08:46 EDT, 22 December 2020
US lawmakers finally broke an impasse on a new Covid-19 relief package that extends unemployment benefits and provides aid to busineses and individuals harmed by the pandemic
US lawmakers approved a $900 billion relief package for the world s biggest economy that will provide a long-sought boost for millions of Americans and businesses battered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Overwhelming approval in the Senate and House of Representatives on Monday cleared the way for the legislation to be sent to President Donald Trump to be signed into law.
Trump signed a stopgap measure early Tuesday to keep the federal government funded until December 28 and avert a shutdown.
Bipartisan US “relief” bill stiffs workers and unemployed, gives billions more to business
Late Sunday night, congressional leaders from both parties signaled their acceptance of a roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief bill that includes generous handouts to large companies while leaving jobless workers and their families with crumbs. The bill is expected to pass both the House and Senate by Monday afternoon and be attached to a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill. President Donald Trump has signaled his intention to sign the bill into law.
The package, which Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called a “strong shot in the arm,” does nowhere near enough to make whole the over 10 million people who have lost their jobs since March and the millions whose hours or wages have been reduced.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Getty Images) and Kathleen Rice (Wikimedia Commons)
New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who won her re-election bid after she defeated Republican challenger John Cummings by a considerably large margin last month
, had to face defeat in a race for a seat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee as her Democratic colleagues voted mainly for fellow NY Representative Kathleen Rice in a secret ballot.
According to a report in Politico on Thursday, December 17, the two Demoratic Congresswomen were battling behind the scenes for weeks to secure one of the few open seats on the powerful House committee that oversees everything from issues like healthcare and climate. Tensions over the race were plainly visible in a private meeting of the Steering and Policy Committee on Thursday, December 17, where the Dems were forced to choose between the two women leaders in a “tense and awkward” secret ballot vote, the report added.
AOC Rails Against GOP Over Tax Cuts for The Very Rich in Second Stimulus Proposal
On 12/18/20 at 2:25 PM EST
New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday criticized Republicans over tax cuts for the very rich in the second stimulus proposal. You can either get stimulus money or unemployment but not both, say Republicans demanding corporate immunity for worker abuse AND tax cuts for the very rich AND subsidies for friends AND total lack of oversight or accountability for their connected pals scamming PPP AND. Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a tweet.
“You can either get stimulus money or unemployment but not both,” say Republicans demanding corporate immunity for worker abuse AND tax cuts for the very rich AND subsidies for friends AND total lack of oversight or accountability for their connected pals scamming PPP AND. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 18, 2020
Last week, during an interview with conservative talk show host Michael Berry, Goya CEO Robert Unanue announced that New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was named employee of the month at the food company. In the summer, Unanue visited the Trump White House as part of a Hispanic Prosperity Initiative, which prompted some consumers to call for a boycott. When [Ocasio-Cortez] boycotted us, our sales actually increased 1,000 percent, Unanue told Berry. So we gave her an honorary. We never were able to hand it to her, but she got employee of the month for bringing attention to Goya and our adobo.