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By: Nathaniel Ballantyne
Donald Trump seems unstable, and no one knows for sure what he will do next. First, he canceled Covid relief talks with that Democrats saying he will do it after the elections, then abruptly changed his mind to offer a $1.8 trillion bill that Republicans, which did not thrill the Republicans.
Both Trump and Pelosi want a massive Covid deal. Pelosi wants $3.2 trillion, and the Donald just met her halfway with $1.8 trillion. The problem is this is so close to the election that there may not be enough time to pull it together. But why would Pelosi agree with Trump this late in the game? Trump has changed his mind because he realized that it is in his best political interest to get a deal done with the Democrats. The problem is Trump cannot get the rest of his party to support the deal.
PELOSI has always wanted a big deal, but she’s hung on negotiating with Washington’s most eager man, STEVEN MNUCHIN. She wanted a deal, and MNUCHIN was her only option. She has no patience for MARK MEADOWS, and the administration has no one else who knows what they’re doing.
Early this Saturday morning, PELOSI sent a letter to her Democratic colleagues saying that the $1.8 trillion offer from Donald Trump was “one step forward, two steps back.” The letter explains where Pelosi finds fault in the GOP offer. State and local funding are “sadly inadequate,” she said, and the two are still $200 billion off in unemployment insurance. This could be a negotiating tactic, but even if so, these are real issues that need to be solved. IT’S IN PELOSI’S INTEREST to hold out for every last thing, given how eager Trump is for a deal.
PELOSI would love to do a deal now so she won’t have to do it early in a Biden administration. But even if PELOSI and the White House could agree, Senate Republicans would be a considerable obstacle. They don’t like the size of the bill. They have issues with abortion policy and stimulus checks for undocumented immigrants and a whole range of other concerns based on philosophical principles.
The nation is indeed in need of another stimulus package. At the same time, Trump is eager to deliver while his Republican colleagues are not, and PELOSI is a calculated political animal. She won’t budge unless she can get everything she wants. Otherwise, she might wait for Biden.
