An interesting exchange occurred on CNN on Tuesday between anchor Wolf Blitzer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Please watch the exchange by clicking the below link.
The reader is obviously free to judge for themselves what they see but it seemed that Wolf Blitzer appeared to lay the blame for no new COVID 19 relief bill at Pelosi's feet for not accepting the White House 1.8 Trillion Dollar Stimulus offer. Blitzer also threw in that House Representative Ro Khanna and Andrew Yang suggested accepting the deal.
The Speaker, in perhaps an inartful rebuttal, strongly chastized Blitzer, calling him a "Republican apologist" and saying "he did not know what he was talking about."
She then repeatedly asked him if he knew the bill contained several "poison pills" for Democrats like reductions in the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits.
Blitzer did not respond which could make some wonder if he knew what was in the Trump Administration offer.
To be fair to Blitzer, there does not seem to be any in-depth news accounts or analysis comparing the provisions and legislative language of the second Coronavirus Bill passed by the House (remember they are the only branch of government that has passed two versions of the Heroes Act) and the Trump counteroffer.
What should not be forgotten from this exchange (and Blitzer apparently has) is that it is not the Democrats who are stonewalling on the next round of COVID 19 relief.
It has been primarily Enemy of the People-Political Prince of Darkness-Obstructionist in Chief-Man who Laughs-Moscow Rich Mitch McConnell who has put up roadblocks to the next round of Coronavirus relief legislation.
The House first passed the initial version of the Heroes Act ($3.4 trillion) in Mid May. Moscow Mitch wanted to pause until the deadline in July.
When July came, McConnell, members of the Republican Senate who all of a sudden started to worry again about deficits (only when it comes to helping people in need,) White House Chief of Staff (and former Freedom Circ...Caucus Chair) Mark Meadows, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin offered only a small insufficient targeted measure that left out aid to the States.
The bill went nowhere in the Senate and the Democrats in the House scoffed at it for the piece of fecal matter it was.
The House Democrats, bowing to pressure from Moderates in swing districts, then passed a $2.2 trillion measure at the end of September.
McConnell said he will not take that measure up in the Senate or even the $1.8 trillion proposal by the Trump Administration, saying there was not enough time to pass it before the election.
There is, however, enough time, to ram through a reactionary fringe Supreme Court Nominee who knows nothing about who would be affected if she rules to throw out the Affordable Care Act, does not know the statistics on racial discrimination, is an apparent Climate Change Denier, and can not answer the softball question if a President can delay an election.
There is also time to laugh during a debate with your opponent when she points out you are a failed leader for letting people suffer because of your obstructionist posture.
The New York Times reported that thanks to Mitch McConnell's and Donald Trump's failure to engage with Democrats and find a solution on COVID 19 relief, eight million people, according to Columbia University, have fallen into poverty. A Notre Dame study, according to the same New York Times article, put the number at six million. Many of the newly impoverished are minorities and children.
Why is this happening?
Because the relief funds from the original CARES Acts like the stimulus payments and the enhanced unemployment benefits have run out and people's savings are near depleted.
The labor market is still short over ten million jobs with numbers between 800,000 and 900,00 people filing for first-time unemployment insurance occurring over the last several weeks.
People are forced to stand in line in their cars for hours to wait to pick up meals from foodbanks for the first time in their lives.
Laugh about that Moscow Mitch.
Wolf Blitzer should call you on his show and see how you react to the same questions he gave Speaker Pelosi. See if you laugh through those.
During the townhall on ABC News with Joe Biden, I was struck by one man who said he was not sure yet who to vote for.
What is this person thinking?
- Almost 220,000 dead from COVID 19.
- Millions economically displaced and impoverished
- A President who has been endorsed by David Duke twice, has lied to the American People over 20,000 times, was impeached for betraying his oath of office, has no national plan to combat the Coronavirus, and would like to pit blue states against red states.
- A Senate Majority Leader who laughs at the suffering of the American People and spends precious time confirming a Supreme Court Justice, who before he took away the filibuster on Supreme Court nominations, would not have been considered remotely confirmable.
The great majority of the American People, with 18 days to go until the election, should have no doubt which candidates represent a change in the right direction and those that would only result in more needless suffering for themselves, the country, and its political, economic, and cultural institutions.
It is time to vote for the candidates that will put the people first. If voters, like the one who made that moronic statement at the Biden Town Hall event last night, need a clue, it is not Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, or any Republican that has not demonstrated a need to help the suffering and displaced.
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