As the House begins consideration Friday of the $2 trillion stimulus bill passed unanimously by the Senate, Republican lawmakers who talked to us were generally relieved that many of the expenditures Democrats pursued didn't make the final package.
"Despite Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi’s efforts to load up the bill with her liberal wish list —Green New Deal, a federally mandated minimum wage, and a big labor giveaway — she was unsuccessful," Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., told Newsmax. "In fact, all her three-day stalling tactics got her were even more resources into the Senate Republicans’ initial priorities: health care, families and small businesses."
But a few Democratic "wishes" did make it into the package that's now before the House.
The package, passed by the Senate, provided $75 million each for the National Endowment for the Arts and for the National Endowment for the Humanities. Both agencies deliver grants to arts and cultural groups.
In addition, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts received $25 million for operations and maintenance," essentially for its clean-up and repair.
Asked about this unusual measure to stimulate the economy during the virus crisis, President Donald Trump told reporters: "Look, that was a Democrat request. That was not my request. But you’ve got to give them something."
Another item seemingly unrelated to economic recovery is the $400 million in "election assistance" that was included in the stimulus package.
The Senate language didn't include Democratic crafted mandates enhancing "no-excuse" absentee ballots and making mail-in voting available to anyone. Republicans kept the language in the bill to providing help to states through the federal Election Assistance Commission and requiring regular accounting on how the money was being used.
Senate Democrats also were thwarted in the amount they wanted to put in election assistance funding. Proponents such as Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., close friend of and successor in the Senate to Joe Biden initially called for $2 billion to make voting easier in the wake of coronavirus.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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