A group of House Republicans has unveiled a plan to rally public sentiment against the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion so-called novel coronavirus stimulus/relief package, including highlighting "all the left-wing items Democrats are hoping the public won’t find about."
“Democrats have been hoping the public’s attention has been occupied watching a made for TV show trial of the former president in the Senate, because they’ve been trying to quietly load up a $1.9 trillion budget reconciliation bill with special interest pork and other liberal goodies,” a three-page fact sheet by the Republican Study Committee reads.
The strategy suggests Republicans publicize items that would likely be unpopular in swing districts or states, such as providing more funding for schools to enable them to open but does not require it, direct payments to families that include illegal immigrants, and even items that have nothing to do with COVID-19 such as Environmental Protection Agency grants.
The lead item is how an increased federal minimum wage would result in 1.4 million jobs eliminated, especially for younger and less educated Americans.
The hope is to stir public feeling against the bill, and pressure moderate Democrats. With narrow majorities in both houses, Democratic leadership is using the reconciliation process, a parliamentary maneuver that would allow it to bypass the Senate’s filibuster procedure and require at least some Republican support.
If all Republicans oppose, the GOP would only need about a half dozen votes in the House or one in the Senate to scuttle the bill. Republicans have been particularly hopeful of Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia, who has spoken openly about his opposition to the $15 per hour federal minimum wage.
“The RSC isn’t letting them get away with this,” the memo reads. “That’s why we’ve put together the…document listing all the left-wing items Democrats are hoping the public won’t find about.”
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.