Clock Seems to Have Run Out on Pre-Election Stimulus Deal

While I have been an optimist about the chances for a pre-election agreement between Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, the clock seems to have run out.

Last night the Speaker said that her fellow House Democrats don’t want to return to vote on a deal if the Senate won’t take the bill up; and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the Senate opposes a pre-election vote. I think that by invoking the position of the House Democratic Caucus, the Speaker is telegraphing the no bill message.

Both sides will talk about a bill in the lame duck session of Congress; but that could be tough. If President Trump is defeated, he is unlikely to devote time to a deal. And a big deal requires his personal lobbying of Senate Republicans.  Defeated members usually show their dejection by not coming back to Congress for weeks.

If Biden wins, there may be pressure from Democrats to just wait until there is a new President.  This is all bad news for the 23 million Americans who don’t have jobs, testing programs that need money, schools that are in need of funding to bring kids back; the list goes on and on. The debate was at least more civil: between a moderator who did her job, and the new mute mic policy helped a lot by eliminating the distraction of shouting over each other.  The President’s more Presidential behavior likely shored up support from some supporters who were turned off by his performance in the first debate. Biden’s strong statements on immigration, climate change, and racial divides likely appealed to his supporters and any lingering undecided voters.

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