Coronavirus Relief

[AndyinPA]

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/54010 ... -in-senate

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) says that President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-relief package likely won’t get any Republican votes on the Senate floor.

And she pointed to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and White House chief of staff Ron Klain as a major reason why bipartisan talks on the relief bill fell apart.

Collins said Tuesday that Biden’s senior advisers have refused to come down from their $1.9 trillion proposal, which GOP moderates say is far too expensive given their preference for what they call “targeted” relief.

As a result, Biden’s relief proposal, which is expected to pass the House this week and come to the Senate floor before March 14, will likely wind up passing by a straight party-line vote.

[p0rtia]

Good. That's the first positive thing I've heard about Schumer in a decade.

[Frater I*I]

And Madam Vice President will cast the deciding vote...

It'll be like a needle stabbing the heart of the GOP...

[AndyinPA]

Or not...

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/02/25/poli ... index.html

(CNN) A federal judge in Texas on Thursday ruled that the federal moratorium on evictions is unconstitutional, according to court documents.

US District Judge John Barker, who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump to the court in the Eastern District of Texas, stopped short of issuing a preliminary injunction, but said he expected the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to respect his ruling and withdraw the moratorium.

"The federal government cannot say that it has ever before invoked its power over interstate commerce to impose a residential eviction moratorium. It did not do so during the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic. Nor did it invoke such a power during the exigencies of the Great Depression. The federal government has not claimed such a power at any point during our Nation's history until last year," Barker wrote.

Although the Covid-19 pandemic persists, he said, "so does the Constitution."

The ruling punctuates a legal effort that began when a group of Texas landlords and property owners sued the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services in October over the Eviction Moratorium Order that was issued by the Trump administration in September.

[Sunrise]

And Madam Vice President will cast the deciding vote...

It'll be like a needle stabbing the heart of the GOP...

You’re assuming that all 50 Democratic Senators will vote in favor of the bill, but there are a couple of possible holdouts.

[raison de arizona]

Ron Johnson continues to be a great big turd.

[AndyinPA]

What makes me so angry is that very few of his constituents will see this and remember it on election day. They just keep electing this moron. And he really is one of the dumbest of the dumbs in the freedumb party.

[neonzx]

I was watching live when Sen. Ron Johnson called for that. What an ass.

We already know how the vote is going to roll.

[raison de arizona]

Almost done, ahead of schedule.

[Lani]

The little bit I heard, it sounded like the clerks were in a race to see who could read the fastest!

[raison de arizona]

Hey, look at that. Since NOT ONE SINGLE REPUBLICAN stayed for the reading, Dems were able to dramatically cut debate. Win!

[Suranis]

[raison de arizona]

Putting this here because here is where it landed. Quite a few Dems voting against the 15$ minimum wage, including Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), John Tester (Mont.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Chris Coons (Del.), Tom Carper (Del.), and Angus King (Vt.) so far. King is Independent, but he caucuses with the Dems.

edited to add...

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

ANGUS KING????!!!!!!!

[Lani]

Senate Democrats reached a deal accepted by Senator Joe Manchin, the lone Democratic holdout, on Friday evening, after Manchin had an extended meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The compromise amendment extends additional unemployment insurance benefits through September 6 at $300 per week. It also makes the first $10,200 of unemployment insurance benefits non-taxable for households with incomes under $150,000, and extends tax rules regarding excess business loss limitations to 2026.

The amendment was approved by a vote of 50 to 49 shortly after 1 a.m. It is almost identical to an amendment proposed under a deal reached Friday morning by progressives and moderates, with the only change being the income limit for the non-taxable benefits.
<snip>
The Senate is expected to vote on dozens of amendments during the "vote-a-rama" Saturday morning. Amendments require support from a simple majority to be added to the bill, and most amendments proposed by Republicans are expected to fail. GOP Senator Dan Sullivan left the Senate due to a family emergency, meaning that most amendments will pass or fail with a 50-49 margin, so Vice President Kamala Harris will not be required to break any ties.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-reli ... 021-03-06/

[Lani]

In Hawaii, the minimum wage is $10.10/hr. There was a lot of support for $13.00 by 2024, but then the pandemic hit. Now Hawaii lawmakers are working on increasing the minimum wage to $12 by July 2022.

Meanwhile, real estate has skyrocketed during the pandemic. On Oahu, the median price for a house is now over $900,000.

[Luke]

The Senate is still going with vote-a-rama at 4:30am Sat 3/6! With their advanced ages, 99 of them are there and the GOP just keeps losing. Chuck Grassley is hanging out. Some are complaining. After wasting 11 hours reading the bill, in the morning Democrats just reduced the time for debate so they lost anyway. Schumer is going to keep going and wear the Republicans down. Funny to see them working all night. Really irritated at Manchin, single-handedly he reduced UI by $100/person/week. His Governor is for going big.

ETA: MoscowMitch talking with Thune and Blunt at 4:50am:

Senate.JPG (272.08 KiB) Viewed 4477 times

Senate 2.JPG (266.39 KiB) Viewed 4477 times

5am Rand Paul's doomed amendment (Murkowski is in the wrap):

Senate 3.JPG (242.2 KiB) Viewed 4475 times

[Lani]

After 6am in DC, and the Senate is still in session. Sen. Dan Sullivan is not present because of a family issue, so it's Dems 50, QOP 49.

[Lani]

Apparently, Senator Lankford (R-OK) wants something about abortions in the Covid relief act. Because, of course he does.

[MN-Skeptic]

The Relief bill has now passed the Senate along party lines - 50-49. As someone on Twitter said: "Thank you, Stacy Abrams!"

Now it goes back to the House.

[Volkonski]

Sarah Ferris
@sarahnferris
·
16m
Hoyer makes it official: House will take up Covid package for the final, FINAL vote on Tuesday.

“On Tuesday, the House will consider the Senate's amended version of the American Rescue Plan, so that we can send this bill to President Biden for his signature early next week."

[Luke]

HOORAY! This is what we voted for.


“A new day has come and we tell the American people help is on the way,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), shortly before passage. The bill “is broader, deeper, and more comprehensive in helping working families and lifting people out of poverty than anything Congress has seen or accomplished in a very long time.”

And Thank You GEORGIA! Imagine if we didn't have Ossoff and Warnock and this was MoscowMitch's call. This is going to help so many people.



Democrats:
Stimulus Checks
PPP
Unemployment Benefits

Republicans:
Mr. Potato Head
Dr. Seuss
The Muppets

[Luke]

RWNJs are sucking their thumbs and whining about abortion and Speedy Gonzales. Non-scientific, but have noticed far fewer DL2XIT supporter tweets lately. They won't admit it, but the reality is finally dawning and they are going through their stages of grief. Of course, Democrats did that in 2016, but we got started earlier since the election was called that night. Thanks to DL2XIT and his deniers, instead of dealing with the loss, his supporters were even more amped up and lost time to recover. Have a feeling we'll be reading more about that.

Of course, those same RWNJs will be RUNNING TO THE BANK to deposit those stimulus checks.

President Biden:

[MN-Skeptic]

Of course, those same RWNJs will be RUNNING TO THE BANK to deposit those stimulus checks.

And unlike Trump, Biden doesn't feel the need to spend taxpayer dollars to send letters to every recipient, making sure he gets personal credit for the stimulus check.

[Luke]

Exactly.

Well, Seb asked...