There will be a very rare sighting in Washington, D.C. Monday. A Democrat and a group of Republicans will be meeting in an attempt to find common ground on a topic, and there might not even be name-calling or aggression involved.
President Joe Biden has agreed to meet with the 10 Republican senators who sent him a letter over the weekend requesting a face-to-face to discuss an altered coronavirus stimulation package that they think is more reasonable than the $1.9 trillion package Congress is working with now.
The plan that this group of Republicans pitched is worth $618 billion, and has more targeted recipients of the money, including:
$20 billion that would go into a national vaccine program
Extend $300 per week federal unemployment benefits through June 30
Pump $20 billion into K-12 schools
Provide smaller, $1,000 direct payments to Americans, with a lower threshold of $40,000 annual income
No state and local government support
Unsurprisingly, the Republican plan was dissed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, as he referred to it as “inadequate.” He spoke for fellow Democrats by saying that a failure to spend now will cause more pain the coming years.
There’s always a chance if Biden doesn’t come out of the meeting with the 10 Republicans with some sort of compromised deal, a stimulus package could still be passed without the GOP. “I support passing Covid relief with support from Republicans if we can get it. he told reporters But the Covid relief has to pass, there’s no ifs, ands or buts,” Biden said Friday.
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