White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said some items Democrats have asked to be included in the next coronavirus economic stimulus package, such as financial support for state elections, are “liberal wish lists” that President Donald Trump has no intention of approving.
Talks between Democrats and Republicans over the land incentive package came to a halt in August with both sides unable to reach common ground. While Republicans have offered a $ 1 trillion package, the Democrats’ package carries a $ 3 trillion price tag. President Trump gave four executive orders for financial relief until lawmakers could reach an agreement on the final bill.
Thursday, the U.S. Senate adjourned until September. Chamber member Mitch McConnell said that if a situation arises where a deal is reached and a vote needs to be taken on an incentive package, senators will be recalled.
Speaking to CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday, Kudlow dismissed the Democrats’ proposal. “So many of the Democratic questions are genuinely liberal wish lists, voting rights and helping strangers and so on,” Kudlow said. “That’s not our game and the president cannot accept that kind of deal.”
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“We will wait and see the negotiations,” Kudlow added. “Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is working on that, but so far it’s a stable mate.”
Kudlow said President Trump, by issuing executive orders, “acted forcefully because we can not reach a deal with the Democrats. They are asking for too much money.”
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Of the $ 3 trillion requested in the Democratic incentive proposal, $ 25 billion is earmarked for the US Postal Service (USPS). States would also receive $ 3.5 billion in electoral assistance. President Trump has said the money will be used by Democrats to increase mailing, a process he has claimed will lead to widespread election fraud.
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“Universal e-mails will be a great embarrassment to our country,” Trump said during a news conference in August. President Trump has also stated his preference for Americans to cast their votes in person and expressed his support from voters who presented photo identification at the polling stations.
In an interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo on Thursday, Trump said Democrats want the funding “to run the post office so it can take all those millions and millions of ballots. Now, in the meantime, they are not getting there. But if they do not get these two items, it means you can not have universal post-in-vote because they are not equipped to have it. “
“If we don’t make a deal, that means they are not getting the money,” Trump added. “That means they can’t have universal mail-in-voice. They just can’t have it.”
Democrats have encouraged mail-in voting because of the potential for coronavirus to spread across popular voting sites. Chamber member Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday that Americans “do not have to choose between your health and the ability to cast your vote.”
Newsweek reached out to speaker Pelosi’s office for further comment.
