[Trang Ánh Nam] New comment on Schumer compares Mitch McConnell to Herbert Hoover....

Erin Burnett has left a new comment on your post "Schumer compares Mitch McConnell to Herbert Hoover...":

Schumer criticizes McConnell's response to the coronavirus crisis

Schumer compared McConnell to President Herbert Hoover, who has been historically criticized for his slow response to the beginning of the Great Depression.

Schumer made a prediction that pressure from the American people who need more aid will force McConnell to the negotiating table.

"One of the big pieces is help your local governments. What does that mean? It's policemen, it's firefighters, it's bus drivers. It's health care workers. ... These people are all going to be fired and lose their jobs through no fault of their own," Schumer told The View's Joy Behar.

The criticism echoed comments Schumer made earlier in the week.

"Here, it's business as usual. Leader McConnell has spent three weeks of the Senate's time largely on nominations, only one of whom is directly related to COVID-19. Not one bill on the floor of the Senate having to do with COVID-19 in the entire month of May. The leader has put none on the floor," Schumer said in a speech Wednesday.

House Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have drafted another emergency aid package called The HEROES Act. The bill is more than 1800 pages and includes another round of $1200 stimulus payments, aid for state and local governments, hazard pay for workers on the frontlines, and extension of unemployment benefits.

McConnell has shut down the suggestion of passing another large emergency aid bill through the Senate, saying lawmakers should wait and see how effective the CARES Act and the subsequent replenishment of the PPP program are before spending more money and further increasing the federal debt.

In the meantime, the House will vote next week on a smaller bill to extend the 8-week loan period for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provides forgivable loans to small businesses who use the money for payroll, rent, and other qualifying expenses.

A group of bipartisan senators is scrambling today to possibly secure agreement on that matter, offering a glimpse of possible bicameral cooperation. The push is being led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R.-Fla.).

"We are hearing of course now from a lot of small businesses who got PPP loans but are saying to us, that they can't spend all the money on payroll — 75 percent of the money on payroll — within 8 weeks," Rubio said in an online video message. "They need 12 weeks or 16 weeks because they are just starting to reopen now because there are different rules in different places."

Thursday morning, Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to President Trump, asking the administration to fly flags at half staff when the death toll in the U.S. reaches 100,000.

Unsubscribe from comment emails for this blog.



Posted by Erin Burnett to Trang Ánh Nam at May 22, 2020 at 2:28 PM