A Clean Bill—Not Likely

For John, BLUF:  It is a crisis and Ms Pelosi doesn't want to let it go to waste.  Thus, she is willing to let millions lose paychecks in a bid to impose her legislative will on the President and on the US Department of the Treasury.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Small Business Bailout Fund Set to Run Dry Amid Democrat-Driven Standoff

From The Washington Free Beacon, by Reporter Charles Fain Lehman, 15 April 2020.

Here is the lede plus four:

The federal program backstopping small businesses during the coronavirus crisis is set to run out of funds Wednesday evening, thanks in part to a Senate stalemate over refilling its coffers.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is expected to grind to a halt after approving loans to over 1.4 million small businesses.  That, Small Business Committee chairman Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) wrote Wednesday, will leave 700,000 small business applications in "limbo."

Senate Republicans attempted to refuel the PPP last Thursday, pushing for an additional $250 billion on top of the $350 billion initially allocated under the CARES Act.  But Democrats blocked their bill before introducing a version of their own, which would have added on another $250 billion for bailouts of hospitals and state and local government.

The ongoing standoff leaves hundreds of thousands of small business owners without the means to pay their employees, which will in turn hasten mass layoffs, driving up unemployment and further taxing the nation's already buckling unemployment insurance systems.

Since last Thursday's standoff, Republicans have called repeatedly for a "clean bill." Democrats, however, saw the rapidly depleting fund as an opportunity to wring further policy concessions out of their Republican colleagues.

TERMS:

CLEAN BILL—A piece of legislation that does not have extraneous riders added to get additional votes.

RIDER—In legislative procedure, a rider is an additional provision added to a bill or other measure under the consideration by a legislature, having little connection with the subject matter of the bill.  Riders are usually created as a tactic to pass a controversial provision that would not pass as its own bill.  Occasionally, a controversial provision is attached to a bill not to be passed itself but to prevent the bill from being passed (in which case it is called a wrecking amendment or poison pill).

LOGROLLING—Logrolling is the trading of favors, or quid pro quo, such as vote trading by legislative members to obtain passage of actions of interest to each legislative member.

COOPERATION—This term is apparently unknown in the DC area.

At the time of this typing the Treasury Secretary, Mr Steve Mnuchin, is trying to cut a deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; a deal that Republicans in the US Senate will accept.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff