Biden Not Backing Down on $1,400 Stimulus Checks
Biden still wants huge stimulus checks but he is Open to Sending the Checks to Smaller Group.
Mr. Biden told House Democrats on Wednesday that he wouldn’t change the amount of the proposed $1,400 payments, saying people had been promised that amount, according to the people.
Beyond sending money to many Americans, the $1.9 trillion proposal would direct aid to state and local governments, provide funds for distributing Covid-19 vaccines and enhance federal unemployment benefits. Money would go toward schools, child-care facilities and renters under the plan, which also seeks to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Republicans have called Mr. Biden’s plan too expensive and premature after Congress approved roughly $900 billion in aid in December, and they have criticized provisions like raising the minimum wage as unrelated to the pandemic. A proposal advanced by 10 Senate Republicans would provide $618 billion in relief, paring back Mr. Biden’s proposals on unemployment insurance and direct checks and eliminating others.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Democrats “seem desperate to make their first act in power the same kind of massive, partisan, poorly targeted borrowing spree that permanently wounded the last Democratic presidency right out of the gate.”
A Word About Dawdling
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer does not want to dawdle.
“We cannot dawdle, we cannot delay, we cannot dilute, because the troubles that this nation has and the opportunities that we can bring them are so large,” said Schumer.
The Problem With Dawdling
The obvious problem with dawdling is that fiscal sanity might set in.
Senators might look at $1.9 trillion spending proposals and start asking questions such as “Do we really need to spend $1.9 trillion?”
Dead or Alive?
Whether this monstrosity passes will come down to three Democrats rumored to be fiscally conservative.
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is one of three.
Note that Joe Manchin Backs Price Tag of Biden’s Coronavirus Relief Plan
“If it’s $1.9 trillion, so be it,” Mr. Manchin said on MSNBC. “If it’s a little smaller than that and we find a targeted need, then that’s what we’re going to do.”
The comments from the centrist Democrat from West Virginia provided a boost to party leaders as they pursue passing a relief bill without Republican votes. But they also underscored the power that a 50-50 Senate grants individual senators. Mr. Manchin is still seeking more-targeted aid payments and a smaller increase in the federal minimum wage than what Mr. Biden proposed.
In the evenly divided Senate, Mr. Manchin and other Democratic centrists such as Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Montana Sen. Jon Tester have newfound clout in determining the fate the legislation. Any defection could sink Mr. Biden’s ambitious Covid-19 relief bill, and force the party to broker a deal with Republicans on a smaller package.
It Only Takes One
If Republicans stay united, it only takes one Democrat defection to sink any piece of legislation.
With Manchin on board, the spotlight turns to Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema and Montana Senator Jon Tester.
And if dawdling lasts too long, perhaps another Senator or two starts wondering “Do we really need to spend $1.9 trillion?” and if so, “How are we going to pay for it?”
What I Expect
Instead of blowing $1.9 trillion, I expect something like $1.5 trillion will get all the Democrat ducks lined up.
Biden will label this a bipartisan success if as few as one Republican plays along. Otherwise Kamala Harris will be the deciding vote.
Mish
And just like that Republicans are talking all fiscal conservative again. Seems the only consistent legislator in the GOP was Thomas Massie–who was the only adult in the room when the first stimulus was passed showing great concern as to where the money was going.
I’m having to secure the complex where I live in LA. Security cameras are picking up people coming on the property at night and they are taking anything thet can sell for a few bucks. The number of desperate people here is climbing. We reopened resturaunts in LA County for outdoor dining, very few folks are coming, they are much more Covid aware than 6 months ago. I still think targeted financial help is key, rake back any excess via the IRS. So far a tremondous amount of money has gone to those that don’t need help as evidenced by the asset markets.
Too much money has gone to the Robinhood crowd.
So…to me the real question on stimulus…as to whether we need it…is to ask whether we have gotten over COVID from an economic perspective….and I think the answer is clearly no…
Jobs report tomorrow, right? We’’ll see what that shows…..but I don’t see how we could be anywhere near the point to expect anything but a recession if we don’t print money and helicopter money.
We can give money to working people and maybe not completely crash what’s left of the economy….or we can let Republicans pull their “austerity for the poor and welfare for the rich” BS and kill the stimulus…..which is cutting off our nose to spite our face. That just won’t end well.
“Do we really need to spend $1.9 trillion?” and if so, “How are we going to pay for it?”
This addresses the real problem.
“Tyranny of the majority” notwithstanding, the vast majority of Americans have negative net worth.
That leaves the wealthy, political donor-class, they buy campaign winners, in many cases they actually write legislation transcripts for Congress, often the header, the title on the top of the page, is the only portion edited prior to presentation of a bill.
Money in politics, it’s not bribery, it’s “free speech”.
No worries…The Federal Reserve is coming to the rescue….Printing more..
Yeah, they’ve had to print a lot of “free speech” in the last four decades.
The spending spree and the passing of the liberal agenda are the inevitable result of Trump. Even if he hadn’t sabotaged the Republican Senatorial candidates in Georgia, he pushed all the moderates out of the Republican Party, and made it a minority party. We have a lot more of this in our future, as it will take the Republicans at least a dozen years to heal from the wounds Trump inflicted.
I would say that the last twenty years we have been ruled by one party consisting of corporate Republicans and corporate Democrats both having the same economic and tax policies and working in lockstep and which profited a very tiny part of the population while demeaning and ruining the rest. I say good riddance to this corporate uniparty.
So the Republican Party supported a 1.7 billion give-away to the rich in 2017, not just trump.
Sigh, no edit. Trillion.
“So the Republican Party supported a 1.7 billion give-away to the rich in 2017, not just trump.”
To be specific, the giveaway was for political campaign donors, namely Robert and Rebekah Mercer this time, many rich folks have no issue paying their share, but the minority of the super wealthy can control who wins elections by overwhelming what the public hears in campaign ads.
A large percent of moderate voters truly believed Hilary was a member of a cannibalistic pedophile ring in 2016…..actually policy meant nothing compared to that insinuation.
Do we still really believe Hilary would have been worse than Trump?
And, if you answer “yes”, do you still suspect Hilary is a cannibalistic pedophile?
“The spending spree and the passing of the liberal agenda are the inevitable result of Trump.”
While I agree with your premise, I say Trump was the last straw of 40+ years of global trade, tax & economic policy that’s left the vast majority of American’s in the red.
Remembering the GOP so maliciously defying Obama’s stimulus 10 years ago with scare tactics of “stealing from our children” and “China will own us”, then seeing how fast the same GOP agreed to the “Trump” stimulus, left me speechless.
The gig is up for anyone with a memory of at least ten years of politics.
I hate the left’s politically correct nanny state, their socialist tendencies, but man, the alternative is terrifying…..more “trickle down job creating tax cuts” while resorting to terrorizing the masses of the horrific consequences of social entitlement spending, while convincing the masses that taxes on wealth will be the end of days?
I hate the binary extremes & political hyperbole of our government, but geez, if I have to pick a side, I’ll go with not starving to death with my family and having to learn Mandarin…I…guess.
QUOTE:
it will take the Republicans at least a dozen years to heal
UNQUOTE.
More like two or three years after Democrat excesses.
I think probably more…Remember the Ex-White House Clown is still around lurking with his minions…
I don’t see Manchin supporting a rise in the minimum wage above any number higher than $11 or so.
Correct. I wrote about that too. Coming right up
He said it in an interview
It really is arguing about the layout of the deck chairs on the Titantic. At this point, the dollar’s loss of the reserve currency and an adjustment down in all of the 90%’s living standard is baked in the cake. It’s only a matter of when.I’m hoping the collapse will hold off until 2027 but I think it will be sooner.
How does the dollar lose its reserve currency status?
Does another currency take its place? If so, which?
While I can understand the reasoning behind wanting a reserve currency that holds its value — which the dollar is not doing — I just don’t see the path to anything better.
Great questions. Most people, imho, get this wrong.
The dollar does not lose its reserve currency status anytime soon.
No currency currently exists that threatens the dollar.
3.From the POV of the Fed and central banks….a higher dollar is a big problem. People get the whole thing backward….the Fed’s job is to PREVENT the dollar from going higher. They want slow steady erosion of the dollar….and they have to print money to get that to happen.
We’ve had a falling dollar for 3 quarters….coinciding exactly with COVID….but…the dollar reversed on Jan. 6 and is now in the 2nd daily cycle of a new uptrend….I don’t know how high that goes…but it goes until it tops.
Brent Johnson gets it right…..
You got it. Who else is there that is any better?
We’re seeing progressives attempt to flex their muscle and Biden’s agenda partly reflects their desire to see action on items Biden signe onto. But with only 50 seats in the Senate its going to be tough. They don’t have the votes to do away with the Filibuster rule either. Ignoring the wisom of keeping or getting rid of the rule it will be difficult to enact some of their items with a filibuster rule intact. It seems a huge question how much of Biden’s agenda could be passed using reconciliation.
There’s a strategy question going on. Whether its better to pass those items eveyrone agrees on or be more aggressive. It does seem that a higher minimum wage has little to do witj covid relief. I suspect ultimately Biden may decouple some items but doing so will cause strife among progressives. It may be he wants to show he tried.
Is Mitt pandering to the ‘Irish Moms’ with the $4200/kid handout?
Go for it, Mitt. The sooner this sh-t show burns down, the better.
Stacking Pb, Ag, Au, H2O.
Why lead (Pb)?
Bullets?
Mitt wants his welfare for the dudes with seven wives…
Even Mitt for Brains learned a little about Trumpism is outdoing the Democrats on their key issues. There is clearly little difference between these two parties.
Manchin, Tester, and Sinema are just playing difficult as a ploy to extract more $ for their local graft constituents. They’ll make noises but when it comes down to the vote they will toe the party line unlike the GOP RINOs that will fall all over themselves in an attempt to appear “bi-partisan”.
The UniParty doesn’t really care. Spending us into oblivion without consideration of the consequences is fine with them as long as they can bask in the power trip at least until it all finally implodes.
They’ll just put up some more walls and fences, keep the NG in the Capitol to ensure the riff-raff don’t interfere with their lifestyle. Of course we all know walls/fences don’t work, right?
While I’m not a Biden supporter by any means it’s wonderful how GOP finds fiscal discipline everytime they are in opposition. As to the debt/deficit, the train has left the station some time ago and it doesn’t matter anymore.
Joe Biden is the fertilizer Republicans needed to bloom into colorful fiscal conservatives.
“seem desperate to make their first act in power the same kind of massive, partisan, poorly targeted borrowing spree”
I think he is confused with the tax give away to the rich he did in 2017
Manchin does not want to be a Senator, he wants to go back to being a governor. So when Justice went along with the price tag there was no political cost for him to say ok as well.
Cruz and Rubio of all might vote for it if there are definitely 50 votes from Dems. If the monthly child credit passes, look for it to become permanent next year. It will be impossible to repeal with 50 to 75 million people receiving the monthly bounty.
YEP, Let’s keep our chin up and continue the pointless debt driven ratrace with yet another round of out of the blue created dosh, generating big time profits for the corrupt management and their oligarch cronies, and the political correctness abiding, consumption slaves rif raf, doing what they are expected to : SHOP TILL THEY DROP !
you say that like it’s a bad thing
Sounds like a reasonable assessment of the situation.