A stimulus is finally approaching

Habemus appeal? Congress seemed to be getting closer on a deal Last night Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Republican colleagues privately that he feared voter frustration could topple Georgia’s two incumbent Senators next month if Congress doesn’t pass another stimulus bill.

It has been more than eight months since the last coronavirus stimulation act went into effect. The ink wasn’t dry on this bill, which was finalized in late March, before many lawmakers, union leaders and others started arguing that more help was needed.

McConnell has largely refused to negotiate, repeatedly postponing discussions, and even rejecting the occasional White House attempt to resume talks.

But now that Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler need a win Ahead of the January 5 runoff election in Georgia, McConnell announced that he was ready to move forward.

He told the senators on a private phone call yesterday that they shouldn’t leave Washington for the holidays until after this weekend, as he expects lawmakers to take a few more days to finalize the deal and write legislation.

On the call, McConnell said Loeffler and Perdue were being “hammered” because Congress had stopped providing further pandemic aid.

The draft law is discussed now includes funding for direct stimulus payments to Americans. Senator John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Chamber, said yesterday that he expects the checks to be $ 600-700 per person, despite some Democrats pushing for a replay of the $ 1,200 issued earlier this year.

The bill would not include the corporate and school liability protection McConnell wanted to create as a condition of talks, nor the steady funding for state, local, and tribal governments that the Democrats had identified as essential.

While Congress fought over the incentive, the heads of state or government have taken matters into their own hands. In New Mexico, $ 1,200 in stimulus checks were sent to roughly 130,000 unemployed residents after Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a $ 330 million aid package last month that included small business aid and direct payments to those who lost their jobs.

The federal incentive law is expected to be included Billions of dollars in support of vaccine distribution, and this week hospital pharmacists discovered some good news: many of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine vials that have already been approved for distribution are filled with more than their assigned doses.

The Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday that it would authorize pharmacists to use the remaining doses after the first five doses – the amount that is expected to be in each vial.

Joe Biden has said he will ask Americans to mask themselves for the first 100 days of his term as president. A mask mandate is supported by a large majority in the country but is still not universally popular.

A heartland mayor literally had to dodge this week after passing a mask mandate. Joyce Warshaw, the mayor of Dodge City, Kan., Said she received such violent and threatening hate mail after signing a citywide masking mandate that she feared for her safety. That is why Warshaw stepped down yesterday, a few weeks before the end of her year-long term.

One message read: “We’re coming to get you.” Warshaw said the word “murder” was used several times. “Our nation sees so much division and so much inappropriate bullying that is accepted, and it only worried me,” she said. “I don’t know if these people would act on your words.”

To vote the pressure that was built on Biden yesterday Representative Deb Haaland, as his home secretary, a rare consensus of progressives, moderates and even some Republicans, expressed support for a historic nomination.

Haaland, recently elected to a second term and representing the New Mexico First District in Congress, was the first Native American to head the Home Office.

Progressive groups, tribal leaders, and some of Haaland’s colleagues in Congress had been pushing Biden to select her for the position for weeks, but House Democratic leaders had raised concerns about allowing Biden to recruit too many representatives from the Democratic caucus, given his slim majority.

Yesterday the leadership accepted Haaland’s candidacy. “Congresswoman Deb Haaland is one of the most respected and finest members of Congress I have worked with,” said Nancy Pelosi in a statement, adding that she was “an excellent choice” for the Home Secretary.

Some progressive groups have also put pressure on Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico, who is retiring after 12 years in the Senate, to remove himself from the competition for the cabinet job.

Biden is also considering a lot less consensus generating number To serve in his administration: Diana Taylor, a Citigroup board member closely associated with Wall Street.

Taylor was the executive director of Wolfensohn Fund Management and the banking supervisor of New York State under former Republican Governor George Pataki. She is also the longtime romantic partner of Michael Bloomberg.

It’s not clear what role Biden would put Taylor in, but one of the positions she’s being considered for is the Small Business Administration Administrator, according to those familiar with the selection process.

Progressives have expressed concern about their possible selection, part of broader concerns about the party’s left flank lack of representation in Biden’s personnel decisions.

“The progressive movement deserves a number of seats – important seats – in the Biden administration,” recently said Senator Bernie Sanders, who is himself a possible candidate for a cabinet post said Axios. “Did I see that at that point? I didn’t. “