DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus McConnell blocks effort to quickly increase direct stimulus payments

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blocked an effort to quickly pass a measure to increase direct stimulus payments from $600 to $2,000, though the legislation could be voted on at a later time or date if McConnell so chooses.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, attempted to pass the change to the omnibus spending bill through a unanimous consent request on the Senate floor, but any senator can halt passage of legislation that way. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, objected to the request.

The House passed the increase to stimulus payments on Monday with wide bipartisan support. Democratic leaders have cited President Donald Trump's criticism of the $600 payments as too low and the GOP President's push to increase the stimulus checks in their effort to pass the change through the Senate.

The measure could be scheduled for another vote in the Senate at a later date, and what McConnell will do remains unclear as of Tuesday afternoon. Many Republican senators objected to an increase in stimulus payments during negotiations for a Covid-19 relief package throughout the year, citing the growing price tag of the plan. However, multiple GOP senators -- including two members facing runoffs in Georgia next week -- have come out in favor of Trump's push to increase payments, even after the previous legislation passed Congress last week.

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McConnell said on Tuesday that the Senate would consider three of Trump's priorities -- further direct financial support for Americans, reexamining Section 230's protections for technology firms and ballot integrity effort -- this week. The reexamining of Section 230 came as Trump vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act over not including revisions to the law that shields internet companies from liability for what is posted on their websites by them or third parties.

McConnell's remark about bringing Trump's priorities "into focus" was not a commitment to bringing votes on the issues. The standoff leaves action on the Senate NDAA override vote in question, and the majority leader might have to file cloture to overcome objections and set up the vote for later this week.

Schumer urged the Senate to join Trump and the House to increase the size of the checks, arguing that "working Americans have taken it on the chin" during the pandemic.
"The fastest way to get money into Americans pockets, is to send some of their tax dollars right back from where they came," he said.

Schumer said $600 is "not enough" for Americans who need the extra money to pay for groceries and rent, and dismissed concerns that the proposal would add too much money to the deficit. He said that Republicans had previously passed nearly $2 trillion in tax cuts and recently fought to include a tax break for corporate meal expenses.

"I don't want to hear that we can't afford it," Schumer said.
If the bill does get a full vote in the Senate, it would need at least 12 Republican senators to join all members of the Democratic caucus in order to cross the 60-vote threshold to advance.
"Those are the three important subjects the President has linked together," said McConnell. "This week, the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus."
Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders who said he would move to delay a vote unless McConnell brings $2,000 stimulus checks to a vote on the floor, continues to push for larger checks.

"The leaders of our country, President Trump, President-elect Biden, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi are all in agreement," Sanders said in floor remarks. "We have got to raise the direct payment to $2,000. So, that is where we are right now in this historic moment. Do we turn our backs on struggling working families or do we respond to their pain?"

The round of stimulus payments at the $600 level included in the $900 billion Covid relief package signed into law Sunday night are expected to start going out this week, an administration official told CNN, while acknowledging that the timing could slide. As with that first round, the new payments will start phasing out for individuals with adjusted gross incomes of more than $75,000, and those making more than $99,000 won't receive anything. The income thresholds would be doubled for couples.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/29/politics/republican-senator-reject-2000-stimulus-increase/index.html

This is an issue that I find complicated for me to choose a side on.

First, much of the assertion is that this is a Democrat verses Republican thing when it's actually a Trump verses the Republican led senate and Mitch McConnell issue. It is trump who raised hell about wanting thew stimulus to be raised to $2000. The Democrats are just the party who brought Trump's wishes up for a vote.

Secondly, for four years now McConnell has been kissing Trump's ass at every turn. Playing nothing more than a Trump lackey giving him everything he wants. Now, suddenly, when it comes to an important issue that would help the poor and working class, suddenly McConnell grew a spine? I guess refusing the help the least of us is more important than kissing Trump's ass.

Just a reminder to those of you who claim Christianity but go along with the thought process of the republican party.....



My quandary certainly is not opposing helping "the least of us". It revolves around how it is determined who the least of us is. As of now the income qualifications to receives the stimulus are strictly based on what your income was in 2019. That was four months before Covid actually hit.

That in no way reflects what a family is enduring during Covid, who is working and who is not. I have no idea how to better decide or gauge who should or should not qualify. But the current method in no way gauges who needs and who doesn't need this stimulus money.

It seems like such an arbitrary method. And no, I have no way of knowing what a better method would be other than looking at the current Social security deductions are being paid to help gauge current income.

Maybe ach or someone who is self employed could inform me if that would address them. i know when i was self employed I paid in quarterly so it seems that would gauge how my own business would be impacted by Covid.

YO MITCH don't ever and I mean ever plan on being elected ever again. You voted to send Billions to other countries while screwing American. You career is OVER.

You need to get that message to the good people of Kentucky. It's their fault we even know his name.

Kentucky ranks as the eighth poorest state in median household income and poverty rate.

McConnell was first elected to the senate in 1984.

Oh no it isn’t. GOP gerrymandering in KY is epic..

Lol.

The people of Kentucky knew he was a corporate scum and proved that during the pandemic.

And guess what they did? Just elected him to yet another 6 year senate term.

There’s a chance he’ll die before having to worry about reelection. Atleast as far as the state of Kentucky goes, they absolutely got the government they deserve.

It sucks cause the rest of the country has to suffer from their poor decision making.

Beware of guillotines Mitch, the pitchforks are coming out soon.

No problem I have a lot of relatives in KY who also think 2,000 vs 600 is great since they are sending BILLIONS to other countires.

I honestly believe that neither the GOP (certainly not the GOP) nor the Democrats really give a ***** about the common man or woman. Our country would be far better off without either political apparatus gaming the systems, screwing the masses, and generally fighting over who's turn it is to put their own hands in the cookie jar.


And for what it's worth, I believe this is a but a small sample of what is to come for the next four years if Georgia doesn't bounce Democrat. Otherwise, anything, and I mean ANYTHING, Joe Biden wants to do, he is gonna have to kiss Kentucky booty, otherwise, his ideas go nowhere. At least for the first two years. If not before then, then after that, I imagine everything will be litigated up to the Supreme Court.

THEY DON'T CARE and they won't care until we make them care. I think people should abandon the parties, stop feeding them money, and all switch to independent voter status. Then we take our topics we have general consensus on and tell them to make it happen or get voted out. 83+ percent want M4A, single payer, or complete healthcare system overhaul. If people started demanding that or else and stopped funding these crooks then we would be able to get past the corporatist oligarchy gatekeepers in the DNC and RNC. If they still don't represent as directed, remove them by any legal means possible.

Both parties suck, period. And third parties don't stand a chance of competing. The only solution is We the People.

Amen, my friend.



That's the problem. Both parties have created the election system to favor two and only two parties at most.

I used to be a diehard republican back in the day (90's) now I can't stomach them nor the democrats nor the media for that matter but that's another story. It's gettin' real for me (A Reagan Republican) when AOC makes sense. I at first thought she was just another attention grabbing-no-nothing but the more I listen the more I think her heart is in the right place even if she's a tad . . . askew . . .

I say askew cause I don't believe the answers lie in Washington as she seems to believe they do. The answers, I believe, or at one time believed, lie more in eliminating the money, the power, and hence control out of Washington and into the hands of the 50 state capitols and thus back to the people. But, I am revisiting all beliefs I once held dear with an open mind.

jc

Politicians care nothing for the average American. Yet people think more government is the solution to all of our problems.

I think people, as a rule, should simply vote against the incumbent every election (with few exceptions). That's an easier first step.

Instead of draining the swamp, just give it some churn.

My entire family is from KY. And they all voted for trump and Moscow Mitch. KY will remain red....by hook or crook. Mostly crook.

Bet they love your politics! lmao.

It says something that conservatives are the loudest about term limits, then re-elect a guy who’s been in the senate since 1985.

It’s also hilarious that a state that is the 4th most reliant on federal aid or they literally can’t survive got the nerve to whine about socialism.

But hey, conservatives have proven they don’t the difference between what’s real or fake. They proved that 4 years ago when they voted for a reality tv star, after all.

Family reunions are a gas. Those people have never traveled or been out of their own little bubble for years.

The best part is that If I ever divorce my wife we can still go to the same family reunions.

I'm hoping that's because you would stay friends as opposed to you having married your sister?

It's due to my cousins being my aunt and uncle, and her aunt and uncle being her cousins.

Reminds me of the old joke: Where did GM go to find a date? The family reunion...

Did you mean uncle grandpa?

I am all for any lack of comprise that kills this abomination of a bill. It sounds like a good idea - "let's take care of the people hurt by coronavirus".
Unfortunately, this bill has never been about that from day 1. It has always been about giving a small amount to every tax payer in order to get them to look the other way while they gave giant payments to special interests.

If we could actually focus the stimulus where it is needed most, then we could afford to give people that really need it $10,000. That would be useful, but that was never in the cards.

I don't need an extra $600 or $2000. Most of you probably don't either. My job and income have remained steady and I am grateful for that. I would prefer that they gave my portion to someone in more desperate circumstances.

If the bill is all about giving 90% of the money away to people and businesses that are doing just fine, then I would prefer that they pass nothing at all.

I don't really disagree with you in principal. The problem seems to be it's either this or nothing. The end result is that we will punish many millions of people who do actually need it. I will quote something from one of my earlier posts that show you that we do agree to at least some extent in principal....

I have thought about that problem myself, but at this point, why not give the money out with 2020 tax returns? People could have their checks by mid-February. That solves the problem of figuring out who was hurt the most and needs money the most. They are trying to pound this through before anyone gets wise to this fact, that way they can add in all their pork.

Also, at what amount of money would you say 'No Thanks' to this bill and realize our desire for a few extra bucks is being used to manipulate us? A $300 stimulus, a $100 stimulus check?

I am not sure that everyone has done the math on how badly we were exploited on the first stimulus plan in order to widen the wealth gap even further. I know business owners who were not impacted by COVID, but still received forgivable PPP loans. Since they were single owner LLCs, these payroll payments were essentially equivalent to receiving the money directly for themselves. Some of these people received millions from the government that goes directly into the business, but then out of the business and into their personal bank account.

Let's say you have a single owner company with 100 employees payed $50K each. Each of those employees received $1200 from the government in the first stimulus, costing the government $120,000. The business owner gets a forgivable loan for 2.5 months of payroll that gives him $1,041,666 (that assumes no additional payroll expenses like health or retirement). So the person in the company that is likely the wealthiest got 10X what was spent on all 100 of the employees. That's not a bailout. That is just the American tax payer taking on debt for their children so that they can widen the wealth gap further.

I just lay that out because I don't think people generally understand the degree to which they are getting screwed. Most people think that they are getting 50% and 50% is going to pork. In reality, it is more like the 60% stimulus eligible folks are getting 20%, 39% of the population gets nothing, and 1% of the population are taking the other 80%.

J/C


The question I have is how much is too much? Why not give everybody $10,000?

If we do that, why not $20,000? Wouldn't that help people in need more? Heck, give everybody $1,000,000. Then we would have nobody in need.

Right?

But 1.7T tax cut for the wealthy wasn’t too much in 2017.

But now 2k for everyday Americans is just too much, huh.

We got some of that, Swish. The wealth trickled down to us in the stock market! We should feel grateful.

I didn't say it was too much. I asked how much is too much. Granted, it might be, then again, maybe not even close to enough.

McConnell isn't saying there will be no $2000. Just not an immediate bump because it is the popular move. He isn't looking for votes. He just got re-elected and probably isn't going to run for another term seeing he has 6 years left on this recent election and the fact he is 78 years old.

I know people don't like what I am saying. Like I said, why not just give everybody $20,000?

I can't say how much is too much or how much is not enough. What I will say is I would like to see a larger amount for those who are actually seeing a negative impact from Covid and not just pass the money out to millions upon millions of people who were not negatively impacted by Covid.

There has to be a way to accomplish this.

I would add that there was a bill early on that would have sent $2k a month to Americans as UBI during the pandemic. That would have been about $20k by now. It is also what Canada has done for their people. BUT America is too poor for that... We can't just give working people money all willy nilly now can we... smh

I've been fortunate enough to work through all of this and really could live without a stimulus check. But I qualify and when I see the rich getting vast sums of money handed to them, I just don't feel bad accepting whatever I can get. That $1800 or $3600 for my wife and I, has and will be put to good use and poured directly back into the economy via paying bills or purchases.

Agreed. My $600 just showed up in my bank account the other day. I’m grateful as a tax payer to see some of my money come back to me but frankly I don’t need it. I’ve been employed this entire time. I decided to kick a few hundred of it down to my sister who’s been impacted more by this. It helped her ‘recover’ from providing a decent Christmas for my nephews.
We certainly can’t rely on the government to help us. Maybe we can help each other.

I'm just not part of the crowd that says, "Well they did it so I'm going to do it too!" "They got money so I want money too!"

I'm from the side that still says two wrongs don't make a right.

I won't say what I did with the first stimulus money but much like yourself my wife and I derived no personal gain from it. My family was fortunately not negatively impacted by Covid on a financial basis. We were very lucky. Others not so much.

So you returning your stimulus checks? I didn't think so. Why? Because it would be foolish, that's why. And yes, I get a special kind of POed when the rich get bailed out continuously while the poor and middle class pay the price. So yes, I want mine too when it comes to free money, who doesn't? Big deal, I'm still arguing for those who need it desperately just like you are arguing. I really can't believe some of the asinine points you try to make against the left. You are just like Trump. What was it Bill Maher calls him again?

I'm happy for you. Didn't see this before asking you if you were going to return yours, guessing you didn't, at least until Biden raises your taxes to fund more war and corporate handouts.

So now you've gone as far as spreading the Trump lie that Biden will raise my taxes. Are you sure you didn't vote for Trump?

Aren't you funny.

People on both sides fear that about Biden because that's what centrist radical extremist corporatist dems have done every time they get in power for the last 40 years! It's why the true left struggles to distinguish them from republicans. It's also why your feathers are so ruffled... you were just pwned over it.

I'm out of here for a bit to run errands, so you can bash me while I'm gone and I'll return the favor later tonight. Have a good one Pit.

My feathers aren't ruffled. My candidate won. 80 million voters disagreed with you.