Strike a deal on pandemic relief now

The following is from a Bloomberg Opinion editorial:

The prospects for a coronavirus relief plan are finally improving. The delay, and the fact that talks in Washington might even now fail to break the stalemate, are little short of scandalous. But compromise is in the air. Leaders of both parties need to seize the opportunity.

A bipartisan group of senators opened a crack in the wall earlier this week, proposing a relief plan of a little more than $900 billion — less than the $2.4 trillion that Democratic leaders had previously insisted on, and more than the roughly $500 billion favored by the

GOP leadership. President Donald Trump has suggested he'd support it.

But as yet neither side has committed to getting it done. That isn't good enough.

President-elect Joe Biden got it exactly right, saying the compromise proposal wasn't enough but he saw it as a down payment that would deliver prompt relief. With the existing relief measures expiring, those in need of help can't wait.

Democrats have been right to argue that a bigger proposal would be better. A measure of between $1 trillion and $2 trillion is needed — enough to provide renewed unemployment assistance, help for struggling businesses and adequate support for financially stretched states and cities.

Even so, the country would see settling for the compromise as the best that could be done under the circumstances. And if Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell and others still refused to budge from their woefully inadequate proposal, the blame for the impasse and its consequences would lie squarely where it belongs, with Republicans in Congress.

This saga has dragged on far too long. Come to terms immediately and get this measure passed.