Schumer on GOP’s Stimulus Bill: ‘I Wouldn’t Call It Skinny’ — ‘This One Is Emaciated’

Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) weighed in on the Senate reportedly voting on a “skinny” coronavirus relief bill in the coming days.

Schumer told CNN “New Day” host John Berman he would not refer to the bill as “skinny.” Instead, he said the bill is “emaciated” because it is “about half” of their old skinny bill.

“The bill includes an extension of the jobless benefits to $300 a week. It would forgive about $10 billion of loans to the postal service, tax credit for private and home schooling and liability protection for employers in Coronavirus-related lawsuits. It would not offer any aid to states. What is this bill missing?” Berman asked Schumer.

“There’s so much missing in the bill,” Schumer responded. “I wouldn’t call it skinny, their old bill which was about a trillion dollars was skinny, this one is emaciated. It’s about half of that. They keep the crisis and pain of the American people in the pandemic greater and greater and Republicans keep thinking smaller and smaller. And the reason is very simple. There are 20 Republicans in the Senate who want no money, so McConnell had to in a very cynical exercise put together something that would check the box. But left out so much.”

After detailing the differences between the bills from the two parties, he added, “The list is long. Our bill meets the needs of the American people. Their bill meets the needs of a few ideologues who don’t want to vote for anything, but they’re feeling such pressure from the public they have to come to the floor. It is, John, by Mitch McConnell, who seems to be the head of the department of cynicism, a cynical act because he knows it won’t pass. He knows it won’t pass.”

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