Wednesday, August 26th, 2020
Economic stimulus debate tops upcoming Senate agenda
Senate Majority Leader Cody Riley (R-AL) outlined what he described as the "most pressing issues" that the Senate will address when it returns to session on September 8th today while meeting reporters outside of his Washington office. The "top priority", he stressed, were plans to avoid a deep recession, while he also included hearings for Olivia Emmett Franklin's nomination to the Supreme Court and healthcare reform among the "next most pressing issues" facing the Senate when it returns.
Riley said that the Senate would continue "at warp speed" to find a stimulus package acceptable to both Republicans and Democrats to combat what he describes as the "Seaborn slump"—the economic downturn that begun this year after nearly ten years of recovery following the late 2000s recession. The president has proposed a large stimulus plan that would substantially increase investment in renewable energy sources, less carbon-intense methods of transportation such as electric cars and public transportation, and increase and extend unemployment benefits as economists forecast an increase in the unemployment numbers. The plan would rely on the repeal of several Walken-era tax cuts for businesses, while lowering tax rates for low-income earners.
Republicans have rejected the plan and instead have pushed for a repeal of business regulation as a way to stimulate the economy.
"This isn't the time to hamstring companies and job creators with more tax rates. Especially not to subsidize pie-in-the-sky 'green' ideas like national high speed rail," Senate Majority Whip Max Lobell III (R-GA) said Monday while a guest on the Fox Business News program
Morning with Maria. "We should be letting them keep more of their hard-earned dollars right now, so they can invest in the economy and in their employees."
Both the White House and congressional leaders have remained in negotiations throughout Congress' summer recess, but little progress has been made. Sources familiar to the negotiations have privately said that agreements have been reached in several minor areas, but that both sides are wary of being seen as "caving" to the other party ahead of this year's midterms.
