WIBC host Tony Katz spoke with Senator Todd Young (R) Wednesday regarding gridlock on Capitol Hill over another round of economic stimulus legislation for the American economy.
Lawmakers are trying to bridge the divide between a $1 trillion aid package put forward by Senate Republicans at the end of July, and the $3 trillion legislation passed by House Democrats in May.
“[For Democrats], this has become a messaging bill,” Sen. Young told Katz. “They want to fund such things as the National Endowment for the Arts, checks to illegal immigrants, nationalizing our Federal elections, [and] these are things that are unrelated to the Coronavirus pandemic, Hoosiers can see through this, and Pelosi knows that this is something that Republicans cannot agree to.”
“And [Pelosi] is hoping to sow chaos,” Young continued, “hoping that that will be tagged to President Trump.”
Talks stalled between Republicans and Democrats last Friday, putting at risk “trillions of dollars in aid for families, businesses and the U.S. economy, including a fresh round of $1,200 stimulus checks, extra unemployment aid for millions of out-of-work Americans and $100 billion to help reopen schools,” as reported by Fox News.
President Trump acted unilaterally on additional virus relief over the weekend, signing four executive actions on Saturday that would postpone the collection of payroll taxes for individuals earning less than $104,000 annually through the remainder of the year; partially restore supplemental unemployment benefits at $400 per week (25% of which would come from cash-strapped state’s budgets), extend student loan relief and discourage evictions.
Combined, the four measures would inject about $165 billion of liquidity into the U.S. economy in the short term and add about $10 billion to the nation’s ballooning deficit, according to new projections released by the Center for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Regarding Trump’s Executive Orders, Sen. Young explained to Tony Katz that the extraordinarily perilous economic circumstances forced the President to take action.
“We’re in the midst of a national emergency, these are certainly exigent circumstances, and if there is an attempt [by Pelosi] to drive our economy into a ditch, inflict pain on people so they’re evicted from their homes, not ensure that our healthcare providers have the resources they need so that [Democrats] might win an election, we needed to act,” Young said.
Click the link below to hear more of Tony’s interview with Senator Todd Young.
