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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBiden is winning Republican support for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan. Just not in DC.
The pandemic has not been kind to Fresno, the poorest major city in California. The unemployment rate spiked above 10 percent and has stubbornly remained there. Violent crime has surged, as has homelessness. Tax revenue has plummeted as businesses have shuttered. Lines at food banks are filled with first-timers.
But as bad as its been, things could soon get worse: Having frozen hundreds of jobs last year, the city is now being forced to consider laying off 250 people, including police and firefighters, to close a $31 million budget shortfall.
That, said Jerry Dyer, mayor of the half-million-strong city in the Central Valley, is going to be devastating.
The looming cuts explain why Dyers eyes are fixed on Washington, where President Bidens $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan dangles the tantalizing prospect of a reprieve. Though Dyer is a Republican, hes rooting for the president to successfully push through federal aid that, after a nightmarish year for Fresno, will help get us to the end.
The first-term mayors stance reflects a broader split, one that gives Biden and his fellow Democrats a key tactical advantage as negotiations near an expected climax early next month.
Republicans in Congress overwhelmingly oppose the relief bill, casting it as bloated and budget-busting, with some heaping particular scorn on a measure to send $350 billion in assistance to states and cities. Should Biden go ahead without their approval, GOP leaders say, it will prove that his mantra of bipartisanship rings hollow.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/local-republicans-support-biden-covid-relief-plan/2021/02/14/9791d4ba-6d65-11eb-9ed1-73d434b5147f_story.html
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)America's everyday people, just major rich people and corporations. Heck, they don't even are about their effed up cult.
OnDoutside
(19,952 posts)back in his face. I hope they stay strong, get this bill through and push on from there. It will be interesting to see how many of the GOP sign on to the bill in the end. This is a massive positive investment into the American people, and it would be a huge own goal for Republicans to be seen to fight it, when so many Americans of all political beliefs are hurting. Provided, of course, that Democrats get the messaging right.
dansolo
(5,376 posts)Getting help to everyone, Democrats and Republicans alike.
OnDoutside
(19,952 posts)Congressional Republicans. And if he can get this bill through, it will add its own pressure on the likes of McConnell and McCarthy.