Quick Overview
The House of Representatives has returned from vacation and they are now back in session today.
The House of Representatives is led by Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
The Democrats are pushing their own leader, Nancy Pelosi, for the extension of unemployment benefits and a second stimulus check.
Republicans are putting together a bill to make President Trump’s payroll tax cut forgivable so that you won’t have to pay back the government next year.
President Trump signed a new executive order to lower drug prices.
On Sunday, globally, we saw the highest single-day rise in Covid-19 cases.
Cases are remaining steady in the US at 34,000 cases.
Stimulus News
The House of Representatives has returned from vacation. The Leader of the House of Representatives is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who is one of the leaders of the Democrats. She is the key to passing the stimulus package.
There are multiple offers on the table from the Republicans which include the smaller stimulus package for $500 billion dollars and the larger stimulus package for $1.3 trillion dollars.
If she simply says yes and accepts the offer, we would have a second stimulus check and the extension of unemployment benefits for the rest of the year. But Nancy Pelosi says that she is not accepting the Republican stimulus package because she wants to wait for a better deal.
Democrats in the House of Representatives are urging their own leader, Nancy Pelosi, to cut a deal. 117 Democrats in the House of Representatives sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi calling for her to accept the offer for the extension of unemployment benefits, but she refuses.
President Trump said
“Nancy Pelosi doesn’t want to pass a stimulus bill before the elections because it would help me in the election”.
Democratic Congressman, Max Rose, said that we should not wait to pass the stimulus package until after the election. It shouldn’t be about improving our election odds and politics. That’s why people hate both parties.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says that Nancy Pelosi wants to wait until after the elections to pass a stimulus bill. McConnell says that Pelosi needs to drop some of her demands in the Democrat’s stimulus request.
Pelosi refuses to reduce the size of her stimulus package and her direct quote is
“we don’t want to go home without a bill, but don’t be a cheap date”.
The Senate and the House of Representatives are both in session. Let’s hope that the politicians make some meaningful progress on the stimulus package on behalf of the American People. President Trump’s executive order for the payroll tax cut is in effect for 2.1 million federal employees but is not being widely adopted by employers in the private sector.
The reason why the payroll tax cut is not being adopted on a large scale is because you have to pay the government back. CVS just issued an official statement saying
“we have reviewed the guidance issued by the US Treasury Department and the IRS and have determined that participating in this optional deferral program is not in our employees’ best interest”.
If you are in the private sector and your employer participates in this payroll tax cut, some employers will give you an opt-out option.
Military and federal workers will not receive that opt-out option. The IRS said that they had discussions with the Treasury Department and they have confirmed that no eligible employees can currently opt out. Sergeant Major Michael Grinston of the US Army is advising soldiers to set aside extra money in preparation of smaller paychecks next year.
President Trump tweeted that when he wins the election, that he will forgive all deferred payroll taxes with money from the General Fund. Please remember that President Trump needs Congressional Approval to do that.
Republicans are creating a bill that would officially have these payroll taxes forgiven. This bill is being led by Congressman Kevin Brady from Texas.
Political News
In Politics, President Trump signed an executive order to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors. The reduction of prices is expected to go into effect in a few months.
President Trump held his first indoor rally in 3 months, inside a warehouse last night in Henderson, Nevada. This was done in open defiance as Nevada has an in-person gathering limit of 50 people. The city of Henderson said that the rally was in violation of the governor’s Covid-19 directives but President Trump’s team responded with
“if you can join thousands of people protesting in the streets, gamble in a casino, or burn down small businesses in riots, you can gather peacefully under the 1st Amendment to hear from the President of the United States.”
But of course we saw the same defiance with Nancy Pelosi in the hair salon incident.
Covid-19 News
On Sunday, we saw the highest single-day rise in Covid-19 cases.
Globally, over 300,000 cases were reported on Sunday.
Global fatalities now stand at 917,000.
The Czech Republic reported its highest single-day case count.
Israel went back into a second lockdown last night with the same restrictions as their first lockdown.
India reported more than 92,000 cases and over 1,100 deaths today.
The United States reported 34,450 new cases and 378 fatalities on Sunday.
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