Republicans Can’t Stop Being Republicans Even To Save Their Political Lives
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McConnell tried to ram through a no-strings-attached corporate bailout stimulus package and it’s apparently (and thankfully) not working:
Negotiations sputtered in the Senate on Sunday over an enormous stimulus bill to keep the economy afloat during the coronavirus crisis, threatening at times to devolve into all-out partisan warfare even as a desperate nation sought relief.
But the sheer magnitude of the potential calamity kept lawmakers at the bargaining table as negotiators on both sides said they must deliver to slow the financial landslide that is disrupting millions of businesses and households by the day. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) delayed an initial procedural vote on a $1.8 trillion bill as it became clear it would fail due to Democratic opposition, moving the vote from mid-afternoon to evening to allow more time for talks.
At the same time, McConnell said it was time for Democrats to “take ‘yes’ for an answer” and accept a bill that he said incorporated many of their ideas. Democrats, though, alleged McConnell’s bill is tilted too far in favor of corporations and doesn’t include much oversight for $500 billion in loans and guarantees that could go to firms selected by the Treasury Department.
Seeing Republicans wanting to give a cartoonishly venal Wall Street hack a massive slush fund to reward his buddies makes the fact that OUTFLANKING discourse was less than a week ago even more remarkable. HOW COULD COMRADES COTTON AND ROMNEY LET THIS HAPPEN? Psychologically, I can sort of understand not wanting to admit Republicans are what they have shown themselves consistently to be, but at some point you have to give up.
After giving McConnell the chance to be a grown-up, Pelosi is apparently going to move forward with her own package. Also:
THE SENATE is now 48 R -47 D
Sens. Lee, Romney, Scott of Florida, Paul and Gardner are all quarantining.— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 22, 2020
Not sure this is a great context to play hardball, but McConnell has always been better at stopping legislation than passing it.