Dems’ stimulus package “dramatically more money than necessary” – McConnell
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell called President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus aid account “dramatically more money than necessary”, while Democrats seek to approve the aid package – which includes a third round of stimulus checks – without Republican support.
“Democrats are still trying to come up with a disguised party package,” McConnell told reporters on Tuesday. “You know the story, but it’s worth recounting, that all the ambitious packages that we approved last year, we did on a bipartisan basis. There was almost no opposition to most of these projects, and I hoped that the new government, especially considering that the president often discussed being moderate, would choose to take a different path..
“Particularly when you look at the numbers: a 50-50 Senate, a narrow majority in the House … I think looking at this, your conclusion would be: maybe we should start on a bipartisan basis. But, unfortunately, that is not the case.
“As you know, 10 of our members have fallen [to the White House] and met with the president and talked about a more restricted and targeted approach. The message was that they were not interested in doing it that way. They will try to force this on a fully partisan basis.
“And I think I can speak with confidence for the majority of my members who we think it’s a lot more money than is needed at this specific time. It also includes a number of things that have absolutely nothing to do with greedy relief. And then it will be controversial. “