Before the election, sources within the Republican Congressional caucus were saying that they saw no reason to get an economic stimulus bill to Donald Trump. Think about how f–king stupid that was in an election year, with a looming recession, and everyone dealing with a global pandemic. But Trump kept playing games about whether or not he wanted a stimulus bill, and Mitch McConnell was like “let poor people die for all I care.” But now that control of the Senate is looming in a Georgia special election, suddenly McConnell wanted to push through a stimulus bill. Yeah, to underline the point: when it’s his ass as Majority Leader, suddenly Moscow Mitch “cares.” So, Congress did push through a bill, and like everyone said last week, individual tax filers will end up getting $600. Some stimulus.
Congressional leaders on Sunday reached a hard-fought agreement on a $900 billion stimulus package that would send immediate aid to Americans and businesses to help them cope with the economic devastation of the pandemic and fund the distribution of vaccines. The deal would deliver the first significant infusion of federal dollars into the economy since April, as negotiators broke through months of partisan gridlock that had scuttled earlier talks, leaving millions of Americans and businesses without federal help as the pandemic raged. While the plan is roughly half the size of the $2.2 trillion stimulus law enacted in March, it is one of the largest relief packages in modern history.
“We can finally report what our nation has needed to hear for a very long time,” Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, said Sunday night. “More help is on the way.”
It was expected to be merged with a sweeping catchall spending measure that would keep the government funded for the remainder of the fiscal year, creating a $2.3 trillion behemoth whose passage will be Congress’s last substantive legislative achievement before adjourning for the year. The deal came together after a weekend of frenzied negotiating only hours before the government was set to run out of funding and two weeks before the next Congress was to convene on Jan. 3.
Still, even as it prepared to pass a consequential measure, Congress was at the peak of its dysfunction, having left so little time to complete it that lawmakers faced a series of contortions to get it across the finish line. With additional time needed to transform their agreement into legislative text, both chambers had to approve a one-day stopgap spending bill — their third such temporary extension the past 10 days — to avoid a government shutdown while they were finalizing the deal. Both chambers approved the measure on Sunday night, and President Trump signed it shortly before midnight. Final votes on the spending package were expected as early as Monday to approve it and clear it for Mr. Trump’s signature, but had yet to be scheduled.
Although text was not immediately available, the agreement was expected to provide $600 stimulus payments to millions of American adults earning up to $75,000. It would revive lapsed supplemental federal unemployment benefits at $300 a week for 11 weeks — setting both at half the amount provided by the original stimulus law.
The bill also puts $284 billion in the Paycheck Protection Program, which means more taxpayer money being funnelled to mega-churches and Kanye West. $15 billion for theaters and cultural institutions (which had to close because of the pandemic). There’s also money for testing, tracing and vaccine distribution. But really, again, this was about Mitch McConnell trying to save the Republican seats in Georgia. Apparently, President-elect Joe Biden “quietly pushed” lawmakers to strike the deal, and he promised the Democratic caucus that once he was in office, we would push for a more comprehensive economic aid package. Biden’s statement: “I am heartened to see members of Congress heed that message, reach across the aisle, and work together. But this action in the lame-duck session is just the beginning. Our work is far from over.”
But yeah… $600 is insulting and I hope Georgia voters remember how Republicans – the Death Cult Party – left them to die and then insulted them with a $600 “stimulus.” Oh, and all of these f–king Republican Congressmen are lining up to get the first Covid vaccines too.
$600.
$11 billion for a border wall.
$15 billion for a Space Force.
We need a radical revolution of values.
— The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center (@TheKingCenter) December 21, 2020
Just received the safe, effective COVID vaccine following continuity-of-government protocols. Vaccines are how we beat this virus.
Now back to continue fighting for a rescue package including a lot more money for distribution so more Americans can receive it as fast as possible. pic.twitter.com/kSBhI3EzzM
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) December 18, 2020
I know I looked away from the needle
And yes, I know I need a tan
But I am so confident that the #Covid19 vaccine is safe & effective that I decided to take it myself pic.twitter.com/TQbog6fu7i
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 19, 2020
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Never expected to post anything positive about Marco Rubio, live and learn. But hopefully he will be able to lead some of his fellow reprehensibles into taking the vaccine instead of running around without masks and blithely infecting the rest of us.
Honestly my partner works in a hospital with nearly 200 Covid patients and still hasn’t been able to get a vaccine so all these politicians who are getting them can rot.
Marco Rubio can especially rot. WTF did he get a vaccine?
Yes. Little Marco was complicit in downplaying the virus, happily and irresponsibly attending superspreader events. He should NOT have jumped the line like this. Deplorable.
I agree about Rubio should have been in the back of the line. But Pelosi is 80 years old and in the line of succession, so zero issues with her taking it. I’m torn about Moscow Mitch – he’s a terrible human being, but he has been careful and usually wearing a mask, etc. plus he’s in the age group which should be second in line. But if you’ve called it a hoax or thrown your lot in with Trump and the devil like he has done, I don’t think you should get it before essential workers.
No, Marco R. can go eat dirt. They are all about the vaccine because it’s Trump’s Operation Warp Speed, but TRUST, they will also tout how people should be free to take it if they want, giving anti-vaxxers all the motivation they need to keep putting the rest of the population in danger. As a German doctor said, no vaccine, no ventilator.
I agree 100% that Rubio should have not received the vaccine along with all the other healthy Congress people (why did AOC get one??) under the age of 70 and not in the line of presidential succession. They took forever to reach a deal for the American people after fighting for months and yet they get to steal vaccines from front line workers and others??!! Disgusting.
$600 is an insult. I think a lot of people forget that the money Congress is debating on giving us is OURS. They literally take this money from our paychecks, use it to bail out corporations then begrudgingly throw us spare change from our own money.
I’m sick of Republicans. They don’t want the government to work. They’re just using it as a corporate piggy bank.
agreed. don’t forget the $1200 checks in the spring were a *compromise* — it was supposed to be $2k! So now $600… profoundly insulting.
$600 is a joke.
This. They do not want a functioning government. They want nonstop access to money and power with total disregard for anything else. $600 when we are basically in a mass global depression. Millions of dollars of OUR money for Kanye and Bezos and fucking Joel Osteen and we are supposed to be happy about it?! Suck. A. Dick. We are living through a libertarian dream come true and it is every bit the waking nightmare sensible, non-evil people knew it would be.
And will we all be getting $600 or will it be based on income again like the $1200 was? I got nowhere near $1,200 last spring although my dead Dad did.
Yep, it’s again based on income. $600 for those earning up to $75k, less if you make more & 0 if you make $99k +.
The McConnell tweet photo looks like he’s standing next to a Klan member.
Yup – and this is the sad state of affairs we live in, I was not even surprised, just like ‘so what sort of blatant hate are these fuckers up to now’
Please help us, Jan 5, take this ghoul’s power away
Same here. Very unfortunately staged photo but then again, it didn’t surprise me at all, I didn’t see the doctor at first, just assumed he was standing there with a klansman. How horrible is our reality. This f-ing country…sigh…
HARD AGREE I did a double take at that one
Glad I am not the only one who noticed that!
There are many pictures of McConnell standing proudly in front of confederate flags.
I thought the same at first!
I cant remember which govt official tweeted ‘stimulus check ?…how about get a job.’ I was floored by the insensitivy and priveledged ignorance. How can these people living in a bubble work for ‘the people’.
Gym Jordan.
Who is in one of the most gerrymandered area in America.
I believe that was Jim Jordan.
Same person. He doesn’t deserve the respect of spelling his name the way he prefers because he respects none of his constituents and abuses his power at every turn
I had to edit this twice because I’m so ticked off at these hatemongers I can’t spell even if I tried, haha
He’s Gym Jordan so no one forgets he aided and abetted a cover up of sexual abuse at Ohio State, may he rot in hell.
I had forgotten that, shudder. May he rot now, and again in hell later.
I feel this was poorly branded as “stimulus’. It’s survival for millions. Stimulus should come later, but first it should have been survival. So 600 a week additional for the unemployed, and retroactive from when that ended over the summer. 1200 a MONTH in direct payments, but means tested, for everyone.
The UI not being retroactive is very bad, and I believe many will lose their homes just over that. Just over that. For real.
If I said what I thought should happen to these R’s who blab on tv about not wanting to give any money, like Rand Paul, I would be arrested. But we have a real problem in this country. This is abuse, and Americans have been well-trained to believe it’s love.
Did no one else think that dr was in KKK Hood at first because of his jacket and the white flag.
I did and I’m cynical enough to believe that it was a sly plan. Gee thanks Yertle and minions for the picked dry bone. These people never fail to live up to their despicable reputation.
In my fantasy, we get the two seats in GA and pass legislation that makes monthly payments until the economy picks up. Even if they were small, knowing you had an extra $600/mo coming for 6-8 months until this is over would actually stimulate the economy.
I could actually exhale
That’s what people need, monthly payments! My first thought at seeing that $600 was, well, $600 a week would really help people out, but a one-time payment? That money’s already accounted for.
all the Republicans getting the vaccine can pound sand. It makes me so angry. They called it a hoax, they refused to wear masks, they attended super-spreader events, and now Rubio is pushing for things to reopen because people are “tired of staying home” – well must be nice to have the vaccine.
I will say that a friend of mine is a ph.D at a prominent Texas college and he got his vaccine yesterday. He’s not priority (he works for the college of medicine but not with patients or anything) but he said he got bumped up the list because so many of the frontline workers are refusing the vaccine, so while I was happy he got it, its frustrating that he got it for that reason – that people who need the vaccine wont take it.
So maybe Rubio et al getting the vaccine will end up helping with those people.
It’s honestly infuriating to me that your PhD friend has been able to get one. My husband is a patient-facing worker in a hospital and my mother works in a nursing home and neither have been able to get it yet. It’s a different state but still. Academics can work from home, healthcare workers can’t.
Oh I know – and honestly I think he’s kind of ticked too, he was on the list for it (he does lab work) but I don’t think he was due for another month or so. But that’s how many people at his place of work refused it. We talked to him on Friday and he wasn’t supposed to get it for a while, and then got it yesterday. I don’t blame him, I blame the people who are refusing it.
I’m a medical doctor and have not been able to get the vaccine yet either.
AOC did an Instagram Story series where she took questions people had about the vaccine, documented where she got hers, and has since done follow ups to talk about any reactions etc.
She should not have been able to jump the line and get one. That’s just how I feel. The older congress people – yes, not the younger ones.
I agree. Until my 80 year old mother and severely disabled brother can receive one, AOC should not have that privilege. I’m surprised by this and not happy about it.
@swack and fhmom
AOC explained on video that she questioned it just like you did. She further explained that her getting the vaccine has to do with a rule on the books entitled “continuation of governance.” In other words, ensuring that the government is able to keep operating with legislators in place. It therefore makes sense to me that she and other Congress member already got the vaccine.
I have mixed feelings about it, but in this case because there are so many people legitimately wary of the vaccine and taking it, I almost feel that having her take it and then discuss it openly with constituents may actually save more lives in the long run. She’s one of the few that routinely reaches out to constituents in a meaningful way.
I wish there was a way (there probably is) to give this money only to the people who really need it (lower income, lost jobs, etc.) instead of a blanket check for everyone. I will appreciate it, but truth is I only had reduced pay for a few months and I don’t need the money. It will go into savings. Other people really do need it NOW, and $600 isn’t enough for those people.
You’re a good person. Thank you. You could consider donating some of it to local food banks, they’re all strained to keep up with demand right now.
These “stimulus” checks aren’t going to stimulate the economy by getting people shopping. They’re going to rent, food, and utilities.
Also, this bill includes 100% deductions for corporate lunches, because being able to deduct only 50% of that prime rib lunch wasn’t enough for the executives who don’t need these stimulus payments to begin with.
Something like 12 million Americans are currently behind $5,000 in rent payments so this “stimulus” is an insult and won’t do enough.
To me any one who jumps the line is trash. I know people love AOC but she has gotten the shot also. I’m 67, luckily healthy anddo all precautions for Covid. I won’t get the shot, at earliest, until plan 1c and hopefully then – won’t hold my breath. What I don’t understand is why there is money being alloted for the vaccine. Shouldn’t that money be there already to make sure things go smoothly? This stimulus, or as one person put it, survival package, should have been done a long time ago. McConnell let it sit and sit and sit because they were sure Trump would win the election and so didn’t need the extra push to get reelected. This is so sad in many ways.
Where’s the M4A in the middle of a deadly pandemic you assholes? #ForceTheVote
https://forcethevote.org/
This package is just so bad. I lost my job 6 months ago (once my company received their PPP) but made too much money to qualify for the 1200 or 600. I work in IT. I have been surviving on my savings and need the UI benefit to be larger to keep going. I’m tired of people complaining about the extra unemployment money and that people are just too lazy to get a job. There are a lot of people with good IT jobs like mine who have been let go and can’t pay their mortgage with unemployment. I can’t wait until Biden takes office!!
I’m in the same boat…laid off in June just after my association met the original PPP requirement not to do layoffs through 5/31. Made too much in 2019 to get the full $1200, won’t get the $600, because of a small severance missed the extra $600 UI and took months to get my first regular UI. Looking for FT and working PT retail but about tapped out and if the stimulus isn’t passed with added UI will be dipping into my tiny 403B, meaning I will be working til I die.
Stimulus? $600 won’t even cover most folks rent for a month. I hope that despicable turtle looking mother effer rots in hell.
We don’t need it. My husband is able to work from home, my tenants have all been paying rent, real estate prices are surging making my investments worth more than ever, and our retirement funds are exploding. I didn’t teach this semester because I hate teaching online but the money I make teaching one class as an adjunct is peanuts so that doesn’t hurt my bottom line. This should be better targeted and more should be going to those who make less.
I hope you have fun passing it on! You’ll do a much better job at finding those who need it than our soulless leaders. I keep reading MacKenzie Scott’s post on Medium about the worthy organizations she found to give billions to his year; it gives me life. Don’t know if I’m allowed to post a link [I’ll try below]; if not, it’s easily googled.
Thank heavens for the non-greedy of the world like you who know when they have enough – SO opposite of the henchmen in charge plundering for all they can get
It’s called 384 Ways to Help
https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/384-ways-to-help-45d0b9ac6ad8
GA resident here. I voted in the exact same poll booth I used in the general election for extra good luck. F*** McConnell and these soulless rodents all day long. I hope Warnock and Ossoff take it home.
If we are getting only $600, I wonder how much Mitch, Trump and the rest of the cronies are getting?
Disgusting. Someone did a survey of rents in all 50 states and there’s nowhere you can rent for $600. I was shocked because it was even outside of the big cities. Where I live they actually charge college kids $1500 for a room in a house. Well at least they used to get away with that. The university nearby is closed due to the pandemic so these people who have been fleecing students for years are sitting on empty rooms. I suppose that’s what you get when you fleece people.
Please Georgia, vote Warnock and Ossoff in so Mitch the b* can crawl back into whatever hole he lives in.
ugh. 600 can’t even pay a month of rent for most people
I hope Georgia remembers this and votes appropriately. McConnell has too much power and is helping to destroy this country. 600 after how many months?? Insulting. It should be 600 A MONTH for all until this pandemic is under control.
I saw someone post somewhere “$600 is what rich people think poor people think is a lot of money.”