Choose your movie. “Edge of tomorrow.” “Groundhog Day.” “Dr. Strange.” All involve time cycles.
Congress is also caught in a temporary loop when it comes to the next bill of coronavirus.
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Formal talks between Democratic leaders of Congress and the White House were suspended a week and a half ago. And with the House until at least mid-September unless there is a breakthrough in the COVID-19 discussions, the House established a rhythm. The Senate met every day for only an hour or so. A skeleton crew was on hand. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Would come to the floor and track down the Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., also came to mind a few times. Schumer, in turn, advised against McConnell and the Trump administration. A few other senators parachute in for short floor speeches. They would speak out against anyone for not filling out an account. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., All took their turn last week on the Senate floor for a few moments.
And then the senate would forgive for the day.
McConnell, Schumer, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Would spar with each other, often landing on the Rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building, for cable television network appearances.
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That would be it.
And then the cycle would repeat.
‘Another day is over and nothing has happened. No incremental progress. No compromise, ‘Kaine complained on the floor. “For some it may just be one day. But for too many Americans, another day fighting for your health or how you pay for your hair or how you feed your children is a cruel and horrible thing. ‘
The gap between the sides now seems wider than ever.
If reporters ask, ‘Why can’t you resolve our differences? “I want you to see how big those differences are,” Pelosi said, referring to a diagram with canyons of contrast between the sides. “These Republicans have never understood the seriousness of the situation. They have ignored the science. They called it a hoax. Magically it will go away. It was a hoax. No. They are a hoax. ”
Democrats raised a $ 3 trillion bill. Republicans are raising $ 1 trillion. Pelosi later offered $ 2 trillion. Meet in the middle. But that can involve some fuzzy math. Under that proposal, the Democratic approach would be cheaper because it would shorten the duration of the legislation. A shorter time period means it would not cost that much.
That was too much for McConnell.
‘The Speaker’s last spin is that it’s some heroic sacrifice to lower their demand of a composite three-and-a-half-trillion-dollar marker that would never become law to an equally created two-and-a-half. a half-trillion-dollar marker. She calls this meeting in the middle, ‘McConnell accused. ‘That throws spaghetti on the wall to see what’s going on. People who have serious policy proposals that meet real needs cannot hit a trillion here and add a trillion there. “
McConnell then claimed that “perhaps Democrats should have raised the entire $ 93 trillion Green New Deal. Then they could have blamed the president for not meeting them halfway at the $ 45 trillion cut.”
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin named Pelosi on Wednesday. Pelosi and Schumer, followed by Mnuchin, then published dueling press releases. In each mission, both sides essentially announced that they did not agree on the agreements.
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Pelosi told Mnuchin to pay $ 2 trillion for an account or not to return for new talks.
“Maybe you missed them for someone who gave a damn,” Pelosi of Republicans said at her weekly press conference. ‘That’s not the case. So, this is very far apart. And unless they see the reality of what it means in the lives of the American people, what is it for us to move on to something that has no relation to satisfying the needs of the American people? “
I have been treating Pelosi for years. It is rare for the speaker to use salty language than that in public. A few years ago, she suggested to the press that she may have uttered a wicked one or two when it was discovered that Congress had sent President George W. Bush an imperfect farm ban. The president vetoed the measure and returned it to Capitol Hill. The House of Representatives only discovered the clerical mistakes before members were able to exercise a rare veto power. Thus, the House of Representatives would vote to pass an incomplete bill – because Congress sent the White House a shortened version of the legislation in the first place. One can imagine that Pelosi that day was not the only one on Capitol Hill that day issued lavish statements.
But in the present, Pelosi argues that the other side “gives no damn” in the midst of the most serious public health crisis in a century and the most cataclysmic economic downtown since the Great Depression, only underscores their frustration over the accident.
She’s not the only one.
No bill – regardless of who is to blame – means that possible help is months away for those in need. That could set the table for a very strong fall. Trump administration officials recently embraced decent economic activity of late despite the pandemic. But that is in part because the Federal Reserve is chipping. Congress has spent more than $ 3 trillion on other coronavirus measures. The Paycheck protection program enrolled companies to pay workers through. Additional assistance for unemployment went down the economy. That made direct payments to every citizen.
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But all of that is currently on ice.
And Thursday afternoon, Mitch McConnell interrupted the time loop. McConnell formally cut the House of Representatives until early September – not that many senators were waiting for Capitol Hill. McConnell told senators he would return her within 24 hours to vote if there was ever a breakthrough in talks with coronavirus.
“It would take bipartisan permission to comply earlier than planned for legislative matters,” McConnell said. “The American people need more help. Coronavirus is not ready with our country. That Congress cannot be completed to help our people. ”
The House of Representatives passed a bill in May that would not go into the House of Representatives and would struggle to sign into law.
The First Chamber cannot pass a bill.
That, the nation is stuck with executive orders.
For the time being.
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The time loop has been broken on Capitol Hill.
But the impasse is not.
