August 5, 2020

USA: Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Shouts "NO" 11 Times When Asked To Put Vote-By-Mail IN A SEPARATE BILL From URGENT Economic Relief. Senate Democrats Demands Tax Cut For Wealthy.

DEMOCRAT HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI IS USING AMERICANS FINANCIAL DISTRESS AS LEVERAGE TO FORCE VOTE-BY-MAIL TO BE INCLUDED IN OUR URGENT ECONOMIC RELIEF BILL. PELOSI IS STRONG-ARMING AMERICANS. (emphasis mine)
The Epoch Times
written by Masooma Haq
Tuesday August 4, 2020

Top Senate Republicans criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democrats for not dropping their list of unrelated provisions in the next pandemic relief package, including additional unemployment benefits of $600 a month.

“Democrats need to quit playing politics with additional #coronavirus economic relief and get serious at the negotiating table. The American people need help now,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

“Democrats have to realize that they’re going to have to start working for the American people and quit playing politics with this. We heard, I think it was a whip, Hoyer of the Democrat House, that said, maybe a week 10 days ago that there was plenty of room to compromise below 600. We haven’t seen any of that movement on the part of Pelosi and Schumer at this point,” said Grassley.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a statement on July 31, “I continue to call on Senate Republicans to work with the House to extend enhanced unemployment assistance, provide much-needed relief to state and local governments dealing with COVID-19, and protect Americans from evictions. While negotiations continue, the House will stand ready to do its job again, as it did when we passed the HEROES Act on May 15.”

While the White House and Republicans are pushing for lowering the added unemployment of $600 a month or getting rid of it altogether, Pelosi, the top negotiator for the other side, said she needs money for state and local governments, added unemployment benefits, and food aid.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) took to Twitter Tuesday to accuse Democrats of holding up the next relief package with unrelated provisions.

“Speaker Pelosi is still holding up this entire package over bizarre unrelated things like carveouts for the marijuana industry. She even claimed to the press that pot is a proven COVID-19 therapy! I hope she’s shared this breakthrough with Dr. Fauci. Can we get serious yet?”

McConnell was referring to a comment that Speaker Pelosi made during a press conference where she was asked about the cannabis provision in the bill.

“I don’t agree with you that cannabis is not related to this. This is a therapy that has proven successful,” Pelosi told reporters.

Meanwhile, Conference Chairman Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wy.) said, “The best thing we can do is get Americans back to work. And young people back to school. Not what Nancy Pelosi is talking about in handout heaven—giving lots of money to things completely unrelated to coronavirus.”

At the same time, the Senate Republican Communication Center (SRCC) accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) of using the state and local tax (SALT, a deduction which allows taxpayers of high-tax states to deduct local tax payments on their federal tax returns) to give breaks to the wealthy.

“Schumer is insisting on massive tax cuts for rich people in blue states as a precondition for allowing any more relief to pass. Not a dime more for anybody who’s struggling in America unless he gets to satisfy his SALT obsession—94 percent would go to people making [more than] $200,000 a year,” said the SRCC.

Grassley said there was enough in the House and Senate versions of the relief bill that should enable lawmakers to move forward but said the added unemployment benefits are causing an impasse.

“And that’s a shame because you know there are so many things between the Pelosi bill and the Senate bill that, that we put down a week ago, that is similar. And so, there’s a lot that can be agreed to. There’s no reason, one or two things could be holding this up from moving ahead,” Grassley added.
The Washington Examiner
written by Jay Heflin, Business Editor
Tuesday August 4, 2020

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is pushing to increase the state and local tax deduction, a change that would overwhelmingly benefit wealthier taxpayers, in the Senate's coronavirus relief package.

The New York senator told reporters that he raised the change in talks with Trump administration officials over the weekend, according to Newsday.

The state and local tax deduction, known as SALT, is available to taxpayers who itemize their tax deductions. It was limited to $10,000 in the 2017 GOP tax reform bill.

Republicans have accused Democrats, such as Schumer, of holding up a deal on the Senate relief package to insist on lifting the $10,000 cap.

"This is [Schumer's] position: Nothing for schools, nothing for kids, nothing for the PPP, nothing for the healthcare fight — nobody gets a dime unless the Democratic leader gets a massive tax cut for rich people," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said Monday.

Tax experts say that repealing the $10,000 cap on SALT deductions would disproportionately benefit very high-earning individuals.

“Repealing the limit would benefit higher earners than those further down the income spectrum,” said Garrett Watson, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, a right-leaning think tank.

If Schumer’s repeal became law, the top 1% of taxpayers would see a 2.79% increase in after-tax income, according to analysis by the Tax Foundation. Meanwhile, middle-income earners would gain 0.01% in after-tax income, while low-wage earners would receive no increase at all.

Analysis from a separate tax think tank, the Tax Policy Center, shows that repealing the limitation would benefit 9 out of 10 households earning the top 1% of incomes. By contrast, only 3% of middle-income earners, those making between $49,000 and $86,000 a year, would pay less in taxes if the limitation were repealed.

Despite middle- and low-income earners receiving little to no benefit from repealing the limitation, House Democrats in May approved legislation that would eliminate the cap on the SALT deduction for two years.

Schumer has vowed to get the same provision in the Senate bill.

“I will push to insert language the House passed … to restore our full SALT deduction in the upcoming coronavirus legislation under negotiation right now,” he said last month.

Democrats, especially from high-tax states, argue that loosening the cap on SALT deductions would allow state and local governments to respond to the pandemic under less pressure to cut services.

👇 IN OTHER RELATED NEWS 👇
UPDATED: 8/5/20 at 6:05pm: Added info below.
Think about it. NO POSTMARK REQUIRED? We have election dates set for a reason. The postmark is essential. People can show up at the post office with boxes and boxes of unverified mail-in ballots and then be counted WITH NO POSTMARK DATE. This is an offense against election integrity and the public at large. (emphasis mine)

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