With the conclusion of the Republican Convention the stage is now set for the November Presidential Election.  The next big date on the calendar is September 29 which is the first of three Presidential Debates. 

At last night’s convention conclusion, President Trump did a good job of reminding his supporters and those who are considering a vote for his re-election that he has a strong record of “promises made, promises kept.”  Promises kept included walking away from TPP treaty, cancelling Paris Climate Agreement and the Iranian Nuclear deal, and renegotiating NAFTA.  He boasted of his tough immigration policy and building 300 miles of wall, Middle East successes on the battlefield, no new wars, and agreement between Israel and the UAE. 

However, the core of the speech was attacking Biden and the Democrats for their support of the mob and socialist policies.  There was a great deal of focus on law and order, support of police, and what is emerging as a theme of the campaign, “you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”

Coronavirus relief bill

Speaker Pelosi and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had a phone call on Thursday to test the waters on a new coronavirus relief bill, but both sides refused to budge from their total dollar figures of $2.3 trillion for Democrats and $1 trillion for Republicans.  Apparently neither side is feeling enough pressure from their respective constituencies to make a major move towards the other side.

One idea that emerged this week was a proposal from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to have a smaller, $500 billion, package. It reportedly would include a $300 a week supplemental unemployment payment until December, $10 million for the Post Office, and money for testing and schools. When McConnell unveiled a $1 trillion package a few weeks ago he lost at least 20 of his Republican Senators and he can only afford to lose three in order to pass a Republican only bill.  He is polling his members to see if he can get 50 votes for his slimmed down package.  McConnell’s strategy is to get Democratic Senators on record voting against virus relief aid; but at this point it is far from clear that he has enough of his Republican Senators on board for the plan.

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