House Passes Coronavirus Relief Bill

Speaker Nancy Pelosi comes through for the American people again:

The House overwhelmingly passed an economic relief bill early Saturday for the coronavirus, dedicating tens of billions of dollars for paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, free testing and other measures to help Americans impacted by the crisis.

The 363-40 vote — gaveled down just before 1 a.m. — capped two days of volatile negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that threatened to fall apart entirely for hours Friday amid GOP misgivings. But even after President Trump criticized House Democrats at an afternoon news conference Pelosi and Mnuchin kept at it, speaking by phone 13 times in the course of the day Friday and finally clinching a deal.

Not long thereafter Trump endorsed the legislation over Twitter, ensuring widespread GOP support.

Fortunately, adults managed to keep the puerile, nitwit "president" away from the negotiations. The bill is expected to be passed by the Senate early next week. 

Among the bill's features:

o  Ensures free coronavirus testing;

o A paid sick leave guarantee for people affected by the virus;

o Expanded paid family medical and leave program;

o Provides $500 million for the women, infants and children nutirition program;

o Nullifies existing work requirements in the food stamp program;

o Provides $100 million in food grants to Puerto Rico and U.S. territories;

o Increased the percentage of Medicaid spending borne by the Federal Government by 6.2 percent.

A further sign that the adults were in charge on one end of Pennsylvania Avenue was the manner in which the bill came together:

In a letter to Democratic lawmakers Friday night, Pelosi thanked them for their patience through the ups and downs of the talks, which began when House Democrats released a version of the legislation Wednesday with a number of provisions Republicans opposed.

“While we could have passed this bill on our own, I believe it was important for us to assure the American people that we can work together to manage this crisis," Pelosi wrote. “Tonight’s legislation presents a strong stimulus to our economy to protect the health and financial security of America’s working families as we fight the coronavirus crisis.”

But, make no mistake:  this legislation was overwhelmingly based on what Democrats had drafted in order to get assistance to the people most affected by the coronavirus outbreak.  At this stage in the pandemic, Republicans and their Dear Leader were grasping at anything they could to save them from their own incompetence.