At the time of this writing, Congress is still negotiating a COVID-19 relief package to be finalized before Christmas, and we have mixed feelings about it.
At the forefront is relief (no pun intended). We’ve been following a bipartisan effort led by Sen. Joe Manchin and other moderates for a while now, and we’re glad to see real progress being made. At this rate, there will be some kind of stimulus bill passed before the holidays, which is something America desperately needs. The current legislation, as of Thursday afternoon, is looking at $600 direct payments to adults, $300 weekly enhancement for unemployment, rent and food assistance, loan programs for struggling small businesses, and funding for schools, hospitals and vaccine distribution. It does not include the funding for local, state and tribal governments that Democrats wanted, but it also doesn’t have the business liability protection that Republicans wanted.
Ultimately, the relief package isn’t perfect, but it’s better than nothing. And we’ve had nothing for way too long.
Beneath the relief is a righteous anger that has been simmering for months now. Where was all this bipartisan cooperation this summer? How many people died, how many businesses closed, how many people lost their homes — the list goes on and on —because the parties wanted to hurt each other more than they wanted to help the American people?
Mixed in with that anger is a special outrage reserved for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his enablers. The House of Representatives passed COVID relief packages months ago, and McConnell refused to even bring them to the Senate floor for a vote. He single-handedly prevented desperately needed financial aid from reaching individuals and small business owners through the summer and fall. Even as late as last week, McConnell was unwilling to budge, unless he got the liability restrictions he wanted. He has been a real-life Scrooge.
So what changed? Was he visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, who showed him the error of his ways? Not likely. Was he visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present, who showed him the way Americans are suffering and struggling as COVID ravages our nation? Probably not.
But he might have been visited by the Ghost of Christmas Future. Because according to The New York Times, on Wednesday, McConnell told fellow Republicans that if Congress didn’t pass a stimulus bill before the holidays, then Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler had a greater chance of losing the Georgia runoff Jan. 5. And if they both lose to their Democratic challengers, Republicans will lose control of the Senate. Instead, the parties will split the chamber 50-50, with soon-to-be Vice President Kamala Harris as the deciding vote on any stalemates. According to The NYT, McConnell said the Georgia incumbents were “ ‘getting hammered’ for Congress’s failure to deliver more pandemic aid to struggling Americans … and that enacting the measure could help them.”
So if or when this relief bill gets passed, we will be grateful, but we’ll also know that McConnell’s and his followers’ cooperation wasn’t altruistic, but selfish. This Scrooge may have shown a change in his actions, but he certainly hasn’t had a change of heart.
