Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, he of rotting hands and equally rotting soul, has blocked Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's attempt to unanimously pass House-backed legislation that would raise the new round of stimulus checks to $2,000.
As the Washington Post and others have noted, McConnell's predictable decision of blocking financial relief to those who desperately need it due to the ongoing pandemic will likely now result in a week-long Senate throwdown of sorts.
Instead of actually exhibiting any concern for struggling Americans by supporting an immediate consideration of the stimulus increase from $600 to $2,000, McConnell has argued that the payments debate is linked with Trump's push for a Section 230 repeal and his baseless election-related complaints. In short, this barbarous tortoise doesn't give a shit about you or anyone you know.
Earlier on Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders vowed to keep Congress in the Capitol through New Year's Eve unless McConnell agreed to a vote on the $2,000 payments.
McConnell subsequently introduced his own bill that would increase stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000; however, the bill also includes Trump's aforementioned demand of a Section 230 repeal as well as the formation of a committee that will study election integrity. Schumer criticized the proposed bill, suggesting it would never be approved by Congressional Democrats.
"What we're seeing right now is Leader McConnell trying to kill the checks — the $2,000 checks desperately needed by so many American families — by tying them completely to partisan provisions that have absolutely nothing to do with helping struggling families across the country," Schumer told reporters, according to NPR. "The only way to deliver the $2,000 survival checks to Americans is to pass the bipartisan House-passed bill."
Americans have faced unprecedented financial hardships during the pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on multiple industries and halted the ability for many to carry on with their respective jobs at all. Furthermore, those who have taken the pandemic seriously by avoiding crowded areas and maskless dolts whenever possible have been saddled with the extra cost of grocery delivery and other specific-to-this-era necessities.
Still, far too many of those in a position to offer continued assistance through it all have failed to step up. McConnell's move on Tuesday isn't the first example of this and it certainly won't be the last.
