By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON, D.C.—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi flew to Washington, D.C. on Sunday and the Senate bipartisan process stopped on an emergency relief bill that had been 240 pages and over one trillion dollars. Instead the House Speaker introduced a 1,140 page bill which by this morning has turned into a 1,540 page bill that was over 2.5 trillion dollars. The original bill already had four trillion dollars in loan provisions.
The new House sponsored emergency bill features a Democratic “wish list” which includes such items as:
- $300 million to foreign refugees;
- mandated nationwide harvest balloting and other vote-by-mail and early voting provisions mandated by federal and not state government;
- solar panel testing requirements;
- collective bargaining rights as it relates to the airlines;
- environmental regulations for airlines with climate control studies;
- mandates for corporations;
- $35 million for funding the Kennedy Center—a performing arts center in Washington, D.C.;
- the elimination of the U.S. Postal Service’s debt to the treasury;
- diversity provisions for companies getting aid to disclose its employees’ race, gender, pay, and corporate board diversity policies; and
- required company reports on dollars invested with minority and women suppliers; professional services (legal and consulting); and asset managers;
(Editor’s Note: To see the full House bill as of yesterday prior to the inclusion of four hundred more pages this morning go to: https://www.scribd.com/document/452911706/Full-text-Nancy-Pelosi-Coronavirus-Stimulus-Bill.)
Responses to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delaying passage of an emergency relief bill for American workers
Vice President Mike Pence: “It is time for the U.S. Senate and the House to act. They must act.”
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY): “I urge Democratic lawmakers to approve the Covid-19 relief bill. But Democrats are holding out for the Green New Deal. They want to argue about airlines and their carbon footprint. They want to squeeze employers while they are vulnerable. They are holding up emergency funding for tax credit for solar panels. My Democratic colleague (House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-SC) is saying; ‘How many times are we going to get a shot at a one trillion plus package? Let’s not waste this opportunity to take full advantage to get our whole wish list.”
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME): “We need to provide relief to American workers. This is a disgrace. Time is not in our side. We need to get the job done for the American people.”
Senator John Kennedy (R-LA): “We were founded by geniuses and are run by idiots. Reality calls but Congress is hanging up. Stop thinking about the next election but about the next generation. We don’t have months, we have days.”
Fox News Carley Shimkus: “People are dying. There is partisan bickering on Capitol Hill.”
Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel American Center for Law and Justice: “Nancy Pelosi is stuffing the green pepper with who knows what? People are dying. We need help. What are they willing to do? American people are hurting. Relief is what is needed for the American family. This is an embarrassment and outrage to the American people.”
The Senate bill was derailed for the second time Monday by Democratic objections while taking advantage of five Republicans facing quarantine in the midst of the coronavirus.
“The U.S. Senate can amend its rules but they don’t want to,” said Sekulow during today’s American Center for Law and Justice radio broadcast as he bemoaned the archaic parliamentarian procedures that keep Congressional representatives from remote voting. “Let’s get into 1970 technology using our phones—not even 2020 technology,” said Sekulow.
Another comment from this morning’s ACLJ radio show: “Our elected officials are in their own bubble. They live in a different world.”
Michael Hernandez, Co-Founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service; editor of the History Makers Report and founder of History Makers International—a community nonprofit serving youth and families in Ventura County, is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. He worked 25 years as a middle school teacher in Monrovia and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted by email at [email protected].
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Michael Hernandez, Co-Founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service; editor of the History Makers Report and founder of History Makers International—a community nonprofit serving youth and families in Ventura County, is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. He worked 25 years as a middle school teacher in Monrovia and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted by email at [email protected].
Get CitizensJournal.us Headlines free SUBSCRIPTION. Keep us publishing.
Pelosi bill now dead.