By Aman Jain. Originally published at ValueWalk.
The U.S. economy needs a stimulus package badly, but Democrats and Republicans are unable to reach a deal. On paper, there are several reasons for the impasse over the next stimulus package. But, in reality, the only reason Americans haven’t yet got the second coronavirus stimulus checks is “pure politics,” believes Stephen Moore, an economic advisor to President Donald Trump.
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“Pure politics” is holding up coronavirus stimulus checks
Moore, speaking on WABC 770 AM Sunday, urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to come together to strike a deal on the next package. Further, Moore believes that “pure politics” is what is holding up the next coronavirus stimulus package and checks.
“Come on Nancy Pelosi. Come on Chuck Schumer. Come together for the good of the country. Get a deal done! … What is holding things up? I think it’s pure politics,” Moore said.
Moore noted that Democrats’ rigidness on their demands suggests that they don’t want to support the economy.
“That’s a cynical thing to think, but when I saw the actions of Pelosi this week saying no to everything unless we get $1 trillion, I thought, I don’t think she really wants to help the economy right now,” he said.
Talking about President Donald Trump, Moore said that the President won’t “waste” $1 trillion. Trump “recognizes that a bad deal is worse than no deal at all,” Moore said. It is not exactly clear what this $1 trillion here Moore is referring to, but he is likely talking about Democrats’ demand for aid to state and local governments.
Will there be another package?
Moore’s remarks come as Democrats blocked the roughly $500 billion GOP-drafted bill. Last week, the Senate Republicans introduced a $500 billion proposal for the next relief package. The bill, however, failed to get enough votes to pass the Senate.
Pelosi and Schumer, in a joint statement, dismissed the GOP’s so-called skinny bill, saying it “doesn’t come close to addressing the problems and is headed nowhere.”
Later, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he doubts if Congress will be able to come up with another relief package until after the election.
Moore, along with blaming “pure politics” for no coronavirus stimulus checks, also suggested that the economy is doing well even without another stimulus package. Speaking to radio host John Catsimatidis, Moore said even without a relief package, which has been “held up now for eight weeks, the economy is on great great roll right now.”
Moore noted that 1.5 million or more jobs had been created for four straight months. Earlier this week, the Labor Department, however, revealed that the weekly unemployment claims were flat when adjusting for seasonal factors, but increased by more than 20,000 on an unadjusted basis. This new data is bad news for the economy, which is still grappling with high unemployment rates and jobless claims.
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