Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday closed off chances that the Senate would pass anytime soon a House bill that would give most Americans $2,000 stimulus payments.
The Kentucky Republican said the House legislation, approved in a bipartisan vote Monday, “has no realistic path” to quick passage in the Senate and that it falls short of the demands of President Donald Trump. He again blocked an attempt by Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to adopt the House bill to increase the payments to $2,000 from the $600 by unanimous consent.
The meeting was the last in chairman Russell Golden’s term.
Paul Winghart, Market Economist, Founder & Chief Knowledge Officer, Wing-O-Metrics LLC.
Paul produces, distributes and charges for subscriptions for original economic commentary primarily for professional financial advisors.
Mr. Winghart is the author of ConsterNation!: The Economics Behind The Angst which examines the long-term economic fundamental that is holding the economy back from realizing enough of its potential, thereby causing all economic angst.
Since 2014, Paul has been an Adjunct Instructor of Business & Economics at Bethel University, North Central University and is currently teaching at the University of Northwestern -Saint Paul.
From 1998 to founding Wing-O-Metrics LLC, Paul was Vice President – Market Economist & Senior Fixed Income Strategist for RBC Wealth Management where he discerned and accurately prognosticated trends in U.S. interest rates. He also researched and interpreted evolutions in credit ratings to gain an understanding and appreciation of their implications on specific fixed income securities.
He has been published the Municipal Finance Journal Winter 2010 & Bloomberg News 2012. He was also nominated for selection to Financial Advisor / Private Wealth Magazine’s annual Research Manager / Due Diligence all-star team in 2011 & 2012.
Paul holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Minnesota and an MBA in Finance from Bethel University.
The ATM industry was already mired in the painful transition away from hardware to digital technology, and now it must try to persuade consumers and merchants that cash isn’t unsafe to handle.
The Senate instead will work on combining the stimulus payments with measures on election integrity and rolling back social media liability protections, he said. That responds to all three issues Trump has said he wants, but a bill combining them likely will alienate enough senators in both parties to leave prospects for bigger stimulus payments dead in the Senate.
“The Senate is not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of the Democrats’ rich friends who don’t need the help,” McConnell said. The House bill would raise the income cutoff to receive a payment.
The clash over the payments also is entangling another piece of year-end business in the Senate — a vote to override Trump’s veto of a crucial $740.5 billion defense policy bill. Senators Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey said they will continue to delay the defense legislation vote unless McConnell relents and allows a vote on a standalone bill on the bigger stimulus checks.
“We are saying to Mitch McConnell, to allow the United States Senate to do what it’s supposed to do, and that is the vote,” Sanders told reporters. “The House passed the bill, it’s over here right now. Do you want to vote against it? Then vote against it.”
Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey later blocked an attempt by Sanders to call up the House bill for a roll call vote.