As people all throughout Kentucky and across the United States continue to brutally suffer the financial effects of the coronavirus outbreak, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has officially made it strikingly clear that he does not give a damn.
At the end of next week, a staggering 30 million Americans who were robbed of their jobs due to the Trump administration’s botched response to the pandemic are set to lose their enhanced unemployment benefits as the program expires. However, when Politico reporter Jake Sherman questioned McConnell as to whether or not he expects Congress to pass an additional relief plan before the program’s expiration day, Mitch apparently had himself a hearty laugh before firing back with a resounding “No.”
“I just asked @senatemajldr if he anticipates a coronavirus bill will pass by the end of next week — which is what @stevenmnuchin1 and @MarkMeadows are running around the Hill saying,” Sherman’s tweet about the encounter reads. “MCCONNELL let out a big laugh and said: ‘No.'”
I just asked @senatemajldr if he anticipates a coronavirus bill will pass by the end of next week — which is what @stevenmnuchin1 and @MarkMeadows are running around the Hill saying.
MCCONNELL let out a big laugh and said: “No.”
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 21, 2020
The additional $600 in unemployment benefits per week allocated to individuals who are out of work due to the pandemic-induced shutdown under the CARES Act not only served to help keep Americans clothed and felt, but also served as a cushion to the crumbling United States economy.
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However, it seems that Mitch and his Senate cronies would rather watch this country crash and burn than to give out of work Americans anymore more that they don’t feel they’ve “earned.”
Various economists and lawmakers have been warning from the rooftops that even a small lapse in the additional unemployment benefits would be crash-inducing on the already fragile economy in this nation.
Just yesterday, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden tweeted, “I have a bill to renew supercharged unemployment benefits until this crisis is over so families can continue to pay rent and buy groceries. Senate Republicans have had every opportunity to pass it and have refused to do so.”
I have a bill to renew supercharged unemployment benefits until this crisis is over so families can continue to pay rent and buy groceries.
Senate Republicans have had every opportunity to pass it and have refused to do so. https://t.co/vQ6jTc7J5g
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) July 21, 2020
Wyden spokesperson Ashley Schapitl tweeted, “Thirty million workers won’t be able to pay rent on August 1st and McConnell is laughing.”
30 million workers won’t be able to pay rent on August 1st and McConnell is laughing. https://t.co/L0m4vrcUUC
— Ashley Schapitl (@AshleySchapitl) July 21, 2020
Even Senate Budget Committee mathematician Bobby Kogan weighed in, saying that there is “no excuse” for letting the additional pandemic unemployment benefits expire.
“We had months to get this done, and the House passed its bill back in May,” his tweet read. “Tens of millions of people will be harmed because of the cavalier inaction of Senate Republicans.”
There is no excuse for this. We had months to get this done, and the House passed its bill back in May. Tens of millions of people will be harmed because of the cavalier inaction of Senate Republicans. https://t.co/dXs8XXNeiE
— Bobby Kogan (@BBKogan) July 21, 2020
House Speaker Pelosi also scoffed at the idea of Mitch McConnell’s Senate passing a bill before the expiration date.
“The end of the week? You mean the month,” Pelosi replied when asked about the timeline. “I’m hoping for the end of the month.”
It’s resoundingly clear that Mitch McConnell gets his good jollies from watching the American people suffer. Keep this in mind come November.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
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