huge financial trouble. Is your article calling Trump a progressive doomsday prophet? He’s the one who projected a minimum of 100k deaths and he recommended that all States take action. He admonished Georgia for reopening too quickly.
“Every State has the same financial problems.”
There are two separate issues: Covid shutdown financial problems and pre Covid government mismanagement financial problems, particularly in states such as Illinois, which has been often covered here. Democrats want their lavish tax payer bankrupting pensions bailed out, thereby evading needed pension reform. That has nothing to do with the Covid crisis.
“He’s the one who projected a minimum of 100k deaths…” No, actually Trump repeated someone else’s projections. It was Ferguson that projected 2 million U.S. dead, then revised it down, as his modeling math was faulty.
The method for distributing stimulus money to the States is based on the census and is evenly spread peanut butter. Some States are in deeper financial trouble than others for sure, but they won’t get more or less than the per capita rate. Trump chose which model he believed the most and he gave it huge weight by sharing it and telling all Governors to act accordingly. I think that’s fine because he was 100% correct that we will have more than 100k deaths at the low end. Do you disagree with him? Who is Ferguson?
P.S. – everyone please complete your census forms. Each person is worth an average of $15k over 10 years to their State and locals. In a year like this, it’s worth way more because of the giant stimulus spend which gets spread out per capita to all States. For instance, the last batch of covid State money was given not based on your number of covid cases, but based on your number of State residents. It pays to get everyone counted in your census.
Oh – I found Ferguson. It’s a London-based group (Imperial College of London) that Trump, Fauci and Birx use when they calculate the number of lives saved vs. if we had done no lockdowns. That’s how they are arriving at the millions of lives saved figure.
Code Review of Ferguson’s Model
by Sue Denim (not the author’s real name)
5 May 2020
Imperial finally released a derivative of Ferguson’s code. I figured I’d do a review of it and send you some of the things I noticed. I don’t know your background so apologies if some of this is pitched at the wrong level.
May 14, 2020
The Danger of Letting Lab Coats Run the World
By Bill Dunne
It should be clear by now that most of the world’s leaders were stampeded over the lockdown cliff like so many lemmings. What caused the stampede is even more remarkable: a tiny coterie of obscure, soft-spoken epidemiologists in white lab coats playing with numbers.
Newsom and Breed (mayor of SF) have also spent a lot of money moving the homeless into individual hotel rooms, supposedly to reduce the possible transmission of CV19. They also get their addictions taken care of with free delivery of alcohol and cigarettes (and drugs?).
Of course, there is no plan as to what to do with the homeless in these hotel rooms once the economy is reopened and the hotel managers no longer want them in their hotels. Or if they will be able to clean the bed bugs left behind.
These are not five star hotel rooms like the Marriott or the Hilton, with maid and room service. These are flop houses which charge daily, weekly and even hourly rates depending on your circumstances. I wouldn’t get too upset over it.
The main thing is to get them off the streets so they don’t end up in the ER.
Endless debt
Republicans: Socialism for Wall Street, capitalism for the working class! How dare those Democrats spend even 1% of the printing press on Mexican taxpayers!
How about freedom and personal responsibility? No walls, no free money, just freedom.
“How about freedom and personal responsibility? No walls, no free money, just freedom.”
You were born 150 years too late. And perhaps 150 too early. In the meantime, we’ll remain a totalitarian hellhole of a slave state, without a single redeeming quality left whatsoever.
I am probably being cynical here, but I think Pelosi wants the bill to be dead in the Senate. She/Dems need to help all the people in dire situations, but if there is too much help then that would boost Trump in November. People vote with their wallets, and empty wallets will favor change. With this bill, she and Democrats can take credit for trying to help without actually helping. They need enough garbage in the bill to make sure the Republicans can’t stomach it. If Republicans/Trump somehow decide to pass it, that is a win for her/Dems too. Its a win either way for Democrats.
Frankly, it is issues like this and even legal immigration visas (H1B, L1 etc) for labor that will cause the Democrats to lose. They simply cannot get on the right side of these issues anymore. Trump is the only one that is with American citizens in this right. The Republicans and Democrats both are owned by corporations that want cheap labor. Trump will have success if he pivots to this issue come fall.
It was the lack of cheap labor that led to all the outsourcing in the first place. Either let the labor come here or move the jobs over there.
That is a myth created by tech companies back in the 90s. You are going back to like 1999. That economy is gone. The last two recessions (and this one) there will be plenty of overqualified people out of work. There will also be 500k new college grads who are citizens looking for jobs. Corporations will look to reduce commercial real estate footprint and let people work from home. But they will still need to verify that people are legal. The real reason companies are reluctant to hire is because of health insurance. Most income gains have gone to paying premiums for employees since 2000. Medicare for all or some single payer type system where a public option is guaranteed would actually be a net positive for corporations because it would remove the need for them to even offer health insurance. But Washington is a place where the biggest lobbies are insurance, insurance and insurance.
Well the way i see it. If the republicans really want to stop illegals. They would stiffen the fines on companies hiring them. To the pt where businesses would not hire them. Of course they would have to raise wages to motivate Americans to do those jobs. Which would save money on boarder control /cost of a wall. Its everything republicans want. Oh except corporate profits for their actual base. So its the same ole hot topic The use to divided us since i can remember. Same with guns/ abortion /ect.
Welcome to George Costanza’s Human Fund – Money for People.
What have vee got here: partisan politiczs as usual?
Are zee Repugnicants screaming “Wrong paperz! No money for you!” again?
I call foul on use of the term “undocumented” when the PEOPLE in question have “TAX ID’S”.
From the article: a “provision enabling undocumented immigrants WHO HAVE tax identification numbers to receive direct stimulus payments.”
For those lacking the compassion gene, the catch phrase “Leave no taxpayer behind” may resonate more.
California an other states grant IDs to illegals. That does not make them legal.
And those Tax IDs are issued to farm workers and strawberry pickers. Jobs no American would be caught dead doing. Well, maybe before Covid.
California’s agriculture would collapse without illegal aliens. I suspect a few other states would suffer too.
Hard to have your cake while eating it.
re: “Jobs no American would be caught dead doing”
Allow me to correct that for you: “Jobs no American would be caught dead doing at that price.”
Agreed. All things equal. But let’s face it, those jobs won’t pay $20/hr. + benefits. So if you get rid of cheap illegal labor, the replacements will be robots.
This is Rome, 475 A.D.
Prepare yourselves accordingly.
Who is the fiddler?
Rome 2020
Illegal immigrants (i.e. anyone because the borders are closed?) are put on a cruise ship for quarantine. Cost per person per month 4200 euros.
Something funny about that ship, seems to be the same one that housed the spanish police off Barcelona when they tried a referendum there, maybe it’s just a well connected spare or there is a very daring graffiti artist around :/
If we can do so much good with Tr$3, why don’t we spend Tr$30. After all, according to Cuomo and the Dems, every life is priceless, which is a hell of a lot more than even Tr$30.
The most beautiful sight I could ever hope to see would be Nancy Pelosi hanging by her neck from a lamp post…..
How about we end aid to everyone and let everyone stand on their own feet?
To be fair there imbalance of power in this country has reached epic proportions where it’s not feasible for many to make a living with the jobs available. We don’t have capitalism anymore, which is what you’re referring to with your comment. I don’t think throwing around free money without figuring out how we pay for it without robbing the commoners is the right thing either. Blanket statements like “everyone fend for themsevles” only works in a world with equal access to opportuniy to actually stand on their own feet. I think most would welcome that chance.
Handing money out to everyone who can fog a mirror in the name of stopping a health crises is completely insane. It is especially insane that government will pay people more to be unemployed than to be employed. Our congress should take a break from spending long enough to figure out if there is something they can do that is helpful other than give everybody money the US must borrow into existence.
If the MATH+ treatment protocol keeps people out of ICU and off of ventilators as the ER doctors who explain it claim it does, then our leaders are totally going the wrong direction. Even if the current path they are on does not completely fail, with everyone wearing masks and PPE and observing social distancing until a vaccine is developed, productivity will fall and costs will increase over the next 12+ months so much that the economic hit is guaranteed to be huge and long lasting. That economic hit may be avoidable.
I think the correct course is to set up many temporary field hospitals dedicated to COVID-19 patients and supply them with plenty of Methylprednisolone, Ascorbic Acid IV, Thiamine, Heparin, Vitamin D, and Zinc (M.A.T.H.+). The field hospitals can be a mixture of small and large leased locations. Then, let…the…virus…rip. No PPE, no social distancing, no anything. Anyone in a high risk group can choose to isolate themselves and wear N95 masks at their own discretion. People who get COVID-19 and need medical intervention will go to one of the field hospitals and receive MATH+ to get them through. The field hospitals should be able to expand enough to handle the volume of patients because only a cot, food and IV drugs are needed. ICU and other hospital level care is not required. Society will have herd immunity in 2 or 3 months and life will return to normal afterward. It is a plan that is reasonably short, has a definitive end, and the vast majority of people will get to the other side with immunity where society can recover. Those who choose to isolate themselves can take the vaccine if and when it becomes available.
That should be the plan, yes? What am I missing?
What you’re missing is that MATH+ has not been verified. Could well be the next chloroquinine.
Don’t you mean the next remdesavir?
Well, MATH+ is in use in some locations in the US, so its effectiveness (or lack of effectiveness) certainly can be verified. There are plenty of cases to test it on, and it is appropriate for treatment of patients that present to the hospital after having been sick for 7+ days. It should be possible to get independent peer reviewed field comparisons within 2 or 3 weeks if that has not already been done.
Regarding hydroxychloroquine, I have seen lots of studies the news has used to prove it is not helpful. Every study that I have actually looked at closely is not valid for one reason or another. (1) It is meant to be used as an antiviral and is only helpful if used early. The studies cited have used it late. (2) The studies reviewed its use where only sicker patients received it as a treatment, and those patients have worse odds no matter what is done for them, plus it was used too late. (3) The studies mostly have not included zinc with the treatment. A more recent study shows hydroxychloroquine is not as effective if not used with zinc. It almost seems as if those studies showing it does not work were designed to make it fail.
” almost seems as if those studies showing it does not work were designed to make it fail.”
Exactly. There is only one acceptable solution.
Go to Mars. I mean, Vaccine Vaccine Vaccine
Don’t forget the bogus “HCQ is Bad” study that gave people HUGE, almost toxic, levels and then happily proclaimed HCQ had bad side effects for treating covid. What a pathetic joke that the cowardly public who believe the covid-fear mongers, can’t simply understand why a safe medication used on children, elderly etc for over 60 years -is suddenly DANGEROUS and BANNED. ..because it will not allow the. Covid con job and plandemic for the Neo-feudal “Great Reset” Totalitarian technocracy run by the Elite.
You’re taking this corona business a little bit too literally.
There is only one acceptable solution.
Go to Mars. I mean, Vaccine Vaccine Vaccine
They’re also using hcq, but somewhat reluctant to list it too obviously b/c of the political animus.
I’m not challenging MATH+ (see my handle! …. no, not really related ) or HCQ+zinc but I see one thing missing … Like so many, you say “Society will have herd immunity in 2 or 3 months” when the existence of, effectiveness of, duration of any post-COVID-19 immunity is a complete unknown at this time.
“duration of any post-COVID-19 immunity is a complete unknown at this time.”
Of course that is true. There will be no knowing for certain until after this is over. However, this is a coronavirus and there are several other endemic coronaviruses in the world which are responsible for about 1/3 of what we call “cold symptoms.” Immunity to those lasts a couple of years each time someone gets one, and then one can get the same “cold” again. There is no reason to think this will be any different, with the one caveat that none of the adults alive in the world today were ever exposed to this new virus when they were kids, so it is potentially a big deal the first time around for them. It is a telling clue that almost all young kids barely get any symptoms when they are infected with this.
Part of MATH+ is to use an anti-viral as soon as the patient tests positive, which could be HCQ, Ivermectin, or Remdesivir, but cease the anti-viral once the patient has advanced symptoms.
$60k a year in unemployment and food stamps until Jan 2021, even if you were only making $20k while working. How is that fair to the people who are still busting their asses, risking their lives, and getting $30k? If you want to be generous, match state benefits 50c on the dollar. Then people top out at 75% of their original salary plus $1,000 month in food stamps.
There’s no place for morality in this brave new world.
Several Republicans, including Ben Sasse, tried to stall the first bill until what they called a “Serious drafting error” was corrected. They were told it was not an error, it was completely intentional to pay these people far more than they were making. Note that you only mention unemployment and food stamps. There are numerous other programs, such as medicaid, energy and housing assistance, etc, so I would guess their net income is far over the 60k figure you gave.
The bright spot is that they are flush with cash, and spending like crazy. Even in April their spending was higher than last year. Meanwhile, small business owners and people with jobs have dramatically curtailed their spending as they can’t afford to spend.
If Trump have given amnesty he would have lost half his supporters, at least.
This is a bailout for the state disguised as stimulus,just like the last “stimulus”bill was a bailout for corporations and another multi trillion back door bailout for banks (again)!Main street will get another $1200 tip to make it look legit,but it’s stimulus in name only!
Given the Dimocrats total lack of understanding of economics, this is no surprise. Import voters and pay them. What could go wrong: except the destruction of the nation. Adios America!
Depressing to reflect that the Rethuglicans likewise have a total lack of economics.
Mostly
This ‘nonsense’ will bring votes galore, not necessarily from US citizens. It is why I bought gold some two years ago. The ship is going down, and the lifeboats were built in China.
“… the lifeboats were built in China.”
Now THAT’s funny! Well, 50% of them should float, which is nice.
I’ve only recently bought physical, about a month ago, when I noticed the buillion exchange in my town had closed due to “covid-19”. A mentor taught me years ago that should I ever see the exchanges closed for “reasons” that I would know it’s game on. The exchange in my town said I can expect to see my first 100oz bar of silver to arrive in 3 months after I paid for it. Captain, you seem to know what you’re talking about, should I expect the bar to arrive in Vancouver, Canada around early July as expected? Do you know what to expect as a result of all this “force majeur” I’ve read about?
ZeroHedge might get this one right. In order for more trillions to pass, we need another market crash.
To criticize illegal aliens is racism, according to many. But the actual race is never defined. Weird.
yayaya When do I get my check??