Pols begin on Round 2 of fiscal aid
More unemployment aid, another round of direct payments to U.S. taxpayers and beefed-up financial assistance for small businesses are top priorities for Democrats as Congress begins negotiations on the next coronavirus stimulus package, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday.
The speaker outlined the priorities in a “next steps” statement that marked a significant pivot away from suggestions earlier this week that Democrats were considering making the next coronavirus bill contingent on political priorities, like sweeping infrastructure investments and tax codeoverhauls.
In the statement, Pelosi (DCalif.) signaled she’s wary that tedious partisan negotiations would ensue if infrastructure or tax proposals are in the mix.
She said she’d rather build on the bipartisan momentum of the $2.2 trillion stimulus package signed into law by President Trump last week.
“We must extend and expand this bipartisan legislation to meet the needs of the American people,” she said. “It is imperative that we go bigger and further assist small businesses, to go longer in unemployment benefits and provide additional resources to process unemployment insurance claims and to give families additional direct payments.”
Pelosi cited the “acceleration” of the coronavirus outbreak as justification.
“The numbers are devastating: 6.6 million initial unemployment claims, 700,000 jobs lost in the March jobs report, more than 245,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 6,000 dead,” the speaker said, citing recent reports from the Labor Department and the country’s COVID-19 tallies.
Pelosi did not propose a price tag for the next round of direct payments.
President Trump is not leading by example.
The commander-inchief urged all Americans on Friday to wear face masks in public as part of an aggressive effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak — but he has no plans to follow his own advice.
Speaking at his daily COVID-19 briefing at the White House, Trump announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had concluded after much study that all people in the U.S. should wear “a basic cloth or fabric mask” whenever they go outside. He said such nonprofessional grade masks can be purchased online or made at home.
But Trump quickly shot his own recommendations in the foot.
“So it’s voluntary, you don’t have to do it,” Trump said. “I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.”
Asked why he doesn’t