The idea of a federal government issuing a second round of stimulus money is not getting traction in Washington D.C.
In fact, Republicans are lining up against it.
Republican opposition to a second stimulus stems mostly from a bill put forth by House Democrats Ro Khanna (California) and Tim Ryan (Ohio).
Called The Emergency Money for the People (TEMP) Act, the bill would pay citizens $2,000 a month to people over 16 for upwards of a year.
Money would be paid direct deposit, check, pre-paid debit card or through mobile money platforms such as PayPal, Vemmo to eligible recipients like students and the disabled and to people who don’t have a bank account or fixed address, like the homeless.
The act appears to have support with Democrats only.
And that means it hasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell with the Republican controlled Senate.
And for some Republicans, like Senator John Kennedy and Representative Steve Scalise, they are more vociferous in their opposition.
Representative Steve Scalise takes issue with Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s support of the TEMP Act: “It’s incredibly tone-deaf of Speaker Pelosi to continue using this crisis to push these radical socialist ideas that have been consistently rejected.”
Scalise continues, “What we should be focused on is responsibly implementing the relief packages we passed to get trillions of dollars directly into the hands of families and businesses so the American people have jobs and an economy to come back to when we finally reopen.”
“Well people in hell want ice water too,” Louisiana Senator John Kennedy said when asked about another round of checks. “I mean, everybody has an idea and a bill, usually to spend more money. It’s like a Labor Day mattress sale around here.”
Kennedy’s office claims he was misinterpreted by the media that implied he didn’t care about people. The office responded saying the Senator has introduced legislation to get the CARES Act money allocated to Louisiana quickly -- without the need for additional funding:
"The Senator is actively working to get effective relief to the people of Louisiana while fighting to protect their jobs. In fact, he introduced a bill this week to allow the state and local governments to use the $1.8 billion that came from the CARES Act without an expiration date, and to use that money without many of the current restrictions on the funds."
Kennedy’s bill is aimed at letting state determine how to spend the money, “They can’t waste it. They can’t spend it on things like bailing out mismanaged pension programs.”
Meanwhile, Louisiana senior senator, Bill Cassidy, is working on a bill of his own.
“If you don’t have the police, the garbage, the fire to support your small business, the small business can’t be open,” Cassidy states. “It’s an ecosystem. We’re trying to support all parts of that ecosystem.”
Cassidy’s legislation would give an additional $500 billion to state and local governments, but he said it’s not a blank check.
“You don’t wanna just give states money. You want to have some rationale as to why you would.”
Cassidy’s bill is a bi-partisan approach and is co-sponsored by Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey.
Then again, Republican’s might be more amenable to the latest relief concept put forth by President Trump, as he told Fox News: “I want to see a payroll tax cut on both sides, a very strong one, because that’s going to really put people to work.”