A White House-backed proposal to provide more aid to the ailing US economy includes $600 in direct payments to Americans but has little support among Democrats, a prominent senator says.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday unveiled the $916 billion proposal that represents the latest attempt to break a long-running deadlock between Republicans and Democrats in Washington on a new spending package to revive the coronavirus-wracked US economy.
Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who votes with Democrats and is influential among the party’s left wing, on Wednesday rejects the stimulus check proposal as too small and calls the plan “unacceptable.”
“What the Republicans are proposing is grossly unsatisfactory,” he says in an interview with MSNBC.
In this screenshot from the DNCC’s livestream of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) addresses the virtual convention on August 17, 2020. (Handout/DNCC via Getty Images)
“That is unacceptable, and we cannot leave here unless we get $1,200 for every worker, and we get extended unemployment and we get adequate aid to states and cities. This country is facing a crisis, we have got to respond accordingly.”
Mnuchin said his plan includes “money for state and local governments and robust liability protections for businesses, schools and universities” and the Treasury Department has not provided any additional details.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer seemed little moved by the idea, indicating they wanted to focus on a $908 billion bipartisan compromise put forward last week that is making its way through the legislature.
They released a statement saying it was “unacceptable” that the White House offer only includes $40 billion for unemployment insurance.
— AFP
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this,please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
