Another day of NEW RECORDS
across the board!
World
- New Cases: 725,417 (⬆︎ .98%)
- New Deaths: 13,535 (⬆︎ .82%)
USA
- New Cases: 248,686 (⬆︎ 1.45%)
- New Deaths: 3,538 (⬆︎ 1.14%)
Also a NEW Record:
As always, Dems are trying to get money into the pockets of people who'll spend it almost as soon as they get it, while Republicans are angling for advantage in favor of the Rent-Seekers.
And can I just say, this constant brinksmanship - always running up against deadlines - the suspenseful cliffhangers, and all the attending bullshit - it's just another form of hostage-taking and it has to stop.
WaPo: (pay wall)
Congressional leaders try to clear final hurdles in sprint to finish coronavirus relief package
Negotiators tout progress but must resolve disagreements over several policy issues to strike an approximately $900 billion agreement.
Congressional leaders are trying to resolve a number of lingering policy disagreements as they race to finalize an approximately $900 billion coronavirus relief package by the end of this week. They involve the powers of the Federal Reserve, aid for theaters and music venues, and whether to extend any flexibility to cities and states, among other things.
Negotiators have cited significant progress in recent days as talks accelerated. Senior lawmakers aimed to unveil legislation as soon as Thursday. While several difficult sticking points remain, aides are expressing optimism that none of the issues that has emerged appeared likely to prevent final passage of an agreement.
Congress must pass a spending bill by midnight on Friday to avoid a government shutdown, and some had hoped to add the stimulus package to that legislation. If the stimulus talks drag on, lawmakers could be forced to pass another short-term spending bill to give them more time, potentially pushing talks into Christmas week.
And a number of issues still must be resolved. Lawmakers were still tangling over Republican demands to limit the emergency lending programs run by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve, according to three aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of internal talks. Democrats believe these provisions, pushed primarily by Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), would constrain the ability of the incoming Biden administration to stabilize the economy during a protracted downturn.
Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, are seeking to include funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to give to states and cities in emergencies. Republicans are wary that measure could amount to a form of aid for states and cities and have pushed back against it. Republican lawmakers agreed to drop their demands for a sweeping coronavirus liability shield in exchange for Democrats agreeing to abandon their push for hundreds of billions in state and local aid, but the dispute about the FEMA money remains unresolved. Democrats say the measure would only cost about $1 billion.
Similarly, Democratic lawmakers are seeking to delay the Dec. 31 deadline that states and cities have to spend unused federal assistance before that funding expires and has to be returned. Republicans have been resistant to that change as well, aides said.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is also pushing a $17 billion plan called “Save Our Stages” to devote federal assistance to venues shut down by the pandemic and at risk of permanent closure. Some senior Republicans view the request as excessive and think some of the funding would be better spent on restaurants and additional Paycheck Protection Program assistance, according to aides familiar with internal discussions. Schumer has pushed for funding for restaurants and a second round of PPP as well. The “Save Our Stages” measure has some Republican support, including from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), who co-authored a $10 billion aid bill earlier this year.
The sprint for a deal comes amid numerous signs the economy is deteriorating again. Jobless claims have risen in recent weeks as a surge in new coronavirus cases has led to new restrictions on commerce. The pace of hiring has also slowed, and retail sales came in weaker than expected in November, an ominous sign during the holidays.
Because numerous items remain in flux, lawmakers have not released final text of the sweeping coronavirus package. If they reach a deal in time, the relief bill could be paired with legislation to fund the federal agencies; new tax provisions; and a bipartisan agreement to rein in surprise medical billing, among other measures.
Pelosi and Schumer spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and agreed to trade offers and resume conversations Thursday morning, a Pelosi spokesman said on Twitter.
“We’ve made progress. Now, it’s just the fine details that we’ve got to get done, but those are the most important ones,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters on Wednesday.
One unresolved matter, according to three congressional aides, surrounds a Republican desire to tighten restrictions on the Federal Reserve’s ability to exercise its emergency lending authority amid the pandemic. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in November moved to wind down several emergency credit facilities totaling $500 billion that were authorized by the Cares Act passed in March. But several Republicans — led by Toomey, the incoming GOP leader of the Senate Banking Committee — want firmer limitations on the Fed’s own statutory powers to intervene under “unusual and exigent circumstances.”
Toomey included language in a GOP-drafted coronavirus aid proposal that was blocked by Senate Democrats in September that would affirmatively prevent the Fed from pursuing any further lending past early January. Republicans are pushing to include similar language in the pending bill, but Democrats are fiercely resisting the move — believing it will hamstring Biden and his nominee for treasury secretary, former Fed chair Janet Yellen, as they seek to guide the economic recovery.
The various lending facilities include funds meant to ensure liquidity in various commercial credit markets, as well as vehicles to back Paycheck Protection Program loans for small businesses and to buy up municipal bond obligations from states and certain large cities and counties — freeing up their balances sheets amid fiscal distress. The latter program, which held $1.45 billion in bonds at the end of November, is of special note because federal aid to states and cities has become politically treacherous on Capitol Hill, and many Republicans have pointedly opposed any aid that could be construed as helping to bail jurisdictions out of non-covid-related fiscal distress.
The legislation taking shape is expected to devote about $330 billion for small-business relief, including $257 billion for another round of Paycheck Protection Program funding, aides said. Under the plans being considered, firms would likely be required to show declines in revenue of as great as 25 percent to qualify for the assistance, according to two people briefed on discussions. The measure would also have aid directly targeted for the restaurant industry, which is bracing for a severe downturn amid the closure of winter dining due to the surging pandemic.
Congressional leaders have also said they would provide about $300 a week in additional federal unemployment benefits. Those benefits would last for 10 weeks, rather than the 16 weeks called for in the bipartisan plan released by House and Senate lawmakers earlier this week. This program was scaled back to free up money for the stimulus payment, which was a late addition to the plan.
Base unemployment benefits and a federal unemployment program created in March for gig workers and independent contractors, among others ineligible for traditional unemployment, are also expected to be extended for 10 weeks, people briefed on the talks said. The legislation would not retroactively cover unemployment benefits after the $600 per week benefit approved by Congress expired this summer.
The bill is expected to include a second round of stimulus payments, but at $600 per person rather than the $1,200 per person approved in March. The legislation is likely to provide both $600 per adult and $600 per child. Eligibility will be based on the same income threshold as in the Cares Act, which gave full payments to those who had earned less than $75,000 in the previous year. Payments are smaller for those earning over that amount before disappearing entirely for those earning more than $99,000.
There are expected to be two other significant policy changes to how the stimulus checks are disbursed. Adults who are claimed as dependents would be eligible for checks, unlike the previous round of payments. And the final measure is likely to be similar to Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) legislation to give stimulus payments to U.S. citizens and their children even if they are married to noncitizens. Aides said discussions were fluid and policies had not been finalized.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 2-ranking Republican senator, suggested Wednesday that lawmakers may seek to prevent people on unemployment benefits from also receiving $600 stimulus payments. Aides said that suggestion has been rejected by congressional Democrats and was unlikely to be incorporated in a final agreement.
Assholes - I got assholes on my team.
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