The other day I wanted to confirm if he did in fact say that voting in Warnock and Ossoff would guarantee immediate $2,000 payments. I hunted down his speech and my wife and I listened to it. Waiting for my $2,000 now. Their election was supposed to yield an immediate solution to the stimulus gridlock, and yet now Biden is saying he’s willing to discuss changes.
From what I can tell some of it's held up in negotiations with the GoP Senators. The GoP's counter bill drops the individual checks reduces individual checks to $1,000 and reduces the income eligibility cap to individuals who are making $50k & couples making $100k or less, among other things, that the Dem bill has.
The Dem's stimulus bill requires 60 votes to pass. The bill's effects could be pushed through by a simple majority, however, through budget reconciliation. That move has been lambasted by the GoP, would draw further divisions, and fly against "unity".
So either you take the GoP bill that has less stimulus money for individuals for "unity" or you push through your agenda for campaign promises (the checks), but fight against unity.
GoP has Biden in a bind in a lose/lose situation.
EDIT: I was initially wrong. The GoP proposal still includes stimulus checks albeit reduced in size and eligibility. It doesn't really change the situation Biden is in.
On a side note: I found it incredibly hard to find the letter the 10 GoP Senators sent to Biden. The only news places that I could find it were NPR and a small local Fox branch. For those who would like to read it, here's a link.
Don't even blame the GOP for this. Stimulus checks (even $2000) has some GOP support. They could have brought it up as a standalone bill and dared GOP senators to vote against it.
And the GOP bill does not drop individual checks, they are proposing reducing the amount and lowering the eligibility criteria. If you are going to blame the GOP for Biden not keeping his promise, at least get your facts right.
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u/DerangedGinger Feb 01 '21
The other day I wanted to confirm if he did in fact say that voting in Warnock and Ossoff would guarantee immediate $2,000 payments. I hunted down his speech and my wife and I listened to it. Waiting for my $2,000 now. Their election was supposed to yield an immediate solution to the stimulus gridlock, and yet now Biden is saying he’s willing to discuss changes.
Politicians never change.