Friends,
A sit-in in Nancy Pelosi’s office is long overdue. And
this is just the latest example of why she must be challenged. She
remains a militarist and an obstructive force regarding the Green New Deal. I
am ready for action, but the virus is in control of my schedule.
Kagiso,
Max
Thursday, May 07, 2020
Pelosi
Support for Corporate Lobbyist Bailout Denounced as 'Dumbest Political Maneuver
You Could Possibly Make Right Now'
"Pelosi
has run the House of Representatives by fiat for close to two months, and there
hasn't been a single word of protest as she locks every other member of the
Democratic caucus out of policymaking."
House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks during a weekly news conference at the
U.S. Capitol May 7, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has thrown her support behind a proposal to allow
corporate lobbying groups to receive bailout money from a Covid-19 relief
program meant for small businesses, a move one critic bluntly described as the
"dumbest political maneuver you could possibly make right now."
During
a webinar with small business representatives on Tuesday, Pelosi said the next
coronavirus relief package will include a change to the Paycheck Protection
Program (PPP) that would permit 501(c)(6) organizations to receive forgivable
taxpayer loans.
"Many
of the largest lobbying forces are organized under the 501(c)(6) section of the
tax code as trade groups," The Intercept's Lee Fang reported Wednesday. "Lobbyists
have stepped up a campaign to make sure professional influence peddlers are
eligible for the PPP... The push also includes a demand for an additional $25
billion for canceled events and other lost revenue from the coronavirus
pandemic."
"Senior
Democratic lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, plan to accommodate
the demand and change the eligibility standard so that small business bailout
money can flow to business advocacy groups," Fang added.
While
Pelosi said the next coronavirus stimulus bill will expand PPE to include
501(c)(6) and 501(c)(4) organizations, the speaker did not say whether the
legislation will make 501(c)(5) groups that represent labor unions eligible for
the loan program.
The Democratic push to expand P3
eligibility means small business rescue funds could go to thousands of
lobbyists, from the National Rifle Assoc. to the National Restaurant
Association.
The National Restaurant Association is
*the* reason there has been no raise in the federal min wage, no paid sick
leave law. That’s why they pay their top lobbyist as much as $3 million a year,
working out of a palatial new office building in DC. Thats who Dems want to
bailout.
Pelosi's
support for a lobbyist bailout comes as she is facing pressure from outside
progressives, including nurses, to advance a bold
Covid-19 stimulus package and stop rubber-stamping piecemeal legislation that
provides insufficient relief to frontline workers, the unemployed, and states
and localities.
In
a blog post on Thursday,
David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect, offered a
scathing assessment of both Pelosi's leadership and the refusal of
Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders to raise their voices in dissent.
"Pelosi
has run the House of Representatives by fiat for close to two months, and there
hasn't been a single word of protest as she locks every other member of the
Democratic caucus out of policymaking and hands them take-it-or-leave-it
legislation," Dayen wrote. "Pelosi listens to some people, powerful people.
And she pays lip service to others. She does this because she knows she can get
away with it."
Last
month, the Progressive Caucus unveiled a list of priorities for the next
coronavirus stimulus package—including $2,000 monthly direct cash payments to
all U.S. households and an expansion of Medicare to cover the unemployed and
uninsured—but it is unclear which if any of the demands will make it into the
final bill expected to hit the House
floor for a vote as early as next week.
During
the webinar with small business leaders on Tuesday, Pelosi said Rep. Pramila
Jayapal's (D-Wash.) paycheck guarantee proposal is "very
worthy of consideration" but did not commit to including it in the
stimulus package.
"That's
code for 'nice work but it's not getting in the bill,'" wrote Dayen.
Our
work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Feel free to republish and share widely.
Donations can be sent
to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane,
Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email:
mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
No comments:
Post a Comment