‘The Enemy Of The People,’ Mitch McConnell, Is Sabotaging Coronavirus Relief Deal

A new Mason-Dixon poll finds “The Enemy of The People,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has a 9-point lead over Democratic challenger Amy McGrath, 51% to 42%.

Americans really need a means to punish the reckless and irresponsible voters of Kentucky who have inflicted this nation with the evil of Mitch McConnell for so long.

Thanks to Kentucky voters, Mitch McConnell has been able to “pause” (prevent) any additional coronavirus pandemic relief since the CARES Act was enacted in March, and expired at the end of July.

McConnell is doing this because he expects Joe Biden to win the presidency, and he wants to sabotage the economy to saddle Biden with an economic crisis when he takes office. Just as he did to Barack Obama when he became president in 2009 in the midst of the Great Recession, McConnell intends to return to his “total obstruction” strategy and demand fiscal austerity because of the national debt incurred under Donald Trump, rather than support much needed stimulus to keep the economy from slipping into a double-dip recession. McConnell does not give a damn about those Americans whose unemployment benefits have already expired, or are facing evictions, or are standing in line at food banks in order to feed their families, or are terrified of becoming ill with COVID-19. All McConnell has ever cared about is his own political power, and his ability to abuse it.

Thanks, Kentuckians! You have so much to answer for when you meet your maker. You should also have to answer to the American people.

The Washington Post reports, McConnell warns White House against making stimulus deal as Pelosi and Mnuchin inch closer:

Prospects for an economic relief package in the next two weeks dimmed markedly on Tuesday after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) revealed that he has warned the White House not to strike an agreement with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi before the Nov. 3 election.

In remarks at a closed-door Senate GOP lunch, McConnell told his colleagues that Pelosi (D-Calif.) is not negotiating in good faith with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and that any deal they reach could disrupt the Senate’s plans to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court next week.
Republicans have voiced concerns that a stimulus deal could splinter the party and exacerbate divisions at a time when they are trying to rally behind the Supreme Court nominee. The comments were confirmed by three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss them.

McConnell’s attempted intervention came as Pelosi and Mnuchin continued negotiating over the roughly $2 trillion economic relief package. Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said the “conversation provided more clarity and common ground as they move closer to an agreement.” But no deal can become law without McConnell’s blessing, and his direct warning to the White House imperils the chances of any bill becoming law in the next two weeks.

McConnell told reporters Tuesday that if a deal were reached and passed by the House with President Trump’s support, he would put it on the Senate floor “at some point” — but he did not commit to doing so before the election.

Many Senate Republicans oppose a massive new spending bill and McConnell is not eager to hold a vote that would divide his conference just before the election, when most Senate Republicans want attention focused on the Barrett nomination.

McConnell has not even been part of the Pelosi-Mnuchin talks, because he has intention of ever passing a new coronavirus relief bill.

On Wednesday, in a rejection of Trump’s desire for a big new bill, McConnell will try to advance an approximately $500 billion bill that will include jobless benefits for the unemployed, funding for schools and the health-care system, and new small-business funding. But that bill will exclude many provisions sought by Democrats and Trump, including a new round of $1,200 stimulus checks.

Senate Democrats have lambasted McConnell for trying to advance what they describe as “emaciated” bills that would provide political cover to Republicans without really solving any problems. The approximately $500 billion bill is nearly identical to a piece of legislation McConnell tried to advance last month, which Democrats opposed.

McConnell is holding show votes on legislation to give Republicans cover, confident in the knowledge that it will never become law, preserving his “do nothing” response. It is a cynical and morally depraved strategy.

The public actually supports House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. A poll released Tuesday by the New York Times and Siena College found overwhelming support for a $2 trillion stimulus package, and many economists have urged policymakers to approve additional fiscal relief.

CNBC reports, Goldman Sachs says Democratic sweep would unleash ‘substantially’ more stimulus:

A Democratic “blue wave” in November could unleash the fiscal floodgates and fuel the amount of stimulus flowing from Washington, Goldman Sachs told its clients on Monday.

The bank’s chief economist, Jan Hatzius, wrote in a note that a large Democratic Senate majority could coordinate more Covid-19 relief, infrastructure spending and new minimum wage legislation.

A “congressional Democratic majority would likely result in substantially more fiscal support. We expect that spending would increase the most under a Democratic sweep of the House, Senate and White House,” Hatzius wrote.

“This would likely include a stimulus package in Q1, followed by infrastructure and climate legislation,” he added. “In this scenario, we would expect legislation expanding health and other benefits, financed by tax increases, to pass” by the third quarter of 2021.

Former Vice President Joe Biden has proposed some $5.4 trillion in new spending over the next 10 years, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a nonpartisan group at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

The spending — earmarked for a variety of programs such as infrastructure, education and housing — would be partially offset by higher taxes on households with income greater than $400,000 and a rollback in the 2017 corporate tax cut.

On net, Biden’s proposals would increase federal tax revenues by $2.4 trillion over the next decade, according to the Tax Policy Center.

Goldman Sachs also reiterated its finding that the boost to U.S. economic growth from fiscal stimulus favored by the Biden campaign would “outweigh the negative effects of tax increases, particularly in light of the fact that the increased tax revenue would go to funding new spending.”

The bank noted that public opinion polls, prediction markets and statistical models imply that Democrats are likely to win the presidency, the House and the Senate. The 2020 elections are scheduled for Nov. 3.

Hatzius said a Democratic sweep would likely pass at least three major pieces of legislation with “substantial” fiscal stimulus.

The first and most urgent would be Covid-19 relief. Goldman Sachs estimates that a Democratic White House and Congress would pass stimulus on the order of $2.5 trillion concentrated in 2021 with some spending rippling into subsequent years.

The second initiative would likely be an infrastructure bill, though the components of that package are less clear. The Biden campaign has outlined $2 trillion worth of infrastructure and climate-related spending.

The third bill would be a so-called reconciliation bill that provides new benefits in several areas including improved Affordable Care Act benefits, ambitious plans for child care, and greater spending on education.

“Infrastructure might take longer, but would probably become law by September, when the recent one-year extension of the transportation infrastructure program expires,” Hatzius wrote.

“Tax and benefit reconciliation legislation would likely start closer to mid-year, as Congress would first need to approve a budget resolution and then debate the details of the bill,” the economist added.

Though Democrats are laser-focused on electing Biden, Goldman explained that, in this election, the Senate is the key to controlling the federal coffers.

That’s because Trump, should he win reelection, would likely work with congressional Democrats on big-ticket agenda items.

[If] Democrats should win a majority in the Senate and control both chambers, the bar for additional federal support is all but removed even if Trump remains in the White House, Hatzius wrote.

“Fiscal policy differences between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are greater than differences between the presidential candidates,” Hatizus wrote. “Recent negotiations over a COVID-19 relief package demonstrate this clearly, as the Trump Administration’s $1.8 trillion offer and Speaker Pelosi’s $2.4 trillion request are much closer to each other than either is to the $500bn Senate Republican proposal.”

“Regardless of who wins the White House, if the Senate remains under Republican control, we would expect Congress to enact a stimulus proposal much closer to the current Senate Republican proposal than to either President Trump’s or Speaker Pelosi’s,” the economist told clients.

Though gauging the total economic boost from spending programs can be tricky, Hatzius has said that a “blue wave” would force Goldman Sachs to upgrade its near-term forecasts.

He wrote earlier in October that a Democratic sweep would virtually guarantee another Covid package and result in an increase in GDP of 2 to 3 percentage points based solely on that stimulus. The firm sees a 3.5% decline in GDP in 2020 and a 5.8% annualized increase in full year 2021.

There you have it. Vote for Democrats and throw these obstructionist Republicans sabotaging coronavirus relief and ruining your life out of office. They are undeserving of your vote. The country can disempower Mitch McConnell if Kentuckians do not step up and do it.