The Senate GOP Finally Stands Up to Something, but the Wrong Thing

Millions of Americans are about to lose the enhanced unemployment benefits that have been a lifeline for them during the COVID-19 crisis. At the same time, millions more are facing eviction or foreclosure because they can no longer make their housing payment each month, You would think that this would be a national emergency that requires quick and decisive government fiscal action. However, the Senate GOP first needs to negotiate with itself and the White House before it can even talk to Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. The result is a legislative mess that is threatening the financial futures of countless households.

The backdrop against which this is all occurring is the increasingly likely defeat that Donald Trump is heading towards in November. Nothing quite encourages a GOP senator like the smell of possible power. Helping people avoid financial calamity ranks well behind the possibility of accepting the party's 2024 nomination for the presidency.

The 2024 Presidential Campaign Has Already Started on the Backs of the Suffering

There are at least five GOP senators with known presidential ambitions in the next election. The number possibly even stretches beyond that. Suddenly, GOP senators are trying to reestablish themselves as the party of fiscal discipline while they move away from Trumpism. The problem is that Trump is still in the White House and they are generally scared stiff of his Twitter account.

Numerous GOP senators are using the negotiations over the critically needed stimulus package. Chief among them is Ted Cruz. After voting for the budget-busting tax cuts for the rich, Cruz now suddenly remembers that he is supposed to be a fiscal conservative. On the other side of the ledger are Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley and Ben Sasse. When he is not making comments praising slavery, Cotton is trying to present himself as the heir to Trumpism. These sentaors, and anyone else with a shred of 2024 ambition are trying to establish their own bona fides on the back of suffering Americans.

In the meantime, not to be outdone, the White House has their own agendas, as incoherent as they are. While people worry about whether they can put food on the table, Donald Trump worries about building a new FBI headquarters in Washington where Bill Barr can better organize beating and gassing protestors. The White House is also fighting spending large amounts of money on COVID testing.

The stakes for Americans are high as it is now certain that the expanded unemployment will run out before any program is renewed. The Republicans are not even in a position to begin negotiations with the Democrats. Months ago, the House passed a $3.4 stimulus package designed to help Americans through the worst of the pandemic. Imeendiately, Mitch McConnell dismissed the legislation as dead on arrival like he does every piece of legislation that the Democrats pass that is meant to help people. However, the Republicans never proposed their own alternative. Now, they seem at war with themselves as 53 GOP senators seem to have 53 different agendas before they even listen to their boss at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Now Is When Americans Will Begin to Lose Their Homes to Evictions and Foreclosure

The costs of the GOP's dithering and legislative malpractice are about to become painfully clear in the next few weeks. This is when Americans will start losing their homes and will need to continue lining up at food pantries as their benefits expire. This will have a real effect on the economy in numerous different ways. However, the Republicans that were quick to give tax cuts to billionaires is claiming that it would be "indefensible" to take on more debt.

The Republicans may eventually learn their lesson when their own voters end up losing their unemployment checks. Government checks do not discriminate between political parties, and plenty of Republican voters are benefitting from the provisions of the CARES Act. Right now, because the Republicans have not even agreed among themselves on how best to proceed, so they will be the party that is held accountable in the eyes of voters. The only problem is the economic carnage that will be unleashed before the parties can agree to the next stimulus package. It may be weeks until there is another bill as the parties as heading out for their Augsust recess and they are not even close to any sort of an agreement.