How can you tell a "bipartisan plan" is not really a bipartisan plan? When it's being pushed by 10 Republicans and is headed up by Sen. Mitch McConnell's favorite water carrier, Sen. Susan Collins. These Republicans have hacked up the $1.9 trillion plan initiated by President Biden and currently being crafted by Democrats by more than two-thirds to just $600 billion because, well, hell. Who knows why.
What's probably at work here is Republicans figuring they can once again push Biden's old Senate guy buttons from back before McConnell laid waste to the institution, and appeal to his nostalgia for what used to be. The problem is they're using McConnell's definition of bipartisan cooperations: total capitulation by Democrats. You can tell it's a McConnell feint by the fact that there is no funding for state and local governments beyond $20 billion for a national vaccine program. That alone pretty much kills any chance of Biden or any Democrat touching it. On top of that, they are offering $1,000 survival checks, starting to reduce the payments at $40,000 in income and capped at $50,000. That's $40K and $50K determined by 2019 income, as if a year of pandemic hasn't affected incomes.
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The Republicans also cut Biden's $400/week in enhanced unemployment insurance to $300, and once again set up funding cliffs, ending the extra UI at the end of June for all states. Biden's plan ties the enhanced UI payments to economic recovery. They do the same thing with increased food stamp benefits, ending them Sept. 30. This again is a McConnell tactic, creating artificial deadlines on critical programs for millions of struggling people so that he can negotiate Democrats down. Of course the plan does not include raising the federal minimum wage. Because they're still working under the assumption that someone making $40,000 a year in 2019 is raking in the dough.
Nonetheless, they've been invited to the White House for a meeting with Biden to try to convince him to work with them and their ridiculous offering of being "bipartisan" instead of continuing to work with Democrats to get his $1.9 trillion plan through as quickly as possible. Which Republicans could, you know, join in on and support if they actually wanted to help people. The meeting, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced Sunday evening, was offered by Biden "for a full exchange of views." I sincerely hope they get a full exchange of Biden's views when they meet Monday afternoon.
"We want to work in good faith with you and your administration to meet the health, economic and societal challenges of the covid crisis," the Republican lawmakers wrote to Biden, saying they were responding to his "calls for unity." Because when you're a Republican, the only unity that matters is everyone agreeing with you and following your policies. The hell with what the country wants. Or needs. And the hell with elections having consequences.
