The Democrats cannot let the party of ‘NO’, to submarine needed relief. Until the Republicans can become a party that can actually provide new ideas or new insights for the benefit of the people they will have to be worked around. The threats to people are too great, the threats of an economic collapse are too devastating and the need to act now too important to let the Republican Senate just obstruct with no good faith counter proposals. They are willing to let people suffer and the economy to collapse in order to blame it on the Democrats for political party advantage. … … … The lessons of the past are too close, when Obama negotiated for over a year and offered many concessions only to have his health care plan gutted with almost 200 Republican adjustments for bipartisanship only to have the Republican Senate to block vote NO; without a single Republican vote after a year of chasing bipartisanship and weakening the program which was then pushed through by other means. Further, the Republicans jammed through the outrageous tax cuts for the wealthy without even pretending to be interested in bipartisanship. … … … The needs are immediate and will be less effective in protecting people in dire need and keeping the economy from collapsing the longer that they are left unfulfilled. Biden’s stimulus is supported by 70% of the electorate, most economists including the trump’s economic advisor and has been pleaded for months by the trump’s appointed head of the FED to protect the economy. The only concern is in not doing enough because the costs of having to rebuild collapsed economic infrastructures are far greater than the costs of this stimulus. I agree that some of the stimulus checks may not go to people in dire need but see no way to sort out who is ‘worthy’ and who is not and establish procedures to sort this out in any timely way. So what! The costs of not acting quickly greatly exceed the costs of delaying taking timely action, even if there is some unnecessary ‘leakage’ of funds. … … … If the Republicans will not or can not truly work in a non-partisan fashion with realistic counter proposals, any new ideas or insights other than just saying ‘NO’, they will have to be bypassed to get critically needed support to the people while it can still help. I would rather see some contrition and atonement from the Republicans and an effort to hold their membership to account and any effort to become the party of principled legislators that the Republican Party once was - able to negotiate in good will for the good of the people and not just their party. Sorry, I don’t see any evidence yet that they are willing or able to change.

Yes, our country needs help and it is no surprise that Republicans, who gave the richest of rich a massive tax cut, would vote against help for the less fortunate.Don’t ever believe their lies.

Negotiating in good faith means closing the gap, not change to the unmodified Republican plan with major concessions when none has been made by the other side. If there is no movement on the Republican side to closing the gap then it’s time for the budget reconciliation approach as people need help now! Glad to hear Biden state that Republicans didn’t even meet half way, and that bipartisanship is a willingness to talk but not necessarily make major concessions. Currently the plans financially align on Vaccination Program & Small Business loans with some differences in implementation but have large gaps to work out for unemployment, direct payment, education, child care, housing, food, paid leave, and state and local. 1) Vaccination Program. Both agree on $160B for a national vaccine program increasing personnel & equipment. 2) Unemployment Insurance gap of $200B with Dems proposing $400/week in benefits and Republicans proposing $300/week. Note: Dems have already reduced from previous proposals of $600/week but Republicans have not moved from their $300/week proposal at all. 3) Direct Payments gap of $245B with Dems proposing $1400/pp, and Republicans proposing $1000/pp and $500/child. 4) State & Local gap of $350B as Republicans have proposed nothing for this category. 5) Education gap of $145B with Dems proposing $130B for K-12 and $35B for higher education versus Republicans $20B for K-12 and nothing for higher education. 6) Small Business. Both propose $50B but allocate it differently. Dems propose $15B in grants and $35B in low interest loans while Republicans put the entire $50B in low interest loans. 7) Child Care gap of $140B with alignment on $20B on block grants but no money for child care or child care providers in the Republican plan. 8) Rental Assistance gap as Dems extends foreclosure moratorium till 9-30-21, $30B in rent & utilities, and $5B for homeless housing but Republicans propose nothing in this category. 9) Paid Leave provided by companies for employees concerned about Covid not in Republican plan at all. 10) Food Assistance. Dems have not specified an amount but Republicans propose $12B. 11) Miscellaneous. a) Mental Health aligns at $4B b) Vet Health $20B Dems only c) Public Transit $20B Dems only d) Am. Indian $20B Dems only e) Cyber Defense $10B Dems only f) Min. wage $15/hr Dems only https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-proposals-fact-idUSKBN2A13JS https://www.instagram.com/p/CKy0gBXMiFk/?igshid=1g927rx82mhyu

Republicans are NOT willing to come to the table even when the people they represent are sick, dying, waiting in food lines, homeless, and out of work! Thank you for using reconciliation to get SOMETHING done to help the American people!!!

Democrats tried to get bipartisan buy-in, but honestly, the Republicans' complaints about the size of the bill is disingenuous. The Republicans have demonstrated over the past 20 years that every time they're in power they spend like crazy and blow up the deficit, which is what they did in 2017-18. They don't really care about fiscal responsibility and they don't care about the American people. They just want to stand in the way. Democrats should seize on this opportunity to save our economy and thousands of lives with a big, meaningful bill. Democrats were criticized after the 2009 Stimulus Bill because it didn't do enough...and that was because they tried to let Republicans weigh in and pull it back. Don't make that same mistake twice. Go big or go home.

We need this done now How much money did the trumps waste on golf and road trips? Didn’t hear whining from trumplicans

Yes, use it, the Republicans had no problem using it ! It was very comical when Mitch McConnell made a negative comment, when he was a prime user of that !

This relief bill is vitally needed for millions of Americans. We must act quickly and get the needed relief to people and businesses in dire need as well as state and local governments. Passage of this bill will save lives.

Not only yea but Yay! Time to get this done with or without the GOP! @David, what exactly are you defining as pork? Your check, vaccinations development and distribution, unemployment $, the moratorium on evictions, school money?

Yes, but please don’t forget about the extra $200 promised to seniors and those on SSI. This would appear to be a deal breaker, and a written promise. Make sure funds go out to young adults between 17-24; their suicide rates are soaring and they don’t need any more reason to feel like they are being excluded. Also many of these young people are and have been working tirelessly on the front lines. Extended unemployment to those who lost their jobs and benefits ran out prior to the pandemic; as these individuals are at an extremely high risk and can't find work but don’t qualify for unemployment. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY do NOT allow predatory creditors to seize SURVIVAL funds via the IRS. Use the exsisting EBT structure to distribute funds. There are still over 9 million Americans, including myself, who haven't gotten either stimulus check. My best guess is my Trump loving mail carrier sent the card back.

Get it passed, prime the pump with enough money to allow kids to safely return to school, to help small businesses survive and flourish again, and get infrastructure repair and green power initiatives going to provide new jobs.

Very proud of my Dems. Have the power, use it. Difficult to find a republican to work with who isn’t a terrorist, traitor, sadist, plain cruel, stupid or a Putin puppet

I’m for unity and compromise in Congress. We’ve lost it over the past years and I’m hoping for a return. But, the republicans have steam rolled over the government for so long now, they think unity is their way. Mitch McConnell just refused to vote on a bill he didn’t like. I’ll never forget how they handled the last justice in the SC from Obama to trump. This is a time of emergency. 1.9 trillion is a lot of money but it should help the economy that is in a recession with the lower financial tier of workers at 20% unemployment. And, we waste so much money on what is not really needed, let’s splurge and help the people. Of course, another $1400 is not a great help if you’re out of work.

[Revised Post] Representatives, Move swiftly and pass COVID relief! Use Budget Reconciliation. Do not waste an instant on “negotiations.” Since before they took over the Senate, Republicans have become virtually useless! Useless! They see fit only to represent a fraction of the 1%, a handful of large banks and mega-corporations. As a bloody distraction, they have cultivated the seditionist coalition of Imbecilic QAnon Kooks, stupid & angry white supremacists, wannabe violent and sadistic fascists, and naive supporters of autocracy. In particular, we have seen the Trump administration, with McConnell's blessing, give disproportionately more COVID aid to larger companies. That was on top of the Tax Cuts they already got! Here's the thing, billionaires saw their net worth increase by _half_a_Trillion_dollars during the pandemic and that's while 40 Million Americans filed for unemployment during the pandemic. If we could recover half of that Half Trillion straight away, it would be some $250 Billion! From time to time, I remind myself of Reagan's Tax Travesty. This is an excellent time. Taxes paid by the wealthy have decreased by 79% since 1980. (I saved my Tax Returns & Tax Guides when I started working after I saw friend's father save his first years' returns.) That cumulative tax break for the wealthy is just one legal avenue for them to avoid paying taxes. In 2017, researchers estimated that about 10% of the world's GDP was stashed in offshore tax-havens. A study in 2012 found that as much as $32 trillion was being held offshore by the world's wealthiest people. So, how will the Tax Code be made fairer under the Biden Administration especially with advocates like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren keeping silent? Short story -- Don't buy it when the Republicans start crying over some piddling tax increases proposed by the Corporate Democrats. Don't believe the traditional Big Lie that fairness equals socialism Research this for yourselves. Think for yourselves. Here are some of my sources: https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaires-net-worth-increases-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-7 "During the first year of Reagan's presidency, federal income tax rates were lowered significantly with the signing of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, which lowered the top marginal tax bracket from 70% to 50% and the lowest bracket from 14% to 11%. ... The 1982 tax increase undid a third of the initial tax cut." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaganomics?wprov=sfti1 Search the Tax-Bracket archives: https://www.tax-brackets.org/federaltaxtable/1979 https://www.tax-brackets.org/federaltaxtable/1980 Hint: Speed things up just change the year after the last backslash.

Why is it so-called “republicans” always want Democrats to work in a bipartisan manner when the Democrats are in the majority and those same so-called “republicans” reject bipartisanship when they hold the majority? Case in point: filling the seat of the late Justice Ginsburg; they weren’t interested in compromise then. So-called “republicans” in Congress continuously act in bad faith as illustrated by the complaints about Democrats not compromising with them; where was the compromise on the regressive tax changes in 2017? So-called “republicans” had zero interest in compromise then. And now they insist Democrats compromise with them? Every last one of the so-called “republicans” can pound sand. I will donate to their primary opponents and then to the Democrats for the general as long as the current collection of bad-faith treason-excusing anti-American so-called “republicans” holds any office.