Movement toward more COVID-19 relief is spotty, but a very faint path sort of emerges

That $2.2 trillion, Pelosi pointed out earlier this week, is even a harder limit than it was weeks ago because inaction from the White House and McConnell’s Republican Senate has made the need even greater. Where Democrats are absolutely not budging right now is $900 billion in state and local aid for the next two years. Republicans are at $100 billion for one year. That’s a massive chasm, but the Congress-watchers at Politico have a scenario for compromise that they say isn’t pulled out of thin air.

That’s Democrats agreeing to one year of that funding, cutting it to $450 billion including $150 billion in unspent relief that could be repurposed, so $300 billion in new spending. If Republicans were willing to go up to $300 billion, and agree to repurposing that unspent money, there’s the state and local funding for one year with a minimum of pain. A lot of ifs, but apparently it’s under discussion among members. The other $450 billion Democrats want could come in a Biden administration next year. That’s just one of the sticking points, but it’s the biggest. An agreement from Pelosi and Mnuchin to do this could again force McConnell into acting—that’s what happened with the CARES Act back in March.

Meanwhile, a bunch of blue-doggish freshman Democrats are grumbling to the press about lack of action and their desire to bring a smaller bill to the floor. Pelosi told reporters that “they didn’t say it to me” when the discontent was surfaced. The supposed rift could be the usual Dems in Disarray narrative from the traditional media, and it could be the blue dogs getting quotes in the press that they can point to back home to say they’re not Pelosi’s robots—they know how easy those quotes are to spread around.

In the middle of all of this, Republicans are trying to distract. Washington state Rep. Jaime Herrer Beutler is pushing a discharge petition to extend the Paycheck Protection Program to allow small businesses to take a second bite at loans. (Disclosure: Kos Media received a Paycheck Protection Program loan.) There’s about $138 billion left in the program, which continues to get scrutiny for what looks like some really political loan-making decisions from the administration. That’s as much an effort to make life difficult for Pelosi as it is reupping the program, but it’s probably a more effective headache-maker for Pelosi than the Freedom Caucus’ big idea of trying to depose her. That’s a hell of a way to unify Democrats behind her, that is.

Even the blue dogs are going to have to stand with her firmly there. The point where these guys should have been clamoring for votes on smaller parts of the bill was any time between May and August. Continued votes on HEROES Act provisions would have kept pressure on McConnell. It’s too late for that now. If the House acts on just a little bit of what’s needed, the remainder is going to be shunted aside. They can’t abandon direct payments to individuals, the $600/weekly unemployment boost, the money for testing and contact tracing, and billions for schools. All of that need is, well, needed. Immediately.

Source: http://feeds.dailykosmedia.com/~r/dailykosofficial/~3/0JG-iVkK8eI/-Another-week-gone-by-without-the-COVID-19-relief-stalemate-breaking