Pelosi expects bipartisan House vote for $2 trillion coronavirus bill Friday

[webfact]

Pelosi expects bipartisan House vote for $2 trillion coronavirus bill Friday

By David Morgan and Richard Cowan

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks to news reporters ahead of a vote on the coronavirus relief bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she expected the chamber to pass an estimated $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill when it meets on Friday, after the Senate overwhelmingly approved the unprecedented economic rescue legislation Wednesday evening.

 

"Tomorrow we’ll bring the bill to the floor. It will pass with strong bipartisan support," Pelosi, a Democrat, told reporters.

 

The legislation will rush direct payments to Americans within three weeks once the Democratic-controlled House passes it and Republican President Donald Trump signs it into law, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

 

The Republican-led Senate approved the bill - which would be the largest fiscal stimulus measure ever passed by Congress - by 96 votes to zero late on Wednesday, overcoming bitter partisan negotiations and boosting its chances of passing the House.

 

The unanimous Senate vote, a rare departure from bitter partisanship in Washington that followed several days of wrangling, underscored how seriously members of Congress are taking the global pandemic as Americans suffer and the medical system reels.

 

The Democratic Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday said she expects "a strong bipartisan vote" on a $2 trillion rescue package, which Nancy Pelosi credited Democrats for winning worker-friendly concessions from the Republican-controlled Senate.

 

"When there's a crisis of this magnitude, the private sector cannot solve it," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said.

 

"Individuals, even with bravery and valor, are not powerful enough to beat it back. Government is the only force large enough to staunch the bleeding and begin the healing."

 

The package is intended to flood the country with cash in an effort to stem the crushing impact on the economy of an intensifying pandemic that has killed about 1,000 people in the United States and infected nearly 70,000.

 

Pelosi said there was no question more money would be needed to fight the coronavirus. She said House committees would be working on the next phase in the near term, even if the full chamber is not in session. She said lawmakers would need to be on call for possible votes.

 

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy also backs the relief plan, but said he wanted it to be allowed to work before deciding whether more legislation was needed.

 

"This will be probably the largest bill anybody in Congress has ever voted for," he told reporters.

 

Only two other countries, China and Italy, have more coronavirus cases than the United States. The World Health Organization has warned the United States looks set to become the epicenter of the pandemic.

 

The American government's intervention follows two other packages that became law this month. The money at stake amounts to nearly half of the total $4.7 trillion the federal government spends annually.

 

Trump, who has promised to sign the bill as soon as it passes the House, expressed his delight on Twitter. "96-0 in the United States Senate.

 

Congratulations AMERICA!" he wrote.

 

Pelosi said House leaders were planning a voice vote on the rescue plan on Friday, but said leaders would be prepared for other contingencies.

 

She had said a day earlier that if there were calls for a vote recorded by name, lawmakers might be able to vote by proxy, as not all would attend.

 

"If somebody has a different point of view (about the bill), they can put it in the record," she said, referring to the Congressional Record.

 

McCarthy predicted the measure would pass Friday morning following a debate.

 

The massive bill, worth more than $2 trillion, includes a $500 billion fund to help hard-hit industries and a comparable amount for direct payments of up to $3,000 apiece to millions of families.

 

The legislation will also provide $350 billion for small-business loans, $250 billion for expanded unemployment aid and at least $100 billion for hospitals and related health systems.

 

The House has 430 members, most of whom have been out of Washington since March 14. Many want to return for the vote, but for all to attend would be difficult, given that at least two have tested positive for the coronavirus, a handful of others are in self-quarantine, and several states have issued stay-at-home orders. There are five vacant House seats.

 

The Senate's No. 2 Republican, John Thune, missed Wednesday's vote because he was not feeling well. His spokesman said Thune, 59, flew back to his state, South Dakota, on a charter flight Wednesday, accompanied by a Capitol Police officer and wearing a mask.

 

(Reporting by David Morgan and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Patricia Zengerle and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-27

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[earlinclaifornia]

I just read one House Republican saying he wants an actual count, not accepting a voice passage. Causing the House majority to return. 150,000 dollars in travel expenses AHOLE PUKE

[pgrahmm]

1 hour ago, earlinclaifornia said:

I just read one House Republican saying he wants an actual count, not accepting a voice passage. Causing the House majority to return. 150,000 dollars in travel expenses AHOLE PUKE

Not much believable comes from the Dem side, however, with the travel as it is and the available technology the votes should be able to be properly identified & tallied/counted....

[jamesy9368]

1 hour ago, earlinclaifornia said:

I just read one House Republican saying he wants an actual count, not accepting a voice passage. Causing the House majority to return. 150,000 dollars in travel expenses AHOLE PUKE

What would you call the Democrats lead by Pelosi who tried to fill this bill by a week trying to fill it with woke BS. Scum seems mild to me.

[khaowong1]

1 hour ago, jamesy9368 said:

What would you call the Democrats lead by Pelosi who tried to fill this bill by a week trying to fill it with woke BS. Scum seems mild to me.

And Pelosi and her ilk, are filling the bill with pork that has nothing to do with the CoronaVirus.  It's disgusting and shows that they care nothing for Americans in their time of need.  

[utalkin2me]

Nancy "we're gonna make the corona virus tests affordable" Pelosi

[bristolboy]

43 minutes ago, khaowong1 said:

And Pelosi and her ilk, are filling the bill with pork that has nothing to do with the CoronaVirus.  It's disgusting and shows that they care nothing for Americans in their time of need.  

I guess you haven't heard about the 170 billion dollar break for very wealthy real estate investors that Senate Republicans inserted into the bill. What have the Democrats done to compare with that?

Senate Republicans slipped a tax break for wealthy real-estate investors into the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package

 

• The measure is "a potential bonanza" for wealthy investors, The New York Times reported, saving them $170 billion over 10 years.
• It temporarily lifts the cap on the tax deduction for real estate depreciation, a boon to the top 1% of taxpayers.
• "It's a pretty big deal," Peter Buell, of the accounting firm Marcum, told The Times.

https://www.businessinsider.com/wealthy-real-estate-investors-get-tax-cut-in-coronavirus-stimulus-2020-3

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by bristolboy

[bristolboy]

45 minutes ago, khaowong1 said:

And Pelosi and her ilk, are filling the bill with pork that has nothing to do with the CoronaVirus.  It's disgusting and shows that they care nothing for Americans in their time of need.  

And given who the beneficiaries of the tax change are, I'd say it wasn't pork the Republicans were stuffing the bill with, but caviar.

[khaowong1]

1 hour ago, utalkin2me said:

Nancy "we're gonna make the corona virus tests affordable" Pelosi

Smithsonian institute $7,500,000 Kennedy center $25,000,000 National Endowment for the Arts $75,000,000 National endowment for humanity $75,000,000 Peace Corp's 88,000,000 AM track $1,018,000,000 Native American program $300,000,000 Migration and refugee assistance $350,000,000 just to name a few.

Oh yeah, that's going to really help this Virus problem. ????

[bristolboy]

4 minutes ago, khaowong1 said:

Smithsonian institute $7,500,000 Kennedy center $25,000,000 National Endowment for the Arts $75,000,000 National endowment for humanity $75,000,000 Peace Corp's 88,000,000 AM track $1,018,000,000 Native American program $300,000,000 Migration and refugee assistance $350,000,000 just to name a few.

Oh yeah, that's going to really help this Virus problem. ????

The Democrats should be ashamed of themselves. They are pikers compared to the Republicans. 170 billion over 10 years. That's 17 billion per year.

And remember that the last tax bill already disproportionately slashed taxes for 2 groups: real estate business and pass-through partnerships. I'll give you one guess what very high elected official's business qualifies for this both of these past breaks and this one.  And his son-in-law, too.

[Cryingdick]

4 hours ago, pgrahmm said:

Not much believable comes from the Dem side, however, with the travel as it is and the available technology the votes should be able to be properly identified & tallied/counted....

 

I agree. However at some point it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect that our elected officials would at least sometimes be where they work and do their jobs in times like this. Poor old Nancy flying back after being on vacation.

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, utalkin2me said:

Nancy "we're gonna make the corona virus tests affordable" Pelosi

Actually it was Congresswoman Katie Porter, a Democrat from California, who got the Covid-19 tests made free

A Congresswoman Persuaded the CDC Head to Take Vital Action. 

In a public exchange California representative Katie Porter (D) persuaded Centers for Disease Control director Robert Redfield to promise free coronavirus testing for all Americans. It was a breathtaking example of the awesome power of advance preparation and research to help you reach your biggest goals...

Porter started out with a single objective -- to obtain a promise from the CDC director in a very public forum that no one in the U.S. would ever be forced to forgo coronavirus testing because of its cost. She showed up to the hearing having marshalled all her facts, and having already presented her findings and requests to the CDC well in advance.

https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/katie-porter-robert-redfield-coronavirus-congress-hearing-free-testin.html

[khaowong1]

We need Ventilators!
People are Dying!!!
Quick, let’s Fund the Kennedy Center for the Arts and give Congress a 25% Raise in Pay.