Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., Accused President Biden of abandoning true unity for a “patina of unity” and said that the president had failed to reach his group of centrist bipartisan senators before launching his proposal to stimulate the coronavirus of $ 1.9 trillion in early January.
Cassidy is among the 10 Republican senators who proposed an alternative $ 600 billion coronavirus aid package on Sunday.
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“We are focused on the needs of the American people, treating our tax dollars as if they were our tax dollars, not just spending money,” Cassidy told Fox News Sunday. “If you say you want bipartisanship … and then you have a budget reconciliation that is full of payments to Democratic constituencies … you don’t want bipartisanship, you want the patina of bipartisanship.”
Cassidy said Biden had not even tried to work with his bipartisan group of senators.
“The president’s team did not reach anyone in our group, whether Democratic or Republican, when it formed its proposal,” said Cassidy. “So, if you want unity, if you want bipartisanship, you should start with a group that shows that it is willing to work together for a common solution. They did not.”
In this January 11 archive photo, pre-kindergarten teacher Angela Panush reads a story to her students at Dawes Elementary in Chicago. (Ashlee Rezin Garcia / Chicago Sun-Times via AP, Pool File)
Cassidy said the senators’ proposal corresponds to Biden’s $ 160 billion pledge to finance vaccination and includes $ 20 billion “to get children back to school”. Cassidy and her Republican colleagues from Senate Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Rob Portman of Ohio, Shelley Moore Captain of West Virginia, Todd Young of Indiana, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, sent a letter to Biden on Sunday.
“In the spirit of bipartisanship and unity, we have developed a COVID-19 relief structure that is based on previous COVID assistance laws, all passed with bipartisan support,” they wrote. “Our proposal reflects many of its stated priorities and, with your support, we believe that this plan could be quickly approved by Congress with bipartisan support.”
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Cassidy said that direct aid payments for coronavirus need to be more targeted.
“Above a certain level of income, this money is not spent … it does not stimulate the economy,” he said.
Biden said his proposal would speed up the national vaccination program COVID, increase coronavirus testing capacity to help reopen businesses and schools, and provide $ 1,400 stimulus checks to Americans.
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Biden labeled it his “American Rescue Plan”.
“We don’t just have an economic imperative to act now – I believe we have a moral obligation,” said Biden during a televised address on Jan. 14.
Paul Steinhauser of Fox News contributed to this report.