Trump is inWalter Reed hospital with Covid-19. We could soon have a President Pence. Are you kidding me?
Those around Trump are testing positive and falling like proverbial bowling pins.
Yet the moronic, stupid and myopic Republicans in Congress won’t even agree to a bill which will help keep employed tens of thousands of airline workers. Airlines are the kind of business which the Wall Street Journal falls all over itself to show the love.
Do not these moronic Republicans take a step back and realize that what is happening is a result of their self-centered and stupid behavior?
Wall Street Journal 10.2.2020
WASHINGTON—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she is willing to move forward with aid for airlines as separate legislation or as part of a broader coronavirus relief deal that Democrats and the White House continue to negotiate as carriers prepare to cut thousands of jobs.
The California Democrat called on airlines to delay the job cuts as Congress crafted the legislation. Mrs. Pelosi previously resisted passing a narrower bill focused on airlines, instead arguing for a broader agreement that included jobless aid, money for states and cities, and other priorities.
“This initiative is focused solely on the workers, keeping them on the payroll so these workers maintain their critical training and certification requirements unique to their industry,” Mrs. Pelosi said of an airline-specific bill.
But an attempt to quickly pass aid for airlines quickly fell apart Friday, with Republicans rejecting a Democratic effort to unanimously approve new assistance. Each party accused the other of sabotaging the process on the stand-alone bill, while negotiations on a broader package continued between Mrs. Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The pair spoke for 65 minutes Friday afternoon and were expected to continue negotiating.
Earlier this week, American Airlines Group Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. said they would go forward with a total of more than 32,000 job cuts after lawmakers were unable to agree on a broad coronavirus-relief package. Both carriers said they would bring workers back if a deal is reached in the next few days.
Airlines received $25 billion in aid under the Cares Act passed in March. A stipulation of that aid was that the carriers couldn’t lay off or furlough any workers before Oct. 1.
Airlines had hoped they would be on firmer footing by the time that assistance ran out, but travel demand hasn’t bounced back. The companies have warned for months that they would need to cut staff when that date arrived unless they received another $25 billion to cover salaries and benefits through the end of March.
Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have worked on legislation targeting the airlines industry directly. Democrats said the Republican opposition Friday to extending the airline aid would imperil the livelihoods of airline workers.
“They don’t know how they’re going to make ends meet, feed their kids or anything else. All because the Republicans in the House of Representatives would not agree,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio (D., Ore.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
A House Republican aide said Republicans hadn’t vetted the bill Democrats sought to pass and argued that the House should have advanced a separate airlines bill with bipartisan support.
Two bills introduced last month but not yet voted on in the Senate or House would extend about $25 billion to airlines, specifying that most of the money come from unused allocations previously approved by Congress. The legislation Democrats put forward Friday didn’t include measures to repurpose existing funds.
The airlines’ planned cuts have put more pressure on lawmakers who have negotiated on and off for months over an aid package that could include relief for airlines and other hard-hit industries like restaurants and small businesses. With fresh signs that the economic recovery is lagging without additional federal aid, Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Mnuchin recently restarted negotiations on a new aid package after weeks of stalemate between the two sides.
Mrs. Pelosi said on MSNBC earlier Friday that the sides were moving closer to reaching a broader agreement.
“I think we’re coming to terms in terms of the money on crushing the virus, finally. But it’s the language that is important.…Some of our work that we’re continuing is to make sure that they agree to the language for a strategic plan,” Mrs. Pelosi said.
The House passed a $2.2 trillion bill Thursday, as Democrats largely coalesced around an updated proposal that still lacks Republican support. That Democratic bill, which would reinstate a lapsed $600 weekly supplement to unemployment benefits and provide another $1,200 direct check to many Americans, is a large reduction from a previous $3.5 trillion proposal.
Mr. Mnuchin put forward a $1.6 trillion offer to Mrs. Pelosi earlier this week, a small increase from the $1.5 trillion the administration had previously indicated it could support. The Trump administration’s proposal included aid for small businesses and airlines. Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Mnuchin have agreed that the next bill should include another round of direct government checks to individuals and families.
In a letter to House Democrats on Friday, Mrs. Pelosi outlined five areas where Republicans and Democrats continue to disagree. She said disputes remained on jobless aid, money for state and local governments, tax credits for children, virus testing, and other funding priorities.
“We are expecting a response from the White House on these areas and others with more detail. In the meantime, we continue to work on the text to move quickly to facilitate an agreement,” Mrs. Pelosi said.
Lee's Perspective 