Lawmakers’ responsibility has been obvious for months, but they’re coming up empty.
It’s possible that by the end of today, when the clock runs out on additional unemployment benefits for workers who’ve lost their jobs to the coronavirus, Congress and the White House may suddenly reach an agreement to renew the program.
If not today, it’s possible they’ll spend all weekend hammering out a deal. And if not this weekend, perhaps legislators will forgo their August vacation, er “recess,” to construct the next round of bailouts.
But don’t count on it. The likeliest scenario now appears to be the worst one — that Congress won’t get anything done at all in the midst of the biggest U. S. public health crisis in a century, with economic output plunging at rates not seen since after World War II.
The well-being of hundreds of millions of Americans is at stake, and the scale of this epic catastrophe has been obvious for months, yet we’ve arrived at the precipice in apparent disarray. The fault here lies with the Republicans. In May, Democrats in the House of Representatives introduced their proposal for another mammoth federal rescue package. Republicans in Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Senate sat on their hands until four days ago, when their fractured caucus introduced an anemic alternative that Democrats, and many in their own party, couldn’t stomach.
