Report: GOP Senators Begin Talks on $68B Omicron Stimulus Package
Republican and Democrat senators are jointly negotiating an omicron stimulus package worth $68 billion dollars to boost President Joe Biden’s stumbling economy, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
While the omicron variant has added chaos to a labor market amid 40-year high inflation, Republican and Democrat senators are beginning to talk about releasing more money, the report outlined. In March, Biden passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that paid individuals generous unemployment benefits, which enabled people to remain unemployed and helped fuel inflation and the supply chain crisis. Biden’s second stimulus package would reportedly focus on subsidizing businesses nearly two years after the nation locked down in 2020. Those businesses may include, “restaurants, performance venues, gyms and even minor league sports teams.” The senators involved in the negotiations include establishment Republicans and Democrats. Among them are Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Susan Collins (R-ME).
The negotiations come as the nation faced over one million coronavirus infections on Monday. In 2020, Biden promised over ten times to shut down the virus. A Monday CNBC poll indicated 60 percent of voters disapprove of Biden’s management of the economy, a six point downward shift from September. Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø.
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