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Mitch McConnell, President-elect Joe Biden and President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has found himself in a tight position of late, vis-a-vis both his own Republican and the opposition Democratic Party. The Kentucky lawmaker, on one hand, has irked the pro-Donald Trump voices in the GOP by acknowledging Joe Biden as the president-elect and on the other, left the Democrats fuming by blocking the new bill to raise direct coronavirus relief package payments to Americans from $600 to $2,000. In both cases, however, McConnell’s position was in conflict with President Trump, a man he has supported on many other occasions to disappoint the critics.
The Exchange, 0101021
This week on The Exchange, we remember the Siouxlanders who lost their lives to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. One was Roman Catholic Priest Fr. John Vakulskas, who was known for ministering to carnival workers and taking Siouxlanders on tours to the Holy Land. We also hear the stories of a beloved Siouland man with Down s Syndrome and a Vietnamese immigrant who fought for immigrants rights.
Also, we hear from some of the politicians that shaped 2020. All of the Democratic presidential candidates visited Siouxland during 2020 in preparation for the Iowa Caucuses. We hear from several of those candidates, including President-Elect Joe Biden, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and former South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg. class= wysiwyg-break drupal-content src= /sites/all/modules/contrib/wysiwyg/plugins/break/images/spacer.gif title= >We also recall the winners and losers of local and state races this year. Republican Randy Feenstra defeated incumben
Sanders’ political stunt over $2,000 stimulus checks fails
A political stunt by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is set to end in predictable futility this weekend when the Senate gives final approval to a record $741 billion military spending bill, overriding the veto issued by President Trump last week.
The Senate will pump this record sum into the coffers of the Pentagon, fueling an American war machine directed against the population of the entire planet, without taking up the $2,000-per-person stimulus payment on which Sanders has been demanding a vote.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Flickr/Gage Skidmore)
Sanders announced Tuesday that he would object to taking up a measure to override Trump’s veto until after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed to hold a vote on the $2,000 payment passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives Monday night.
Trump s call for $2,000 cheques blocked by Senate leader 31st Dec 2020 | Source: BBC
Mitch McConnell (C) heading for the Senate floor on Tuesday
US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has rejected calls from an unlikely alliance of President Donald Trump, congressional Democrats and some Republicans to boost coronavirus aid.
The House of Representatives, held by the Democrats, had voted to increase aid cheques to Americans to $2,000.
Dozens of House Republicans, reluctant to defy Mr Trump, backed the increase.
But Mr McConnell s objections mean there will not be a direct vote on a revised Covid aid bill in the Senate.
Mitch McConnell said raising aid cheques would be another fire hose of borrowed money .