“[L] and I only say unto them, I know my clients; that’s what I’m doing. I know Pelosi, I know Schumer very well, They don’t want to make a deal because they think he’s smart for politics if he doesn’t make an Array deal. I don’t want to meet with them to be rejected. They don’t want to make a deal because they know he’s smart for the economy. And if they come to an agreement that’s smart for the economy, so it’s smart for me for the November 3 election, so they’re not going to make a deal. “
Leaving aside the reference to “customers,” this existing idea might seem to have some logic: if Democrats refuse to pass an aid program, the economy will suffer, and if the economy suffers, the electorate can also simply punish the outgoing president. Ergo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) There is an incentive to reject an agreement that would give the economy a significant boost.
The problem, however, is that Trump has it all upside down. If Democrats sought to sabotage the economy, they would have taken the initiative to write the CARES bill in March; would have passed an even broader HERO Act in May; and would have sat down at the negotiating table, urging White House officials to invest more in the economy.
No one in the nation’s capital focuses more on what is “smart for the economy” than Democrats who passed an aid program that would be smart for the economy. It is not known whether the president is aware of these advances or simply mendacity to the public.
For his part, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (Republican for Ky. ) announced this morning his goal of introducing a new “specific” economic bill, which he said will be put to a vote “as early as this week. “
Obviously, this is theatre: the goP leader gives the impression of doing meaningful work, even if this new measure does little to bring decision makers closer to a genuine agreement.
McConnell’s bill will want 60 votes to move forward, and as it is, it’s still not transparent if he even enjoys the 53 Republicans in the Senate.
To complicate things, Congress will soon put an end to its pre-election tables (members who will participate in the polls must be in their states and districts, in the Capitol), creating a narrow window for progress, which seems to be closing.
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