{"id":756,"date":"2020-12-01T18:39:21","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T18:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=130324"},"modified":"2020-12-01T18:39:21","modified_gmt":"2020-12-01T18:39:21","slug":"tlaib-says-lack-of-popular-stimulus-checks-in-bipartisan-relief-plan-shows-disconnect-between-senate-and-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/01\/tlaib-says-lack-of-popular-stimulus-checks-in-bipartisan-relief-plan-shows-disconnect-between-senate-and-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Tlaib Says Lack of Popular Stimulus Checks in Bipartisan Relief Plan Shows ‘Disconnect’ Between Senate and People"},"content":{"rendered":"
Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib on Tuesday slammed a new bipartisan coronavirus relief proposal<\/a> as out of touch with the needs and desires of the U.S. public over the plan’s exclusion of another round of direct stimulus payments, a form of aid that’s overwhelmingly popular among Americans across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n “The fact that ‘no stimulus checks’ is on this list shows the disconnect of the Senate with people on the ground,” the Michigan Democrat tweeted<\/a> Tuesday in response to a summary<\/a> of what the $908 billion proposal does and does not include.<\/p>\n A leading supporter<\/a> of a far more ambitious plan to provide $1,000 per month to every person in the U.S., Tlaib pointed to a September Gallup survey<\/a> showing that 70% of Americans\u201482% of Democrats, 64% of Republicans, and 66% of Independents\u2014believe the federal government should send out another one-time economic impact payment.<\/p>\n “There may not be bipartisan support for an additional check, but there is support outside of Congress,” said Tlaib. “Seven out of 10 want direct payments.”<\/p>\n The fact that “no stimulus checks” is on this list shows the disconnect of the Senate with people on the ground.<\/p>\n There may not be bipartisan support for an additional check, but there is support outside of Congress.<\/p>\n 7 out of 10 want direct payments.https:\/\/t.co\/iqISYk4IcR<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/QuFWG1n6yy<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) December 1, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Presented as an effort to break a months-long stalemate over coronavirus relief, the compromise proposal unveiled by a group of Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Tuesday includes $240 billion in aid to struggling state and local governments, $300 billion for a small business loan program, and a $300-per-week federal boost to unemployment insurance\u2014just half of the highly effective<\/a> $600-per-week benefit that the GOP let expire<\/a> at the end of July.<\/p>\n The plan, which has yet to be finalized, was introduced Tuesday morning by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Angus King (I-Maine), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), and House members of the Problem Solvers Caucus.<\/p>\n On top of relief funding, the bipartisan proposal also calls for a six-month liability shield for corporations, a long-time priority of Republicans that progressive lawmakers, worker and consumer advocates<\/a>, and small businesses<\/a> have decried as a green light for large companies to recklessly expose their employees and customers to the coronavirus.<\/p>\n “The proposed ‘temporary liability shield’ is a permission slip for corporations to fail to protect their workers from the spread of Covid-19\u2014at the very moment the virus’s spread is accelerating and we most need corporations to act responsibly to prevent its spread,” the National Employment Law Project tweeted<\/a> Tuesday.<\/p>\n The Daily Post<\/em>er<\/em>‘s David Sirota and Julia Rock characterized<\/a> the proposed liability shield\u2014which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has called<\/a> his “red line”\u2014as a “holiday-season gift for corporate donors” that “would strip frontline workers of their last remaining legal tool to protect themselves in the workplace.”<\/p>\n Given the costs of doing nothing in the face of dire economic circumstances and a surging pandemic, some progressives stressed the importance of passing additional coronavirus relief before the end of the year\u2014even if<\/a> the legislative package under consideration is flawed and inadequate.<\/p>\n “This is not stimulus and more will be needed later\u2014but immediate relief is needed now,” Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, told<\/a> the Washington Post<\/em>‘s Jeff Stein. “That’s what the senators are talking about. We cannot wait.”<\/p>\n Yes. We need to go big on COVID response. But I also want to be clear that we need emergency #ReliefNow<\/a>. The bipartisan group of Senators working on emergency relief are doing what\u2019s absolutely necessary. Then, in January we fight for the full package from higher ground. https:\/\/t.co\/dEqTcis5AN<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sara Nelson (@FlyingWithSara) December 1, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n In a speech<\/a> introducing his team of economic advisers on Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden said any bill approved during the lame-duck session will likely be “at best just a start.” If Democrats hope to pass anything close to the ambitious relief package they have demanded in recent months, they must take control of the Senate by winning both run-off races in Georgia on January 5.<\/p>\n “House Democrats want to enact a Covid relief bill for working families. We want another round of stimulus checks. We want to extend unemployment insurance benefits,” tweeted<\/a> Rep.-elect Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.). “But if we don’t help Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win in Georgia, Mitch McConnell will keep standing in our way.”<\/p>\n\n
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