The Detestable, Evil B-word, Nancy Pelosi -ITM

Democrats said the price tag of the legislation is north of $3 trillion, and Republicans dismissed the bill as a non-starter.

It includes another round of direct payments to Americans of up to $1,200 per family member and up to $6,000 per household, and extends the $600 in additional weekly federal unemployment benefits through January.

The bill provides an influx of fundings for state and local government — at least $500 billion for states and $375 billion for cities and counties.

The bill includes at least $35 million for the Treasury Department’s inspector general to monitor and conduct oversight on the state and local relief funding, which has been a key demand for Democrats in the ongoing talks.

It requires President Trump to appoint a “medical supplies response coordinator” to oversee supply chain issues on key supplies such as personal protective equipment and drugs.

Additionally, the bill expands access to voting by mail by saying states can’t impose additional requirements on otherwise eligible voters to cast an absentee ballot through the mail.

It also includes $175 billion for rent and mortgage subsidies and $25 billion in assistance for the struggling U.S. Post Office.

The bill eliminates for two years a $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction, a prized benefit for generally higher-income residents in blue, high-tax states.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is happy to play rank politics with the federal coronavirus response. Exhibit A is the Absurd $3 Trillion Relief Bill  she’s set for floor vote on Friday.

It’s the first emergency bill written by one party with zero input from the other. Some Dems say it’s just an “opening bid,” but why waste time crafting 1,800 pages of legislation full of poison pills for the opposition?

It seems Pelosi thinks virtue-signaling to her base is worth the trouble.

The bill is packed with junk that has nothing to do with the pandemic or the economic chaos the response to it has created. It would, for example, end the cap on state and local tax deductions enacted in the 2017 tax reform, putting more money in the hands of the rich in high-tax states.