Bloomberg
Biden will push for great impulses even after a “productive” meeting
(Bloomberg) – President Joe Biden intends to keep pushing for a major pandemic relief bill even if he has to bypass Senate Republicans, his press secretary said hours after what a Republican senator said Monday called a “very productive” stimulus option meeting said Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, “while there were areas of agreement between Biden and the 10 GOP Senators at the White House meeting,” the president also reiterated his view that Congress must act boldly and urgently, and noted many areas that The Republican Senators’ proposal does not address. She added that while Biden is “hopeful” that what he calls the American bailout plan “can be passed with mutual support, a reconciliation package is one way to achieve that goal. “This is indicative of a process that would allow the legislature to pass the Senate with just 51 votes – possibly all 50 Democrats plus the vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. Maine Senator Susan Collins, who said the meeting was productive, said the Senators had agreed with Biden during the two-hour meeting to continue negotiating a bipartisan relief plan. Biden “elaborated” parts of his $ 1.9 trillion plan, and the 10 Republicans outlined their counter-proposal: “I wouldn’t say that We got together on a package tonight. Nobody expected that, “she later told reporters. But both sides agreed that the aides would continue the talks, she said. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana described Biden as accommodating,” Me was the first person to speak on a specific topic. I said, ‘Mr. President, I don’t want to be rude,’ Cassidy told in an interview. He said, ‘Look, I’ve been in all of these negotiations. We will have different points of view on some things. We will agree on a few things. And if we don’t agree, we’re not being rude. Cassidy added that Biden revealed additional details of his proposal, including a plan to use a portion of the $ 50 billion he requested for vaccinations to expand genomic testing to identify new and potentially more dangerous strains of the virus. The meeting was organized after the Republican group presented their alternative relief plan to the White House on Sunday: “I feel like back in the Senate,” Biden joked to reporters who were only allowed to watch the gathering for about 40 seconds before they were released from the Oval Office. The President and Senators “shared a desire to bring help to the American people suffering from the worst health and economic crisis in a generation,” Psaki Collins said that “we are all concerned about family problems, volatile small businesses” , the “overwhelmed health system” and the acceleration of coronavirus vaccinations. But it’s not clear, the Republican proposal – that’s a $ 618 billion price tag – will be enough for Democrats who have pioneered a party line push on Capitol Hill with a plan that largely mirrors Biden’s. They warned that spending too little on vaccinations, testing, and assistance to Americans affected by the pandemic could prolong economic troubles. The Republican plan reduces Biden’s proposed stimulus checks from $ 1,400 to $ 1,000 with stricter income limits and eliminates Biden’s increase in the minimum wage. and includes only $ 20 billion for schools – compared to $ 170 billion in the White House plan. The GOP proposal also offers less generous unemployment benefits, omitting $ 350 billion in emergency funds for state and local governments requested by Democrats. Cassidy said Republicans asked Biden for more information about school funding in his plan, arguing that Congress has already provided almost three times as much to resume in-person tuition as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have appreciated. Biden agreed to “try to give us a justification,” Cassidy said. There could be room for negotiation: the Republican plan includes $ 160 billion in spending on vaccines, testing, and personal protective equipment, which the White House is requesting, while some GOP senators attending the meeting said they could get funding through the Support decimated national budgets in the pandemic. However, Congress Democrats laid the groundwork for a law of reconciliation on Monday and released a budget resolution that is the first step in the process. Some members of Biden’s own economics team have questioned the size and scope of its stimulus-testing proposal, fearing that helping wealthier Americans may come at the expense of other priorities. And a vote across the party line would require the support of Democratic senators like Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who have expressed reservations about the cost. Democrats could continue to try to get dumped elements of the president’s proposal off the ground in a subsequent package, with Biden expects to come up with an even bigger incentive and infrastructure proposal by the end of the month. The president, who stressed the need for unity following Donald Trump’s presidency and last month’s unrest in the U.S. Capitol, has expressed his willingness to work across the gang. If he could win support for his package from the 10 Republicans when hit, he would avoid a possible filibuster through the GOP and the Democrats could avoid using reconciliation. QuickTake: Like the Senate strategy known as the reconciliation work, members of the Democratic Party anxiously watched Monday’s negotiations for clues as to how ambitious Biden is planning while the party is in control of both houses of Congress – albeit to the slightest extent Leeway. Many Democrats say former President Barack Obama squandered a legislative advantage early in his presidency by teaming up with Republicans who rejected health care incentives and initiatives despite efforts to raise their voice. And the party’s left flank, which backed progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in the presidential primaries, has long been concerned that Biden is too concerned about maintaining collegial relationships with his former Senate colleagues and embarking on a moderate path. But the White House has signaled that at least Biden will enter the meeting to hold on to his guns. “The risk is not too small, but not great enough,” Psaki said earlier, adding that “the size of the package must match the crisis that we have. But recent history has shown that talks between the White House and the Opposition legislators can take unexpected paths. During his tenure, in meetings with Democratic Congressional leaders, Trump agreed to a $ 2 trillion infrastructure proposal and deal that would have swapped the border – wall funding for immigration protection for those brought into the country as children – only for white workers House, only to press the president to reject it. And some Democrats are still blaming Biden for his work on the 2012 Fiscal Cliff Deal with Senate GOP Chairman Mitch McConnell, arguing that the then Vice President undermined their negotiating position. Like McConnell, Biden has decades of relationships with some Republicans on the new proposal. Senators involved in the effort include Collins, Cassidy, Rob Portman from Ohio, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Mitt Romney from Utah, Shelley Moore Capito from West Virginia, Todd Young from Indiana, Jerry Moran from Kansas, Mike Rounds from South Dakota and Thom Tillis from North Carolina. But Biden and his team may feel like they have the upper hand this round. Aides pointed out that Jim Justice, the Republican governor of West Virginia, was in favor of the prospect of large-scale incentives on Monday. The Democrats won two Senate runoffs in Georgia last month, including by highlighting the issue of increasing stimulus controls that Republicans were opposed to. And Democrats from other traditionally Republican states – including Montana’s Jon Tester – have said they support Biden’s efforts, underlining what the White House calls popular support for the proposal: “I don’t think it’s 1.9 trillion Dollars, even though it’s a shipload of money is too much money, ”Tester told CNN on Sunday. “Now is not the time to starve the economy.” Some of Congress’s key allies in Congress also appear to have little appetite to scale back its ambitions. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat and the new chairman of the Senate Finance Committee that oversees taxes, health care, stimulus payments, and unemployment benefits, called the GOP plan a “non-starter.” For more articles like this, visit bloomberg.com. Sign up now to stay up to date with the most trusted business news source. © 2021 Bloomberg LP
