COVID-19 Relief Bill Won’t Offer $1,200 Checks

 

With time running out, lawmakers on Sunday closed in on a proposed COVID-19 relief bill that would provide roughly $300 in extra federal weekly unemployment benefits but not another round of $1,200 in direct payments to most Americans, leaving that issue for Joe Biden to wrestle over with a new Congress next year.

The $908 billion aid package to be released Monday would be attached to a larger year-end spending bill needed to avert a government shutdown this coming weekend.

The cash payments were popular when they were first distributed after the pandemic hit, and Biden on Friday had expressed hope that a second wave might come after weekend negotiations.

But senators involved in the talks said the checks won’t be included as part of the compromise, even as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and others said that could cause them to oppose the measure.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat, indicated that excluding the checks while assuring small-business aid and renters’ assistance was the only way to reach agreement with Republicans who are putting firm limits on the bill’s final price tag.

“The $1,200 check, it cost we believe nationally $300 billion to give you an idea,” he said. “The Democrats have always wanted a larger number, but we were told we couldn’t get anything through the Republicans, except this $900 billion level.”

The plan being worked on by a group of Republican and Democratic senators is less than half of the Democrats’ push of $2.2 trillion and nearly double the $500 billion “targeted” package proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Both he and Durbin said that McConnell has shown interest in the bipartisan effort, and Cassidy said he was hopeful that President Donald Trump would embrace it as well.

The proposal is expected to include about $300 per week in bonus federal unemployment payments, providing relief just as emergency aid payments at regular benefit levels are set to expire at year’s end. It would extend a freeze on evictions for people who cannot pay their rent and reauthorize the Paycheck Protection Program to give a second round of subsidies to businesses struggling through the pandemic.

Still, potential sticking points remain.

Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said last week they wouldn’t support the $908 billion proposal if it did not include checks for families, and were joined by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are also against shielding businesses from lawsuits claiming negligence for COVID-19 outbreaks, a provision pushed by Republicans.

While favoring the $1,200 checks, Biden said the emerging compromise was “immediately needed” and that additional assistance could follow later.

On Sunday, lawmakers involved in the negotiations said the direct payments would have to wait until after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. At that time, Biden will face a new Congress as vaccines are being distributed, with a narrowed Democratic majority in the House and a closely divided Senate potentially split 50-50 if Democrats are able to prevail in two runoff elections in Georgia on Jan. 5.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Sanders was not involved in the negotiations and “his characterization is just not accurate” about the potential liability protections for businesses. The direct payments, he said, will be a task for Biden.

“Every indication says more money is needed; we see that,” he said. “This gets us through basically the lifelines that people need and the small businesses that can survive and not go under.”

Manchin said Biden’s team, when in power, “can put together a different proposal that takes us further down the road for more recovery.”

Durbin spoke on ABC’s “This Week,” Cassidy appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” Warner was on CNN’s “State of the Union” and Manchin was interviewed on NBC’s “Meet the Press.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Guy Caught Defacing "non tzneesdike" Posters from Bus

 

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Meah Shearim Residents Protest Against "Light Rail" ....

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Listen to the Crazed Leftists .... Georgia Election Now Vital To Keep the USA Sane

 

pic.twitter.com/7NhZCVBncg

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2020

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!  

Takeaways from Listening to CNN's Editorial Meetings for 2 Months

 

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Joe Biden’s Dangerous Delusion on Renewing the Iran Nuclear Pact

by Michael Goodin

The assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist counts as a rare piece of good news from the mad mullahs’ gulag. It eliminates a key player in the bid to get nuclear weapons and creates a safer world.

The event is being celebrated by the Trump administration, which has been relentless in bringing Iran to its knees. Israel, which likely carried out the bold hit, is delighted by the demise of a man whose weapons threatened to wipe the Jewish state off the map. Also cheering are the Sunni Arab nations whose governments are targeted by Iran.

In short, the death of Moshen Fakhrizadeh is an unmitigated good thing to millions upon millions of innocent people. Yet to read The New York Times or listen to Joe Biden, the death is a bad thing because it complicates Biden’s plan to persuade Iran to rejoin the nuclear pact that President Trump wisely scuttled.

“Iran Pact’s Fate Dealt New Blow By Assassination,” read a mournful piece in the Times last Sunday.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

“YOU AND YOUR PRAYER BOOK CAN GET OFF”: Frum Woman WEARING MASK Thrown Off Delta Flight For “Davening” In Her Seat

****DIN: We are getting Info from people on the plane stating that SHE WAS NOT compliant with Delta's rules.... waiting to hear from Delta ...

A Frum woman was thrown off a Delta flight on Wednesday for not being compliant with mask-wearing. But the passenger tells YWN that she was 100% compliant, and thinks she was the victim of blatant anti-Semitism.

The woman – who wishes to remain anonymous at this point – says her experience was as follows: 

“I was on Delta Flight 5610 from Chicago O’Hare to JFK Airport on Wednesday. I had my siddur open and was praying. The flight attendant, Erica Green, angrily pushed my siddur down and told me to pull up my mask to comply with guidelines. My mask was up but she walked away without allowing me to show her. I brushed it off assuming she didn’t see me correctly.

She came back with another flight attendant and they both got extremely angry at me. I was scared because I was doing nothing wrong. They knocked my siddur and told me I wasn’t being compliant, even though the other passengers could see I was fully compliant, and just praying. They said if I wasn’t going to be compliant, to tell them now. Some Frum men tried to help but the flight attendant did not allow them to speak.

When she finally stopped yelling at me I said “thank you for telling me, what’s your name?”

She swung around and a minute later the pilot announced we were turning the plane around to drop off a passenger who was non compliant. A woman named Kim Ford came on to the plane and told me that I was being non compliant and that if I did not get off the plane and continued speaking I would have a lifetime ban from flying Delta and security would drag take me off the plane. She said other passengers do not feel safe and the pilot did not feel comfortable having me on board. I was calm but scared, so I asked to speak with the pilot. She said I can speak with them when I get off the plane. Two pilots met me and I tried to explain that I was fully compliant and have witnesses. The flight attendant Erica Green cut me off and did not allow me to speak. I was crying and upset and the pilots seemed confused. Kim Ford said that if I calm down and don’t speak she would rebook me to NY on a different flight, but if I “keep this up” I would have a lifetime ban from Delta and be escorted out of the terminal.

I was holding my siddur the entire time.

As Kim took me back up the plane ramp the flight attendant Erica Green said “you and prayer book can get off”.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Ethiopian Jews Migrating to Israel Accompanied by 1st Ethiopian-Israeli Minister

 

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Seattle social worker stabbed to death by her client as city pushes to replace police with social workers

 “Horrifying” and “terrifying” are the words a prosecutor used to describe a deadly attack on a Seattle social worker. 

Just before 11 a.m. on November 23, a public housing resident showed up at an apartment complex in the Belltown neighborhood of the city. 

The Seattle Times reports that security footage shows the man walk into the building carrying grocery bags and then pull out a large knife. Carrying the weapon, he walked into the office of 42-year-old social worker Kristin Benson. 

A co-worker soon heard Benson screaming and she ran to help. 

Court documents say that the woman recognized her co-worker’s attacker. 

She identified the man as 58-year-old Hans Dewey Van-Belkum, and told investigators that he was making “punching/stabbing” motions at the victim as she was face down on the floor. 

The co-worker ran out of the office, later reporting that Van-Belkum chased her toward her office with knife in hand. 

The crime has rocked the liberal city, where residents and city leaders adamantly pushed to defund the police just months ago. 

Earlier this month, Law Enforcement Today reported on the fall out of that decision: 

“Nearly 120 officers have left the police force since the end of September.  Most were patrol officers, and either retired or transferred to other agencies.  

Seattle now maintains only 1,200 officers that are deployable for contingencies, the lowest number since 1990, when the city’s population was 516,000. Now the population has grown to 783,000, not to mention the explosion of the surrounding suburban areas increasing the number of citizens routinely inside the city limits.” 

Now, with security footage showing the beginnings of the savage attack on a public servant, people are questioning that decision and their own safety in the Pacific Northwest city. 

A woman who goes by “Laura T” on Twitter, posted: 

“So, there was this social worker in Seattle. She tried to de-escalate a homeless person. He stabbed her and killed her. No police, no guns, trained social worker. Seattle mayor and council are proud of their changes, am sure @AOC is too. Kristin Benson mattered too.”

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Biden raises concerns with resignation joke in joint interview with Kamala Harris

Joe Biden is asked about his disagreements with Kamala Harris on certain issues:

"Like I told Barack, if I reach something where there's a fundamental disagreement we have based on a moral principle, I'll develop some disease and say I have to resign." pic.twitter.com/SLcvrwaPCA

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 4, 2020

President-elect Joe Biden will be "taking the backseat" to his vice president, Kamala Harris, during his term, Fox Nation host Lawrence Jones said Friday. 

“This is why he doesn’t do interviews because he is so incoherent; this is why they kept him in the basement for the majority of the campaign,” Jones told "Fox & Friends," reacting to a statement by Biden in which he appeared to joke about resigning.

Jones highlighted that Biden campaigned as a “moderate” and Harris campaigned as a “progressive," so policy disagreements are likely to arise.

“She disagrees with him on virtually every single issue,” Jones said.

Meanwhile, CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Don Lemon appeared giddy after Tapper wrapped up his exclusive interview with Biden and Harris, their first joint sit-down since the 2020 presidential election. 

Toward the end of the prime-time special, Lemon provided some commentary of Tapper's sit-down, showering Biden with praise over what he described as a "normal" and "sane" interview. 

"We heard no fake news. We heard no conspiracy theories. We heard no personal grievances," Lemon said. "We heard a president-elect and a vice president who want to work with the other side."

Jones said that Biden is a “retail politician” who won’t “be running” the White House as most people assume. 

“I’m going to be interested to see how this is going to play out, but, again there are some philosophy issues going into the White House immediately on day one."

Jones went on to say, “By the way, that’s such a dishonest thing to do to the American people. Instead of coming out and saying, look, I disagree with the president, and, I am resigning because of that. You want to fake some kind of illness?”

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!