‘This is not compromise, this is surrender’

Democrats are ridiculing a last-minute $ 600 billion aid package “deal” from 10 Republican senators who say President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion plan is too expensive and are instead arguing to exclude Republican lawmakers who spent months trying to overturn an election and refusing any form of “unity”.

Congressional Democrats who want a speedy approval of Biden’s plan scoffed at a group of self-proclaimed “bipartisan” Republican senators who drafted their own last-minute “deal” for a much smaller $ 600 billion package. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, is among several members of the new Democratic majority who claim that approval of coronavirus relief for Americans is more important than the Republican Party’s complaints about “unity” . Sanders said the ten senators are not being “practical”, but are using a covert bipartisan demand to destroy more moderate Democrats, including Biden.

Critics of the last-minute proposal noted that several of those ten senators were the same people who just a few weeks ago tried to overturn Biden’s election victory and refused to hear any discussion about a second aid package over the summer. Many Democrats have expressed hope that the White House will simply “ignore” the Republican Party’s attempt at compromise.

Several Washington economists and strategists, including Paul Krugman, criticized the diluted proposal by the 10 Republicans and the sudden calls for bipartisanship. “This is not a compromise, it would be an abject surrender. It is not even worth discussing,” New York Times columnist commented on Sunday.

Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was among several Democrats who told Republicans that her proposal – which eliminates $ 170 billion for schools and a $ 15 hourly minimum wage increase – is too late. Several critics noted that when Republicans had a majority in 2020 under Mitch McConnell, they refused to even consider a second aid package for months.

“Real conversation: during a global health crisis and a historic economic crisis, this is not the time to ‘compromise’ our residents. QanonGOP has blocked tax cuts and benefits for its corporate friends. Now, let’s play for people. Reconciliation if they don’t want to play ball, “tweeted Tlaib on Sunday.

Sanders reiterated his willingness to work with Republicans to meet Democratic demands or to leave them out of the vote, given a majority of 51 votes in the Senate. Sanders seemed to remind MSNBC viewers on Sunday that McConnell and the Republicans would never offer Democrats the same “bipartisan” offer if their roles were reversed.

“When we talk about unity and bipartisanship, remember that when Republicans were in control, they implemented a nearly $ 2 trillion program that consisted of tax breaks for the wealthiest people and the largest corporations … we have to go ahead now, “Sanders said, noting that he has the power to use a budget reconciliation measure that could keep Republican senators out of the vote with unanimous Democratic support.

One of the ten Republican senators who seek Biden’s “unity” and Democrats is Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. The legislator complained to Fox News Sunday that the White House never called him or the other nine people looking for a “deal”. The 10 Republicans argue that a lot of money was already distributed during the pandemic – $ 4 trillion, including $ 900 billion approved in December. Individual checks worth $ 1,400 would also be reduced significantly under the GOP proposal.

Cassidy exposed some details of the Republican Party’s $ 600 lesser package, saying that its package would lower the $ 170 billion for schools because “we have already given them 110 percent of what they normally receive … are teacher unions telling the its members not to go to work. ” Democratic efforts to include the first increase in the federal hourly minimum wage in 12 years would also be cut from its legislation, which is due to be officially presented on Monday.

Some progressives suggested on Sunday that Biden should respond to the 10 Republicans by having them publicly declare that their electoral victory was valid. Others simply characterized the Republican Party as having some hope that they could slow down Democratic-led legislation in the name of budget cuts.

“Republicans stood on the sidelines and did nothing about Covid’s relief for seven months last year under Trump. Now they wait until the last day before the Democratic Congress moves legislation and want to negotiate a new bipartisan project,” replied the political analyst Keith Boykin in a tweet.

Newsweek contacted the White House and Sanders’ office for further comment on Sunday night.