Congressional leaders are rushing to make a deal on a roughly $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus bill before the end of the year.
However, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is taking issue with the reports on a proposed new round of stimulus checks. She also noted that the proposal reportedly includes smaller enhanced unemployment benefits.
She wrote on Twitter, “The fact that Republicans are forcing Dems to choose between stimulus money OR unemployment benefits, as if we couldn’t easily do both, is barbaric. Do they know that people in red states are hungry too, or do they just not care?”
“This is inhumane,” she added.
The fact that Republicans are forcing Dems to choose between stimulus money OR unemployment benefits, as if we couldn’t easily do both, is barbaric.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 16, 2020
Do they know that people in red states are hungry too, or do they just not care?
This is inhumane. https://t.co/1QoKGB7pEa
She continued to accuse Congressional Republicans of blocking more direct payments and urged Republican voters to call their representatives.
And if you believe “both sides are blocking checks & COVID relief” then you should call your member of Congress anyway and ask them if they support stimulus checks & UI, and for how much.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 16, 2020
If you don’t already, you deserve to know how your district is being represented in talks.
And she created a poll to ask her followers if $600 is “enough.”
She said, “And if you don’t want your member to vote for a $600 deal, you really need to tell them that. Don’t think ‘oh I voted for a Dem, we’ll be fine.'”
“No. If there’s an amount that’s too little, or any other red line that you want them to vote NO on, then you need to tell them that,” she added.
Is $600 for a second COVID check enough?
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 16, 2020
And if you don’t want your member to vote for a $600 deal, you really need to tell them that.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 16, 2020
Don’t think “oh I voted for a Dem, we’ll be fine.”
No. If there’s an amount that’s too little, or any other red line that you want them to vote NO on, then you need to tell them that.
The Washington Post reports that lawmakers are negotiating a roughly $900 billion relief bill that would provide money for vaccine distribution and small businesses. The Post also reports the bill could include direct payments of $600-$700. However, the bill would include a lower federal supplemental unemployment insurance benefit of $300 per week.
The bill would be a compromise for Democrats who have been pushing for aid for state and local governments, and Republicans who have been pushing for liability protection for businesses. While lawmakers say they need to pass a relief bill by the end of the year, some Democrats are already saying Congress will need to pass another bill early next year.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) claimed the proposed bill is “a much smaller amount than the country needs in this moment of economic desperation.”
“We have got to do more,” he added.
And President-elect Joe Biden argued the proposal is a “down payment, an important down payment on what’s going to have to be done beginning the end of January into February.”