Will Dems Surprise Us Next Week?

Good News and Bad News

Good news and bad news.  Good news is that the House of Representatives will likely pass the continuing resolutions, government funding bills, early next week.

Hopefully that will let the House focus on stimulus thereafter.

Bad news is that some House Democrats are concerned that despite Pelosi wanting the House to stick around until a deal is done, the House could leave next week a week earlier than planned if there’s no movement on stimulus.  And the same sentiment is true among Senate Republicans.

Will House Democrats Surprise Us Next Week?

But will House Dems surprise us, we know Pelosi wants a deal.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Democrat, said that there are “useful” ideas in the Problem Solvers Caucus’ proposal, but still maintained it’s inadequate.

So all I can say at this point is that I’m hopeful that House Democrats surprise us next week with a compromise in light of what Pelosi said earlier this week, in light of what Hoyer said, and that’s all I’m going to speculate about Congressional action on stimulus next week.

No, Pelosi Hasn’t Changed Her Mind

Meanwhile, of course frustrated rank-and-file members of Congress are continuing to do what they can.  We did go over the Problem Solvers Caucus’ proposal when it came out, of course, I like it, many of you like it, Meadows likes it, Trump likes it, Pelosi hates it, and I’ve seen some people ask me, “Hey, I heard Pelosi changed her mind on the Problem Solvers Caucus!”  I don’t know where they’re hearing this if it’s on Reddit or YouTube, I’m not sure, but no, Pelosi has not changed her mind on the Problem Solvers Caucus’ proposal.

Just this morning I’ve seen several reporters report that when a New York Times reporter asked Pelosi what she didn’t like about the Problem Solvers Caucus’ proposal, she just said, “Just go read my statement.”

Jaime Herrera Buetler’s Resolution

But another example of everyday members of Congress trying to make change here is earlier this week Republican Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Buetler filed a resolution in the House to permit an expedited vote on extending the Paycheck Protection Program, perhaps getting a vote on it a week from today, to distribute the remaining $134 billion in unused PPP money immediately.  If every Republican signed this thing, she would only need 20 Democratic signatures for it to go to the Senate.

Representative Herrera Buetler said, “if we fail to extend [the PPP] immediately, it will have been a bridge to nowhere because small businesses remain on the brink of survival. I’ve introduced this discharge petition so we can go around Speaker Pelosi’s unwillingness to make the Paycheck Protection Program a priority, and rush aid to small businesses who desperately need it.”

Could This Be Done For Stimulus Checks?

I know what you’re thinking: “Well, OK, if she can do this for PPP for small businesses tapping into unused PPP money, could we do this with stimulus checks with the $300 billion of Main Street Lending money, what have you, that Trump mentioned the other day?”

And as far as I can tell, this motion could probably be used for that, but would it succeed is a different question.  This PPP motion, we know that the vast majority of Republicans are on board with letting businesses tap into that unused PPP money.

And we know many Democrats are as well, and if every Republican voted for this, they would only need 20 Democratic votes out of the 232 two hundred and thirty-two Democrats in the House.

But let’s say something similar was on the table for stimulus checks.  That’s not as rosy a story.  We know that many Republicans don’t want to spend another dime, and on the other hand we also know that many Democrats don’t want to do piecemeal relief, some do, especially some more moderate ones from red states, but many Democrats side with Pelosi on that matter.  So I’m not hopeful that something similar could be done with stimulus checks.

Trump

And we’ve gone another week with Democrats and Republicans no closer apart.  So we’re looking at Trump.

Yesterday in his rally in Wisconsin, Trump said, “Starting next week my administration is committing an additional – you’ve been asking for this for a long time – $13 billion dollars in relief to help farmers recover from” coronavirus, but of course he referred to it as “China virus.”  This is CARES Act money, it will probably actually be $14 billion, but point is Trump’s seeing these handouts as a political move, I know that he must be extremely tempted, salivating almost, about the prospect of being able to go around to these rallies and tell people that Nancy Pelosi held up your checks, Chuck Schumer, Democrats held up your cheeks but that he got the job done and sent you the money, he showed you the money.  You know Trump fantasizes about that.

So as Congress flusters here with stimulus, can’t get a thing done, as Mnuchin and Meadows and Pelosi and Schumer can’t get a thing done, I think the Donald just might try to pull something, that’s just my speculation, but he said it, he brought up the $300 billion that he tied to stimulus checks, check out my September 5 update if you missed it, and the election is 46 days away.

New Poll

This brings me to my new poll on the channel, where I ask you, “If Congress doesn’t pass a second round of stimulus checks before the election, do you think that Trump will attempt to do so himself without congressional approval?”

Please let me know what you think.  I’m not asking you if you think it’s constitutional, if he has the authority to do that, I’m simply asking if you think he will attempt to do that.

Unemployment Update

I’m seeing reports of lump-sum $2400 payments in West Virginia, I’m seeing partial payments in Connecticut, I’m seeing deposits hit accounts in New York, I’m seeing South Carolina hopefully this Sunday the twentieth, Vermont supposedly paper checks have already been mailed out, should be received shortly.