It’s Thursday aka Almost Friday.
For Almost Friday President Impeached tweeted 2 times, the first @12:48 a.m. D.C. time.
In which President Impeached congratulates AMERICA for spending $2 trillion on a stimulus package.
96-0 in the United States Senate. Congratulations AMERICA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 26, 2020
The package is headed to the House where a vote on the largest stimulus package in U.S. history is expected to come Friday, President Impeached is expected to sign the spending package, once it passes the House.
BREAKING: The Senate has passed a $2.2 trillion economic rescue package, the biggest stimulus effort in U.S. history, in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The House will vote later this week. Follow @AP’s ongoing coverage of the virus outbreak. https://t.co/KrznJsSzPk
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 26, 2020
What’s in the package?
– $250 billion for direct payments to individuals/families
— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) March 25, 2020
– $250 billion in unemployment insurance
– $500 billion for distressed companies
– $367 billion for small businesses
– $130 billion for hospitals
– $150 billion for state and local governments https://t.co/yEIYTlCmTy
According to the New York Times F.A.Q. the stimulus package includes direct payments to the American people.
Most adults would get $1,200, although some would get less. For every child age 16 or under, the payment would be an additional $500.
New York Times. 03/26/2020.
The complete text of how the one-time direct payment is calculated can be found in the PDF pg. 144-157.
Politico has an in depth look at the hurdles the Senate Republican’s and Democrats, along with the Trump administration jump over in order to pass the stimulus package.
The text of the package as noted in the Politico article, was released to the public at 10 p.m. D.C. time just thirty minutes before the vote took place. The text was originally suppose to be released around 9:30 a.m. D.C. time on Wednesday.
One hurdle, was last minute, when Republican Senators expressed dismay over expanding unemployment benefits. The extra cash between *$200 up to $600 weekly would be on top of the State UI given to the individual. The extra cash benefit will last for 4 months, the amount depends on which state the claim is filed in.
A handful of Republican senators initially balked at the expanded unemployment provisions in the agreement, and then Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) threatened to retaliate. The final bill text wasn’t unveiled until after 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, a half-hour before the vote.
The bills text is 883 pages.
*Since as mentioned the bill is 883 pages long, I have only skimmed the text. CNN reported that the UI benefit was between $200-$550; While the extra money in the legislation wouldn’t fully replace the lost wages of some higher-paid workers, it would significantly add to everyone’s regular state benefits, which range from $200 to $550 a week, on average, depending on the state.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) weighed-in on the spending package.
PELOSI on coronavirus bill: "What we did last night and what we will tomorrow — $2 trillion — is about the cost of the tax scam that the Republicans foisted on the nation to give 83% of the benefits to the top 1 percent … they said it was gonna pay for itself. It never does." pic.twitter.com/AFsqCzQs92
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 26, 2020
In related news on Thursday morning the Department of Labor released the number of Unemployment Insurance weekly claims.
In the week ending March 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 3,283,000, an increase of 3,001,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
This marks the highest level of seasonally adjusted initial claims in the history of the seasonally adjusted series. The previous high was 695,000 in October of 1982.
The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 281,000 to 282,000.
The 4-week moving average was 998,250, an increase of 765,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 232,250 to 232,500.
DOL.gov. 03/26/2020.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin explained that the jobless claim numbers are “not relevant,” in the wake of the passed stimulus package.
3.28 milion of Americans have now filed for unemployment due to #Coronavirus .
— NewsNewsNews (@NewsNewsNews999) March 26, 2020
But Donald Trump's Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said that "these numbers are not relevant" pic.twitter.com/MHVvkWjpw2
Pretty sure the number is relevant to those that lost their jobs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, as rent’s due in 6 days.
To be clear as I’ve expressed in the comment section and via Twitter, I’m not a fan of this spending bill. I think it is too soon, too fast, and well, we are broke, this bill like the tax cut from 2017, are going to place more burden on our shoulders and the shoulders of future generations.
However, that does not make me unaware of the real people suffering or disgusted with the fact, that our administration officials, in condescending tones, dismiss people’s fears, their worries as being “not relevant.”
After he congratulated us on increasing spending beyond Obama’s wildest dreams, he announced there will be another mini-rally.
I will be doing a News Conference live from the @WhiteHouse at 5:00 P.M. (Eastern) to discuss the mtg of the G20 Leaders that took place this morning at 7:55 A.M. by World Teleconference. Also, my 12:00 P.M. Teleconference call w/50 Governors, plus Territories, will be discussed.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 26, 2020
The time of the presser is subject to change, by as little as 10 minutes to 45 minutes after 5 p.m. D.C. time.
This post could possibly be updated.
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