⊠Afternoon Thread Posts @ 14:00 PDT ?
â Never Let A Looting Opportunity Go To Waste
House Republicans on Monday night offered a detailed critique of what they called House Speaker Nancy Pelosiâs âsocialist wish listâ in House Democratsâ $2.5 trillion proposal for responding to the coronavirus outbreak. âSpeaker Pelosi unveiled legislation aimed at exploiting the COVID-19 public health crisis by attempting to force the inclusion of a socialist wish list of policies that have nothing to do with the public health and economic emergency,â said House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican.
After poring over the 1,400-page proposal, Mr. Scalise offered his characterization of Republicansâ objections to the following items:
Under the heading of âUnion Giveawaysâ:
⢠Nullifies the White House executive orders on federal collective bargaining and codifies taxpayer-funded union official time.
⢠Requires a labor union representative on every airlineâs board of directors.
⢠Multi-employer pension bailout lacking needed reforms.
⢠Permanently raises the minimum wage to $15 for any business that receives federal aid for COVID-19.
⢠Cancels all debt owed by the U.S. Postal Service to the Treasury.
Under the heading âGreen New Deal prioritiesâ:
⢠Requires all airlines that receive assistance to offset carbon emissions for domestic flights by 2025.
⢠Includes a $1 billion âcash for clunkersâ airplane program where the Transportation Department buys fuel-inefficient planes from airlines in exchange for agreeing to buy new ones.
⢠Includes expansive new tax-credit for solar and wind energy.
Under âStudent Loan Forgivenessâ:
⢠$10,000 blanket loan forgiveness.
Under âFederalizing Electionsâ:
⢠Mandates how states must run elections, including the nationalization of ballot harvesting, requiring early voting, same day registration, and no-excuse vote by mail.
⢠Puts states at risk of costly litigation if they are unable to implement these stringent mandates ahead of the 2020 election.
Under âImmigration Provisionsâ:
⢠Requires the Homeland Security Department to automatically extend visas and work authorizations expiring within the next year, including those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status, for an amount of time equal to their prior visa, authorization or status.
⢠Limits Customs and Border Patrolâs ability to shutdown processing centers if there is a health crisis on the border and requires CBP to assure the timely adjudication of asylums applications.
⢠Would allow certain funding to go to sanctuary cities.
Under âOverreaching Mandates on Businessesâ:
⢠Permanent changes to who can serve on corporate boards of directors for companies that receive assistance for payroll and operating costs.
⢠Mandatory disclosure on supply chain management.
⢠Requires board diversity disclosure for all publicly traded companies.
⢠Ban on all federal rulemaking including non-COVID 19 proposals (extends 30 days after emergency) âin an attempt to delay the current administration from promulgating actions House Democrats disagree with.â
Under âNew Permanent Mandatesâ:
⢠Virtually rewrites the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program policy with no reference to COVID-19 and permanently disallows rule making pertaining to work requirements and eligibility.
⢠Permanent expansion of Obamacare entitlement, âputting the American taxpayer on the hook for endless and unchecked health insurance spending and would remove all incentives for insurers to reduce the cost of health insurance.â
Mr. Scalise said the Democratsâ bill also excludes bipartisan health-care provision in the Senate bill, including a proposal to expand telehealth access for home dialysis patients, hospice and home health patients; and a measure to prevent a payment reduction for durable medical equipment to help patientsâ better transition from the hospital to home.
âInstead of working in a bipartisan, bicameral way to provide this immediate relief, the speaker has proposed legislation that includes highly partisan provisions while excluding key patient care provisions that would have a real impact on Americans affected by COVID-19,â Mr. Scalise told his Republican colleagues.
SOURCE:
https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/23/nancy-pelosi-coronavirus-stimulus-package-socialis/