Mitch McConnell is twiddling his thumbs as American workers head toward a financial cliff
Congress responded to the spreading COVID-19 pandemic in March with astonishing speed (by congressional standards), enacting three bipartisan-backed measures in quick succession to increase coronavirus testing, extend sick leave to more workers and, most dramatically, inject more than $2 trillion into the collapsing U.S. economy.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has shown no such urgency since then. And now, one of the most important elements of the third measure, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, is about to expire, slashing benefits to millions of laid-off Americans even though unemployment is worse now than in the depths of the Great Recession. The CARES Act increased unemployment benefits by $600 a week, but that support is set to end this week.
Lawmakers are reportedly considering a temporary extension of the benefits to give them more time to work out a deal on a new relief package, something they should already have negotiated. They are so far apart that McConnell laughed Tuesday when asked whether Congress could pass a bill by the end of the month.
Of course, the situation is the furthest thing from funny. The list of needs that Congress has to address is long, starting with a persistent shortage of COVID-19 tests. The most immediate concern, though, is the looming drop in unemployment benefits. It arguably made sense in March to limit the duration of the $600 add-on; what weve seen, however, is a stubbornly resilient pandemic that surged after the stay-home orders were lifted. In mid-July, more than a million people were still filing new unemployment claims weekly and more than 17 million Americans were still without jobs.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-07-23/mcconnell-600-unemployment-benefit-pandemic
I believe we are heading for economic disaster in the fall.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Moscow Mitch said,I will make and do what ever I can to hamstring the Biden Administration. I will block any and all Legislation that will enhance American lives.
CrispyQ
(36,413 posts)Let's see. The $600 a week fed support runs out end of July. They MIGHT replace it with $100 a week till the end of December. In October, companies who took loans can start laying off workers. United has already said it's gonna do this. The eviction crisis is just starting. And a huge segment of our adult population have behaved like stupid, spoiled brats & have guaranteed that this crisis will be with us much longer than it needed to be.
Newest Reality
(12,712 posts)I am also speculating that the Trump Regime knows that and wants it for obvious reasons.
That would explain ignoring the pandemic and the Republican responses all in a nutshell. Notice how McConnell does not seem to connect his words and actions to his popularity or the reactions to it? That seems a bit too cocky and removed in light of the current conditions.
We may be seeing hostile, occupational forces being put into place to take advantage of a massive economic crises that is being encouraged rather than mitigated for ulterior motives, rather than mere incompetence.
A country that has been plunged into chaos, confusion and hardship might be an easier mark for the Trump Regime and the assumption might also be that that populist nationalism and authoritarian rhetoric and actions may become more acceptable due to the fear and insecurity that such a multifaceted disaster would evoke and inflame.
The storm troopers of the Trump Regime may in fact be inserting themselves, not for the stated purposes regarding "crime" and "violence", but to begin an occupation that will capitalize on the deteriorating situation and also, possibly, act in some way concerning the election.
PJMcK
(21,988 posts)He's rubbing his hands together and cackling as he fantasizes about all of the people he and the GOP will screw over.
He's an evil fuck, not a negligent fuck.
Pobeka
(4,999 posts)Baked Potato
(7,733 posts)Trump will work hard to perpetuate chaos. Trump knows that to have a fight to the death, the participants must have nothing to lose. Trump wants a brutal fight more than anything. Its his only option to avoid the downfall of the House of Trump. So watch him, he wants failure now to cause people to hit the streets so he can call out his Goons.