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Bernie Sanders slams Pelosi and Dems for stalling Covid relief and second round of $1,200 stimulus checks under Trump
BERNIE Sanders has slammed Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats for stalling the Covid relief bill and second round of $1,200 stimulus checks under Donald Trump.
On Monday, blasted leaders for rejecting President 's $1.8trillion proposal in October and now getting behind a smaller $908billion relief bill.
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CNN's Jake Tapper asked Sanders whether it was a mistake for Dems to walk away from Trump's 1.8trillion proposal, which likely would've included a $1,200 .
At the time, House Speaker was demanding a $2.2trillion bill.
Sanders said, "That's right... That's what I'm saying."
"What we need is a compromise. I know I can't get everything that I want. But this bill really is not a compromise," he said of the $908billion relief package proposed by a group of bipartisan senators.
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"It gives the Republicans almost everything that they wanted."
Sanders' noted that some of the funds allocated in the $908billion bill comes from unused money from the CARES Act.
"Democrats talked about over $3 trillion in new money to help working families in this country, so I don't think this is much of a compromise," he said.
";I think we have got to do a lot better and negotiate a lot harder."
He added that he has "real concerns about" the $908billion relief bill because it does not include a $1,200 payment to all Americans, which he said he would "fight" for.
"We are, right now, in the worst economic shape since the Great Depression, and this proposal does not include that $1,200 direct payment per individual and $500 for kids that we desperately need in order to put working families back on their feet.
"It would be a real help. We don't have it and I'm going to fight to see we get that included,' Sanders added.
$288billion in small business aid, $160billion in state and local government relief and $180billion to fund a $300-per-week supplemental unemployment benefit through March.
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According to a draft framework, the package would also put $16billion into vaccine distribution, testing and contact tracing.
It would allocate $82billion into education and put $45billion into transportation, as well as funneling funds for rental assistance, child care and broadband.
The concerns for not including a stimulus check in the bipartisan proposal has been addressed by several lawmakers, including
On Friday, to agree with on their stimulus proposals.
“No,” Pelosi said.
"It was not a mistake, it was a decision that has taken us to a place where we can do the right thing without other, shall we say, considerations in the legislation that we don't want.
"I'm very proud of where we are,” she added. “My chairs have worked very hard on all of this."
Pelosi refused to hold a vote on a measure from this fall, saying wouldn't budge on their $2.2trillion relief bill.
Last week, Pelosi and embraced a $908billion economic relief bill to start negotiations.
Pelosi and Schumer’s announcement appeared to be aimed at budging McConnell – who so far has been unwilling to abandon a $550billion Senate GOP plan that has failed twice this fall.
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"In the spirit of compromise, we believe the bipartisan framework introduced by Senators yesterday should be used as the basis for immediate bipartisan, bicameral negotiations," they wrote.
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"Of course, we and others will offer improvements, but the need to act is immediate and we believe that with good-faith negotiations we could come to an agreement."
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Biden said the developing aid package “wouldn’t be the answer, but it would be the immediate help for a lot of things.”
He wants a relief bill to pass Congress now, with more aid to come next year.
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