What a great write-up! I'm curious to hear your thoughts about the provisions that Nancy Pelosi and Dems are asking to be put into a relief bill. Some of them do seem rather irrelevant and really do reek of taking advantage of an emergency to push an agenda, same as Reps.
Hey Mark! Yes, some of those provisions are definitely irrelevant. Often times in Congress (on both sides of the aisle), members will identify "must-pass" bills like this one and try to stuff certain provisions into it to improve their reach. It happens a lot, and it is certainly unfortunate to see Democrats doing it in a time of crisis. However, there are two competing views on this -- one is that Republicans are setting up corporate bailouts with little or no oversight, and trying to keep those bailouts in place in exchange for stronger worker protections/relief. Another is Democrats are simply using their leverage to play petty politics at the worst time possible.
What a great write-up! I'm curious to hear your thoughts about the provisions that Nancy Pelosi and Dems are asking to be put into a relief bill. Some of them do seem rather irrelevant and really do reek of taking advantage of an emergency to push an agenda, same as Reps.
Hey Mark! Yes, some of those provisions are definitely irrelevant. Often times in Congress (on both sides of the aisle), members will identify "must-pass" bills like this one and try to stuff certain provisions into it to improve their reach. It happens a lot, and it is certainly unfortunate to see Democrats doing it in a time of crisis. However, there are two competing views on this -- one is that Republicans are setting up corporate bailouts with little or no oversight, and trying to keep those bailouts in place in exchange for stronger worker protections/relief. Another is Democrats are simply using their leverage to play petty politics at the worst time possible.
For the "pro-Dem" side, you can read this NYT editorial: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-bailout-mcconnell-congress.html
For the "pro-Republican" side, you can read this WSJ editorial:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-pelosi-schumer-contagion-11585006077?mod=hp_opin_pos_1