Posted on 12/18/2020 11:26:44 AM PST by RandFan
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on Friday objected to Sen. Josh Hawley's (R-Mo.) motion to pass a bill via unanimous consent that would provide $1,200 to Americans in the form of direct stimulus checks, citing the ballooning national debt.
Why it matters: Hawley has teamed up with an unlikely partner, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), in a push to include direct payments in Congress' next coronavirus relief package, which has entered the final stages of negotiations.
The bill currently being discussed by congressional leaders does include direct payments, but at a size closer to $600 — half of what Sanders and Hawley have said is necessary to support working families. Johnson's concerns about the size of the stimulus package, which at about $900 billion would be one of the largest in U.S. history, are shared by many Senate Republicans.
What they're saying: "We have families in need. There's no doubt about it. I completely support some kind of program targeted for small businesses so they can reemploy, so they can reopen, to restore capital," Johnson said on the Senate floor.
"What I fear we're going to do with this bipartisan package, and what the senator from Missouri is talking about is the same thing — a shotgun approach," he continued.
"We will not have learned the lessons from our very hurried, very rushed, very massive, earlier relief packages. We're just going to do more of the same, another trillion dollars. It takes our debt from $27.4 trillion to $28.4 trillion in a couple months. With doing virtually no revisions, no improvements."
What to watch: Hawley said Sanders will be back in a "matter of hours" to attempt to pass the bill again. Both senators have said they will block an extension to government funding when it expires tonight.
(Excerpt) Read more at axios.com ...
Thank heavens for Ron Johnson!
Sanders won't back down though. They're demanding a vote.
wth SEND US THE FREAKING MONEY!!!!!!!!!!
YOU closed us down YOU destroyed everything, now PAY THE HECK UP!!! I don’t give one whit about the national debt!
If the republicans lose Georgia 1200 dollars will seem like a drop in the bucket considering what the Dems will stuff in their bill bad move politically really bad move
No delegated power for these stimulus checks, and they, like bailouts of banks etc, should never happen.
People need money. It is way past time for everyone to get back to work, not look for bread crumbs from the government. For States in lockdown, why not a state wide strike, a massive march and shutdown the capital, then keep it down until they give in.
Stealing from savers through inflation is moral! /s
Great point.
Axios and The Hill have covered up the Dems’ blocking these checks for months.
But they sure rushed out articles about Johnson blocking this one bill!
What a corrupt media.
TexasFreeper; Mucho Gracias! Somebody had to say it!!
If all this hemming and hawing gives me a headache, I can only imagine what it’s like for business owners who may be losing everything by the day.
Debt? That ship sunk long time ago.
Actually you make a revealing point -- it may be better to move this bill thru, and have these checks with Trump's signature on them, than to postpone this bill again, and have it jammed through twice the size in 4 months. That's just realpolitick.
And this is no time to "go cheap", with the Georgia runoffs on the line.
For states in lockdown, just open up. There’s your protest. If everyone does it, lockdown is over in a day. But that’s not what the thought leaders here and elsewhere suggest. Just keep begging your leaders to let you open up your business.
Yeah kudos to a good newbie.
Hey Johnson!!! I want my damn money 💰 in fact I want $12,000 dollars per taxpayer. You don’t attempt to stem the flow of illegals into our country, or fail to support endless wars, so open up the wallet for every day Americans!!
No, I think its absurd of Ron Johnson in the shadow of the Georgia runoff. Why give them any fodder? This is nothing.
What the F!
OK to give the Mullahs and every s—thole countries billions but none to taxpayers who had to close their business over a virus no dangerous than the flu?
Sure got that right!
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