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Covid-19 Relief Bill - What you need to know

 
 
 
Why did I think Sen. Johnson was a moderate Republican at some point? Was I mistaken, because he is a full-on right-wing troll.
 
This will be the 20 something time the federal minimum wage is raised. Can someone explain why the economy is still alive and kicking after it was raised that many times? Because Loren got me thinking this is the end times.
 
ZiprHead said:
Just read the bill passed the senate, 51 - 50.
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I don't follow all the parliamentary machinations, but it sounds like the Ds were able to expedite the vote because at one point there were ZERO Republican Members in the Senate, so nobody able to object to a "without objection" request! If the Rs were absent due to boredom or sleeping during the 10-hour reading of the bill, that would be ironic since the Republiotards forced the reading as a delaying tactic.

Did the 'tards give any reason for voting No on the bill? The bill wasn't liberal enough?
 
The Senate passed the stimulus bill, 50-49.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/06/us/politics/biden-stimulus-plan.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage


WASHINGTON — President Biden’s sweeping $1.9 trillion stimulus bill passed a deeply divided Senate on Saturday over unanimous Republican opposition, as Democrats pushed through a pandemic aid plan that includes the largest antipoverty effort in a generation.

The package, which still must pass the House before it heads to Mr. Biden’s desk to be signed into law, is the first major legislative initiative of his presidency. It would inject vast amounts of federal resources into the economy, including direct payments of up to $1,400 for hundreds of millions of Americans, jobless aid of $300 a week to last through the summer, money for distributing coronavirus vaccines and relief for states, cities, schools and small businesses struggling during the pandemic.

Beyond the immediate aid, the measure, titled the American Rescue Plan, would also have a huge effect in combating poverty in the United States. It would potentially cut child poverty in half, through a generous expansion of tax credits for low-income Americans with children, increases in subsidies for child care, a broadening of eligibility under the Affordable Care Act and an expansion of food stamps and rental assistance.
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Hopefully, the minimum wage increase will be brought up as a separate bill, and eventually will be passed. But, passing this bill is quite an accomplishment considering how difficult it is to ever get Democrats to agree on anything, and considering the constant obstructionism of the other party.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Why did I think Sen. Johnson was a moderate Republican at some point? Was I mistaken, because he is a full-on right-wing troll.
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And to think he replaced Russ Feingold. Talk about night and day. It’s amazing how divided the voting populace is.
 
Titled link: Divided Senate Passes Biden’s Pandemic Aid Plan - The New York Times - "The chamber approved the package after a grueling marathon of amendment votes and last-ditch negotiations. The measure must now clear the House a second time."
The resulting package was a narrower version of Mr. Biden’s original plan, with major progressive priorities either dropped or curtailed to accommodate Mr. Manchin and other moderate Democrats. Unlike the president’s proposal and a version passed by the House last weekend, it omits an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15. It also narrows eligibility for stimulus checks and reduces weekly unemployment payments, which Mr. Biden and Democrats had hoped to increase to $400.

...
The legislation would send another round of direct payments to American taxpayers making $75,000 or less and extend weekly unemployment benefits through Labor Day, making a large portion of jobless aid from last year tax-free. It would provide $350 billion for state, local and tribal governments, $130 billion to primary and secondary schools, $14 billion for the distribution of a vaccine, $12 billion to nutrition assistance and money for reopening businesses around the country.

It would also provide a benefit of $300 per child for those age 5 and younger — and $250 per child ages 6 to 17, increasing the value of the so-called child tax credit in an effort to significantly reduce child poverty. The bill also includes $45 billion in rental, utility and mortgage assistance, $30 billion for transit agencies, and billions more for small businesses and live venues.

The measure also would provide federal subsidies for people to keep the health insurance they had from work if they lost their jobs.
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Progressive leaders like Bernie Sanders and Pramila Jayapal seemed satisfied. The bill is scheduled for a House vote this upcoming Tuesday.
The struggle to push the measure through the Senate included two consecutive overnight sessions. First, Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, registered his objections by forcing the chamber’s clerks to read the entire 628-page bill aloud, a 10-hour-and-44-minute oration that began Thursday and ran into the early hours Friday. When the Senate reconvened in daylight, Mr. Manchin ground Senate action to a halt for more than nine hours as he successfully sought more reductions to the unemployment benefits.

Republicans then forced nearly three dozen amendment votes, a process that stretched until noon Saturday, in an effort to prolong an outcome they could not stop. The rejected changes included scaling back the entire plan to about $650 billion, conditioning school funds on the number of in-person classes, and reallocating state and local government funds elsewhere.
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Seems like the Republicans were doing some alternative filibusters: ordering the reading of the entire bill, then introducing a large number of amendments.
 
8 Democrats defect on $15 minimum wage hike - POLITICO
On an amendment introduced by Bernie Sanders.

These 8 Democrats joined all 50 Republicans in voting against it:

Joe Manchin D-WV, Jon Tester D-MT, Jeanne Shaheen D-NH, Maggie Hassan D-NH, Chris Coons D-DE, Tom Carper D-DE, Kyrsten Sinema D-AZ, Angus King I-ME.

AK, though an Independent, caucuses with the Democrats, as Bernie Sanders does.
The vote was not an exact extrapolation of where senators stand on raising the wage. Rather than a straight up-or-down vote on the issue, Sanders' amendment sought to override the parliamentarian’s ruling that the wage increase couldn’t be included in the Covid aid package, which requires only 50 votes and a tiebreaker from Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed thanks to the protections of a process known as budget reconciliation.

So Sanders needed to win 60 votes on Friday to get around that procedural hurdle — which was never going to happen given unanimous GOP opposition to doubling the current $7.25 minimum wage.
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Would any of them support a minimum-wage increase as a standalone measure?
 
The Senate vote - 117th Congress, 1st Session, #110, March 6, 2021, 12:12 PM

Every Senate Democrat voted for it and every Senate Republican against it, with the exception of Sen. Sullivan R-AK, who did not vote in it.


Sinema goes viral for wearing 'Dangerous Creature' sweater on Senate floor | TheHill
She's a bit like AOC, it seems.

Tim O'Brien on Twitter: "Senator Sinema having fun voting against a meager minimum wage hike that would benefit workers, businesses and the economy. (link)" / Twitter


Dem senator’s own words come back to haunt her after she gleefully voted against minimum wage increase - Raw Story - Celebrating 16 Years of Independent Journalism
"The only thing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema wants to give Arizonans and the nation is 'cake.' Forget the $15-an-hour wage or clearing the way for immigration and election reform. Sinema apparently just wants the little people to eat cake," Elvia Diaz wrote for the Arizona Republic. "She literally carried a cake to the Senate when she voted against Sen. Bernie Sanders' proposal to keep the $15-an-hour wage hike in the $1.9 billion COVID-19 relief plan. Her spokesperson later said Sinema brought the cake for Senate staffers who had been working through the night."
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Mark Pocan on Twitter: "Just wow." / Twitter
noting from Mar 11, 2014:
Kyrsten Sinema on Twitter: "A full-time minimum-wage earner makes less than $16k a year. This one’s a no-brainer. Tell Congress to #RaiseTheWage! (link)" / Twitter

aída chávez on Twitter: "In 2002, the Arizona Republic published a letter from Kyrsten Sinema criticizing capitalism.

“Until the average American realizes that capitalism damages her livelihood while augmenting the livelihoods of the wealthy, the Almighty Dollar will continue to rule,” she wrote." / Twitter
then
aída chávez on Twitter: "Here’s the letter (pic link)" / Twitter
Capitalism gave us NAFTA: which was supposedly designed to benefit the United States and Mexico, but in reality benefits only wealthy Americans, leaving both American and Mexican workers holding the short end of the dollar.

Capitalism also gave us the World Bank and WTO. which mandate draconian measures of Third World loan recipients, such as the original requirement in South Africa that the government jail all union organizers, or laws that prevent countries from growing certain crops so that they are forced to import them at exorbitant rates, and Enron (no explanation needed).

Until the average American realizes that capitalism dam- ages her livelihood while augmenting the livelihoods of the wealthy, the Almighty Dollar will continue to rule. It certainly is not ruling in our favor.

Kyrsten Sinema
Phoenix

The writer plans to run for a seat in the state House of Representatives from District 15.
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Josh-Ray Lodgefon on Twitter: "@aidachavez
Political chameleon
went from green party progressive
to blue dog democrat in no time flat
If they keep AZ blue though dems will put up with it" / Twitter
 
Now watch a gaggle of 'pugs jump on the bandwagon at the last minute on Tuesday, so they can tell their constituents they give a flying fuck about them.
 
Kyrsten Sinema on Twitter: "(pic link)" / Twitter
"I understand what it is like to face tough choices while working to meet your family's most basic needs. also know the difference better wages can make, which is why I helped lead Arizona's effort to oass an indexed minimum wage in 2006, and strongly supported the voter-approved state minimum wage increase in 2016. No person who works full time should live in poverty. Senators in both parties have shown support for raising the federal minimum wage and the Senate should hold an open debate and amendment process on raising the minimum wage, separate from the COVID-focused reconciliation bill. I will keep working with colleagues in both parties to ensure Americans can access good-paying jobs, quality education, and skills training to build more economically secure lives for themselves and their families."
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So she's claiming that she's willing to support an increase in the minimum wage in a separate bill.

Kari Johnston on Twitter: "@SenatorSinema How it started. How it’s going. What corrupted her? (link)" / Twitter - with a cartoon of KS wearing what she wore to vote, with a mask saying "Fuck The Poor" and doing thumbs down.

Sinema Slammed For Exaggerated Thumbs-Down On $15 Minimum Wage | HuffPost
Although hand gestures are commonplace on the Senate floor, particularly in the coronavirus era, Sinema’s casual body language was disappointing to some who saw the gesture as belittling the fight to end poverty wages.

Sinema’s office responded to a question about the gesture by making the absurd claim that the inquiry is sexist. “Commentary about a female senator’s body language, clothing, or physical demeanor does not belong in a serious media outlet,” Hannah Hurley, a spokesperson for Sinema, told HuffPost.
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Elixir said:
Now watch a gaggle of 'pugs jump on the bandwagon at the last minute on Tuesday, so they can tell their constituents they give a flying fuck about them.
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It is worth noting that Mitch McConnell whined about the bill being "rammed through" on a "razor thin majority" mere months after he did the exact same thing with a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.

You know, the thing he said should not be done in an election year, but he did it a whole week before an election. This guy is playing 4D hypocrisy.
 
lpetrich said:
(Kyrsten Sinema doing a cartoonish thumbs-down gesture)
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I am beyond disappointed. She represented my district when she was in Congress, but she seems to have morphed into a creature of Washington during her time running for/working in the Senate. Better than McSally? Yes, but her fashion choices aside, she's become one of the most conservative Democrats in the chamber.
 
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