Trump issues covid relief executive orders

(32 mins.)  (He’d actually called it ‘the Chinese flu’, of course.

‘Trump signs executive orders on Covid-19 relief after talks break down between White House and Democrats’, RT.com, 8 Aug, 2020

“Trump announced the orders at a press conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club on Saturday, the same location where he warned such action would be taken a day earlier.

The orders will give a payroll tax holiday to Americans earning less than $100,000 a year. A second order will “protect people from eviction,” Trump said.

A third order will extend unemployment benefits, giving Americans out of jobs $400 a week on top of the unemployment benefits they would have been entitled to before the pandemic, which is a decrease from the previous $600 per week benefit Democrats were looking to extend through the end of the year.

Trump also said that student loan repayments would be deferred and that any accrued interest would be forgiven indefinitely.

The Democrats’ $3.4 trillion dollar plan consisted of major funding for schools looking to reopen amid the ongoing pandemic and an extension of the $600 a week federal unemployment benefit which expired in July. It also called for more financial benefits for those threatened with eviction over unpaid bills.

Schumer and Pelosi addressed the potential of executive orders on Friday and warned they could be legally dubious, as Congress has authority over federal spending. Schumer also argued that executive orders would not be “close to as good” in terms of financially protecting struggling Americans.”

No mention of stim checks to individuals, but IIRC,the Democrats had been asking for the same measly #1200, only arguing about how many dollars per dependent children.

‘Negotiators fail to reach deal in coronavirus relief talks; Trump again vowed to issue a series of contentious executive orders amid the stalemate’, politico, July 7, 2020

“Friday’s meeting in Pelosi’s office capped off two weeks of closed-door negotiations between White House officials and Democratic leaders without a breakthrough. Meanwhile, millions of Americans remain unemployed and coronavirus cases and deaths continue to spike in many areas of the country.

Clinching an agreement was never going to be easy. From the start, the White House and Democratic leaders were trillions of dollars apart, with Democrats pushing for the $3 trillion HEROES Act and the White House aiming to stay at $1 trillion. Senate Republicans also were divided on their own opening offer, with hard-line conservatives opposing additional federal spending.

Pelosi and Schumer said Friday that they were willing to cut down their ask by $1 trillion if the White House increased their offer by $1 trillion, a move administration officials rejected.

In their numerous discussions, Mnuchin, Meadows, Schumer and Pelosi made progress on narrowing their differences on unemployment insurance but remained far apart on state and local aid, election security funding and help for renters, among a host of other issues.”

Speaker Pelosi hasn’t Tweeted about it; nor has Chuck.  He has more important  fish to fry.

Gawd’s blood, I hate to say it, but at least it’s something. The stalemate was expected to last until election day.