Do Congressional Republicans Want Your Family To Starve? Probably Not-- But They Just Do Not Care

The House passed a pandemic relief package 4 months ago. There is no doubt it would pass the Senate as well because all the Democrats and several Republicans would vote for it. But McConnell and his GOP cronies have refused to allow it to come to a vote. Is there a solution? Absolutely-- defeat McConnell and every Republican senator running for reelection in November. (Also every Republican candidate running for an open Senate seat.) In fact Merav Ben-David is running for the open Wyoming Senate seat against a complete corporate shill. "Americans need relief now," she told me. "To paraphrase FDR, if your neighbor’s house is on fire, you don’t haggle over the price of a hose. Right now, our country is on fire-- our leaders should not be haggling over the price of putting it out. My opponent has vowed to stand shoulder to shoulder with Donald Trump, to blindly follow his ignorance and malice. We cannot afford to elect someone who so clearly values political convenience over the public good."

Yesterday, reporting for the Wall Street Journal, Andrew Duehren wrote that "A second round of $1,200 stimulus checks to help Americans weather the pandemic once seemed all but ensured, with both Democrats and Republicans supporting the provision in early coronavirus relief negotiations in July. Likewise, many Americans were confident that Congress would approve a new round of federal jobless aid, even if it might be less than the $600 a week that ran out at the end of that month. But with bipartisan talks now stalled, a second direct check is one of several policy proposals left in the lurch. Jobless aid is stuck as well... No deal would mean no new check and no enhanced unemployment benefits from Congress."

In the $2.2 trillion Cares Act passed in March and signed into law by President Trump, Congress approved sending a $1,200 check to many Americans. The payments began phasing out at adjusted gross income above $75,000 for individuals, $112,500 for heads of households (often single parents) and $150,000 for married couples. The bill provided $500 for each dependent as well.

In a bill that passed the House in May, Democrats proposed another $1,200 check for adults and $1,200 for dependents, with a maximum of $6,000 sent to each household. A $1 trillion proposal released by Senate Republicans in July largely replicated the first round of stimulus checks. Both the Republican and Democratic plans had income caps.

But in the abbreviated proposal that Senate Republicans released this week, the party cut out the second round of direct checks. Many Republicans have opposed new major spending efforts, and the party slimmed down its plan to about $300 billion in new spending to unify the party.

Earlier aid helped stabilize the economy. The first stimulus check and the now-expired expanded unemployment aid program caused household incomes to grow rather than decline in the spring, allowing many Americans to continue paying for rent and other essentials even as much of the economy shut down, according to Commerce Department data.

The unemployment rate dropped to 8.4% in August, down from a peak of nearly 15% in April-- but still well above pre-pandemic lows. Most economists in September’s Wall Street Journal monthly survey said they expect the absence of federal jobless benefits to dent consumer spending in the months ahead.

“The recovery remains uneven, interrupted by outbreaks of the virus and now missing stimulus support,” Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Point Loma Nazarene University and a former chief economist at Bank of America, said in the survey.

Many Republicans now see the economy recovering on its own without additional stimulus, and they question whether further deficit spending on aid is wise.

“The farther you go on this, as employment re-engages, more people are getting back to work,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-OK). “I don’t know of anyone that turns away a free check in the mail, but every single check that’s sent out is money taken from your next-door neighbor or from the future.”

Others argued for continued support.

“That is the thing about a crisis like this: If you invest early on, you can mitigate the cost not only to individual people and the economy and to health, but you can also help the recovery happen more quickly,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). “The longer we go in delaying payments to people, the more we push people into desperate crises.”

Whether the federal unemployment supplement that sustained many Americans this spring and summer will continue is uncertain, though both parties have sought to continue it in some form.

This is a key issue in the campaigns of most of the candidates Blue America has endorsed. For example, Audrey Denney, up in the rural northeast corner of California, is running for a seat held by Trump puppet Doug LaMalfa. Yesterday she told me that her "remote-rural district was already one of the poorest places in the state before the pandemic happened. People are struggling trying to paying rent and put food on their families’ tables. Additionally, this week we experienced the fastest moving and 10th worst fire in California history. People are desperate. A second round of stimulus checks would be a great start-- but it is not nearly enough to get people back on their feet."

Far to the south of Audrey's district, in Riverside County, southeast of Los Angeles Liam O'Mara is running for a seat held by another Trumpist puppet. "Calvert," he told me, "has been bragging lately about supporting the CARES act, which brought much-needed funds into the area. But he is mysteriously silent on his votes against oversight in the bill, which allowed Trump cronies and the filthy rich to rob the public again, and mostly silent on his vote against the HEROES act, and continued opposition to additional support for working families. He seems perfectly happy to funnel our cash to big corporations, but does he care that people in the 42nd have lost jobs and homes? Does he care about the bills piling up and the bankruptcies which will ruin so many lives? I can't believe that he does-- not with his voting record and character. Ken shows up when a donor pays him to do it. Other than that, he spends no time in the district and ignores most of his constituents and their concerns. Keeping the real economy afloat means supporting families and small businesses. I see no evidence that he even understands this."

"I know what it's like to be without a job, without healthcare, trying to raise a family through this pandemic, western New York progressive Nate McMurray told me. "My multimillionaire opponent's family fired me, and at the height of the pandemic they fired an additional 96% of their workforce. Everyday American families see the edge of the cliff barreling toward us, while Trump and the GOP have refused to lift a finger to prevent this crisis. I've long supported policies like UBI, Medicare for All, and taxing the ultra wealthy to avoid the systemic inequalities that this pandemic has exacerbated. We need to defeat Chris Jacobs in my district, defeat Trump sycophants like Mitch McConnell across the country, and defeat Trump as the ringleader of this nightmare."

Texan Julie Oliver has a similar situation-- with an ever richer incumbent. "I've been hungry. I know what it's like to go without groceries and not have a place to go home to. Texans who have been financially impacted by COVID-19 through no fault of their own should not have to face the threat of losing their housing or not being able to feed their families. They need that extra $600 in unemployment benefits to help keep families afloat, and keep money flowing through our local communities. It's the right thing to do and makes the best economic sense for this country. There’s no evidence to the claim that the $600 UI extension is slowing the economy, and economists have proven that $600 a week in extra unemployment aid did not deter people from seeking work. Yet 'zero' was the number that Roger Williams said he would support in Congress for struggling Texans, even as he, a multi-millionaire, took $1 - 2 million in bailouts for his personal car dealership.

Georgette Gomez is the president of the San Diego City Council. Her opponent for the open congressional seat is heiress and perennial candidate Sara Jacobs who is benefitting from the companies that are receiving corporate welfare that should be going to working families. She's been endorsed by the Wall Street owned-and-operated New Dem caucus, the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. Gomez told me that "Emerging from this pandemic and helping families recover demands urgent investments from Congress and leaders with the will to get the job done. I’ve been fighting for working people my whole life-- I'm ready to keep fighting for workers as the Representative for CA-53."