July 23, 2020

What Good Are Republicans?

Stefani Reynolds/CNP via ZUMA

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With only a week to go until benefits run out, Republicans can’t even agree among themselves on a new coronavirus relief package:

Senate Republicans killed President Trump’s payroll tax cut proposal on Thursday but failed to reach agreement with the White House on a broader coronavirus relief bill. This set off a frantic scramble with competing paths forward, as administration officials floated a piecemeal approach but encountered pushback from both parties, and the entire effort appeared to teeter chaotically on the brink of failure.

…If the bill is not released on Thursday, it would likely slip to Monday, giving lawmakers just a few days to reach some sort of agreement before enhanced unemployment benefits will expire for more than 20 million Americans.

What a worthless bunch of cretins. I mean, forget the details. Forget percentages of GDP. Forget 11-dimensional campaign strategies. We have millions of working-class Americans who are barely hanging on to their lives thanks to a pandemic they obviously have no control over. So just pass a goddamn bill. I don’t care if it’s means tested or not. I don’t care which party it “helps” more. I don’t care if it increases the national debt. People are suffering and they need help. Small businesses need help. States and cities need help. Schools need help.

So for God’s sake, help them. Just do it. If Republicans aren’t willing to help out Americans during the biggest pandemic of the past century, what the hell good are they?

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